Category: Accessibility

The shape of things to come?

Technically, today begins the 7th calendar year of this website’s existence. Which is abundantly surreal, actually. And, as insignificant as that first sentence may be (read: is), I’m marking this anniversary by launching the site’s 3rd official re-design. Bam (that was a not so subtle hint to those who have stumbled on my words in a feed reader, say, to get on a modern web browser and see what I’m talking about)!

And so the current iteration of this blog, rather obviously, leaves the former behind. My point, while my former “skin” was extremely stale (I’d argue, if not right out of the gates, very soon after), it served me very well. Exceptionally well, in fact. Farewell my old friend. It’s been a blast! But, if I might be frank, it didn’t really meet with as many of the design objectives as I’d have liked (way more on that than is even remotely called for in a bit).

And now we have this effort. It entailed much more than a reshuffling for appearance’s sake. It was a complete re-development from the ground up. HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, plus some neat little WordPress optimization tricks (does this site seem a tad snappier?) thrown in, for good measure. Or, in other words, I ripped it all out, and started fresh.

With more, of everything, still to come…

Continue reading The shape of things to come?

Potty Parity

Today marks World Toilet Day! And as odd as “we,” people living in the developed world, might find the need to mark a day as such, facts are not everyone is blessed with certain luxuries. Luxuries we take for granted. Sanitation being just one of many. But what’s worse is, and I have experience with this particular aspect, its affect on women.

The Current today, in part 3, Potty Parity, they dealt with this issue in quite a few interesting ways. Breaking it down — while citing some very compelling facts — in some interesting ways. One of which, as I said, I have experience with. I pee sitting down, and have to perform a certain process to take care of business, and have absolutely no choice but to.

I know, or could guess closer than any other member of my gender (a male) who isn’t in a similar situation as me, what is at stake for women. And most importantly what having access to washroom facilities truly means to a person who needs to go. Now I’m not saying I have a complete understanding of everything a woman, in this case, faces in this particular circumstance. I’m just saying there is much more to any one experience than what any one person knows and could imagine to be true.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, things are much different — in ways you can imagine, sure, but it’s the stuff you didn’t consider that really makes you appreciate what certain things truly mean for an individual who isn’t you — on the other side.

But I can’t imagine what life would be like without any access to sanitation. Please do yourself a favour and familiarize yourself with the issue. I will…

Things Could Be Worse

What’s with people? In what would be the supreme height of laughable — that is if the facts on the ground facing regular working American’s and the tragic implementation of their health care wasn’t so ridiculously deadly — ”conservative Maryland physician,” Andy Harris, “elected to Congress on an anti-Obamacare platform” demanded “to know why his government-subsidized health care plan takes a month to kick in.” And continued to ask “what he would do without 28 days of health care.” Irony, eh?

Realistically what I find much more ironic is the fact that as much as Republican’s and the Tea Baggers talk their shit about Obamacare, and how much they hate him — err, I mean it — those newly elected officials have absolutely no intention of repealing that legislation (watch today’s interview of Wendell Potter on Democracy Now!). Health care reform benefits business. That’s precisely where all that Republican money came from. People expecting change by voting for an industry funded solution have been had. Nothing will change. Or be repealed. But I digress.

So in a sorry attempt to cover his sloppy ass, Andy Harris, or I should say his spokeswoman, claimed — I’m assuming after the fact — ”he was just pointing out the inefficiency of government-run health care.” Believe it or not — which I don’t — that concern is fair…

Continue reading Things Could Be Worse

Shame On You!

A majority of my time over the last 12 years, say, has been spent “working” away, poking the various keys on a computer keyboard. Doing everything from fooling around to perfecting a craft. That craft has been, more or less, building websites.

Now, granted, it hasn’t been a primary focus of mine, that is, up until very recently. That’s largely why I haven’t been blogging with a familiar frequency as of late. And last month, especially. However, the need to have the web I use be accessible to the widest possible audiences imaginable, has constantly been an interest of mine, throughout my computing career.

After all my “career,” if you will, started with a giant computer screen and a single head switch, which I used for access, in a lonely hospital room a long 13 years ago. So, at the very least, not being interested in the subject would be mighty irresponsible of me, but not learning and implementing everything I could, toward such an involved practice such as web accessibility, would be even worse…

Continue reading Shame On You!