My efforts at greater accessibility

I have been working on a post about a Budweiser commercial that has been shown during the World Cup. It's been sitting as a draft on Blogger for a few days now because I am in the process of writing a transcript of the commercial to provide more access to this multi-media post.

I have only recently started my own serious attempt to work on the accessibility issues on Female Impersonator. My attempt is far from perfect or all inclusive at this point, but it is a step toward making this blog more accessible to more people more often. That is something I take seriously, despite my access failures in past posts.

My timing seems to be in line with some other progressive bloggers such as S. E. Smith and Chally at Feministe who have described accessibility issues in general and those particular to Feministe.

However, my personal venture into greater accessibility on this blog was inspired by another blog, Deeply Problematic, whose authors do a great job of making the blog accessible. Their efforts were most notable to me as a person who does not need to worry about accessibility through the captioning all their images.

So expect to see greater attempts on this blog to make all kinds of content accessible, including making links more descriptive, and providing image captions and video transcripts. If you have more questions about accessibility, Chally (linked to above) has a great overview of why accessibility matters. You may also try Googling "web accessibility" as Chally suggests.

Disablism is not acceptable

From Boing Boing:

Right now, in Geneva, at the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization, history is being made. For the first time in WIPO history, the body that creates the world's copyright treaties is attempting to write a copyright treaty dedicated to protecting the interests of copyright users, not just copyright owners.

At issue is a treaty to protect the rights of blind people and people with other disabilities that affect reading (people with dyslexia, people who are paralyzed or lack arms or hands for turning pages), introduced by Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay. This should be a slam dunk: who wouldn't want a harmonized system of copyright exceptions that ensure that it's possible for disabled people to get access to the written word?

The USA, that's who. The Obama administration's negotiators have joined with a rogue's gallery of rich country trade representatives to oppose protection for blind people. Other nations and regions opposing the rights of blind people include Canada and the EU [also including Australia, New Zealand, the Vatican and Norway].

Contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to urge the White House to change its position (if you're a reader in America).

Found at Shakesville.

Blogging about Disability links

One of my many academic interests includes disability studies, so I was excited to come across Blogging Against Disability Day.

It has lots of links to different debates within the field from employment to health care, language to literature.

And in case anyone's up in arms about what this has to do with feminism ('cause, you know, it's an island of a topic), here's a link to an article about Sexism and Personality Disorder Diagnoses.

Spread the word.

Disabled pregnant woman abused, died

Dorothy Dixon, a 29-year-old mentally disabled woman from Quincy, Missouri, was 6 months pregnant with her second child when she died after weeks of abuse administered by five adults and a 12-year-old child.

“Investigators put much of the blame on Michelle Riley, 35, who they said befriended Dixon but pocketed monthly Social Security checks she got because of her developmental delays.

Dixon saw little, if any, of the money, Hayes said. For months she weathered the torment to keep a roof over her head and that of her year-old son, who weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death.”

Dixon met one of her abusers (Riley) at a center that helps the developmentally disabled find housing and other such services, and ended up moving in with Riley. This is a deeply disturbing thought. If this woman went to a place where she should have been able to find good, honest help and ended up dead, it scares me. I hope that this is an isolated incident, but honestly, I don't know for sure. Her story is devestating.

In 2004, disabled girl's parents agree to her hysterectomy, breast surgery

I remember reading about this I don’t know how long ago.

Ashley, a 10 year old girl with a severe case of cerebral palsy that leaves her completely dependent on caretakers, underwent a hysterectomy and breast surgery in 2004 in order to keep her small. Her parents, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed to the surgeries because they felt that it would provide their daughter with the best possible life. She would remain small, and easier to care for, and she would not have to experience the pains caused by menstruation.

When Ashley’s parents went public with their decision, it caused an uproar.

“When Ashley was 6, her parents approached Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, for the operations. They believed this would make it easier to cuddle and carry a child who can do little more than lie propped on a pillow.

…In May 2007, Children's Hospital admitted it broke state law by giving Ashley a hysterectomy without a proper court review. To perform any such treatment today would require a court order, as well as review by a panel of experts in medicine and ethics and people with disabilities, says Dr. Douglas Diekema of Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics, the consulting ethicist on Ashley's case.”

Arthur Caplan, the chairman of the Department of Medical Ethics and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, had this to say:

"I think mutilating surgery involving removal of breast buds is indefensible under any circumstances. Growth retardation is not a substitute for adequate home aides and home assistance."

What do you guys think?