Tag: Accessibility

The lightbulb came on

I haven’t posted anything up here in quite awhile so I’ll cut the shit and get right to it…

I hadn’t been all that happy recently. I’d become increasingly frustrated with life and couldn’t put my finger on what had been bothering me. Characterizing it as a “bother” doesn’t give the extent of my abrasiveness its proper due; I was an asshole, not to put too fine a point on it (and my profuse apologies go out to one person in particular who was hurt by said confusion: I am so very sorry).

But it wasn’t until very recently, with my renewed interest in type, and really studying Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style, that I started to put it all together. I realized something was missing.

Continue reading The lightbulb came on

Feels really good

Have you ever had one of those life changing events?  Where you have little choice but to heed it’s wishes? I’ve had a few. My accident is one. Going vegan is two. And the third one happened just this past Saturday. And all are equally momentous.

Saturday I attended the first annual Accessibility Camp Toronto. An unconference absolutely dedicated to the field of accessibility for and by professionals working in the field. What was so special? Great question. First it was a lot different than I’m used to. With 4 PhotoshopWorld’s, a few Adobe Launches, a couple Apple Presentation’s, a Lynda.com Web Conference and a couple other gatherings under my belt it’s safe to say I’m no stranger to these sorts of events. Or so I thought.

The format while similar in scope, as there was a presenter who presented ideas to an audience, but it was how and what was to be presented that was so different. The schedule wasn’t arranged ahead of time. The session ideas were proposed during the event’s opening then decided on before the event began. That’s not how these things are typically structured and run. The attendees, those who were most interested in what was to be offered, determined the direction of the event. But after, or in some cases during said “presentations,” the discussion was opened up to the audience. So not only were the attendees tasked with the conference schedule, we were able to influence the direction of the individual sessions, too…

Continue reading Feels really good

We must never forget

Well it’s September 11th, again. What’s different is this year is this was my first real opportunity to watch more than an online video here and there of a non-American news source, alJazeera in this case, covering 9/11 on 9/11. And concurrently, too. Which helped. But what I think was most important was getting a better perspective — it’s the 10th Anniversary after all, they could have dedicated more commentary toward its implications, but I’m not complaining — on the event’s aftermath around the world. Objectivity counts. Today is about so much more than just America.

That said, I also rewrote both my About and Accessibility statements recently, too. I stripped out all the technical detail relating to the stuff I spend much of my time away from here doing. And the reason I’m choosing today, of all days to post this bit of shameless self-promotion, is how 9/11 has come to relate to the topic I wrote about in my revised statement concerning Accessibility.

We must never forget, or in the very least start acting like we give a shit about, how our actions affect others…

Witness the evolution

A little while back I referred to another project that I’ve been consumed with. In addition to my volunteer role at the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC). On the 5th of this month, the 15th anniversary of my accident, I officially launched Abledaccess. And as promised (damn, was it really in February?), I’m announcing it here today.

Honestly the rough idea for this project, well it’s original intent at least, has been fermenting in my head for quite sometime (since October of last year?). But the perfect opportunity to have it grow before it had even begun presented itself in January, so I pounced on it. This is all pretty exciting for me. Not only is this another forum for me to work from and write about, but it’s an amazing opportunity to be involved in the larger coding community. Meaning, in addition to it being a blog, where I’ll discuss accessibility and usability realities — or how I experience and see them — I’m also openly developing a WordPress blogging theme called FSSFive. Using various framework’s and component’s that the IDRC has developed, and continues (being a keyword, all this stuff is very much in flux, at the moment) to develop, to help internet users enjoy more equaled access to the net.

But keep in mind, it’s currently a rather simplistic representation of what a WordPress theme can be. I want to nail down the basics before I worry about presentation (read: how it looks). As I said it’s currently under development and will constantly be changing and improving. If you should ever feel so inclined, stop by and check me out either at Abledacess, or my Github repository.

Witness the evolution…