WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Elderly and self identification as having a disability

for

From: Tyllick,Cliff S (DADS)
Date: May 26, 2016 9:58AM

Thad, that is wonderfully written.


Even when reading such a compelling piece, sometimes folks never let go of the "us" and "them" mentality--as in "making this easy to use is just another thing I'm having to do for them." (I won't repeat the way one developer phrased that. Let's just say I couldn't believe it didn't get him ordered to repeat civil rights training.)

When I encounter that attitude, I make the point that these issues affect everyone at least some of the time. An article that makes that clear is Angela Colter's The Audience You Didn't Know You Had: http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/the-audience-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-you-had/

It usually works.

As for when it doesn't work, I'll loosely paraphrase that developer's comment: some people just refuse to be helped.



Cliff Tyllick

EIR Accessibility Coordinator

Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS)

512-438-2494

<EMAIL REMOVED>