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Turning down invitations

So, you have a deaf or hard of hearing friend or colleague and often when you invite them out they are busy or they cancel at the last minute. What’s going on? ...continue reading "Inclusion and deafness – finding a space that works"

British Sign Language (BSL) alphabet - YouTube video player

If you are already convinced you can go straight to my 7 minute fingerspelling video, otherwise read on.

You might think. I’ve been hearing all my life. Why should I start signing now? ...continue reading "Everyone with hearing loss should learn fingerspelling"

First posted on August 29, 2011 on Mindful Research

BSL version of Autistic spectrum, captions and audio description - YouTube video player

You may be thinking what have captions and audio description (AD) got to do with autistic spectrum. Aren’t captions for D/deaf and hard of hearing people and audio description for visually impaired people? In this last couple of years research I’ve conducted has revealed that audio description and captions can be of benefit and are used by people on the autistic spectrum. ...continue reading "Autistic spectrum, captions and audio description"

In July I did a presentation for the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC) on accessible content. Persuading stakeholders about the importance of inclusion was a key theme and challenge.

I talked about:

• • Some of my approaches as a user researcher and trainer to promoting inclusion and accessible content
  • Specific persuasive tactics to win over stakeholders
  • And some of my responses to the old myths like ‘We don’t have any disabled users’

...continue reading "User research inclusion secrets"

The saddest words

Are these the saddest words I regularly read?

We run equality, diversity and mental health training courses, across the UK. On every course we ask in advance. “Do any of the learners have access needs?”

...continue reading "“We have no access needs”"