Typically, the question of accessibility online is considered in technical terms: How does this website need to be designed? What ALT text is appropriate for this image? Are captions available for this video? And obviously, knowing the technical aspects of accessibility is important.
But if accessibility stops at the technical requirements, we forget that there are people on the other side of those checklists and manuals. We forget that even the most rigorous checklist can’t account for everyone and their experiences. We forget to ask critical questions that seem obvious when it comes to a backstage pass but are readily dismissed when it comes to most other social spaces.
In the 3rd episode of my 5-part series on Decoding Empathy, I talk with Erin Perkins, an accessibility educator and the founder of MabelyQ, and draw on the work of disability studies scholar Tanya Titchkosky to theorize the overlap between access and empathy—and what it means for you.
Footnotes:
Every episode of What Works is also available in essay form at whatworks.fyi
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EP 470: Rethinking Creativity—A Cautionary Tale
NEW: World-Building for Business Owners
EP 469: Building Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Kate Tyson & Charlie Gilkey
EP 468: Figuring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate Tyson
EP 467: Organizing Indie Labor with Chiarra Lohr
EP 466: Making Room for Others with Leonie Smith
EP 465: Learning Empathy from Copywriters & Doppelgangers with Samantha Pollack
EP 463: A Brand is a Constellation with N. Chloé Nwangwu
EP 462: Decoding the Language of Empathy
This is Not Advice: Process Entropy & Process Evolution
EP 461: My Nemesis
EP 460: In Defense of Gimmicks
EP 459: Sorry, self-promotion doesn't work
EP 458: How many layers are too many?
EP 457: How to Define Hard-to-Define Work Stress
EP 456: Reprogramming Our Source Code
EP 455: The Case for Uncertainty (And How to Navigate It)
EP 454: Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey Stuff
EP 453: Fear of Loathing in Lancaster
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