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 - (00:00) - Backstage Pass
- (03:20) - Introduction
- (04:21) - Accessibility is a Complex Form of Perception
- (06:07) - Erin's Trouble Accessing Online Content
- (09:06) - Recognizing Disability
- (11:04) - A Politics of Wonder
- (12:51) - The Inaccessibility Tax
- (15:00) - The First Steps to Accessibility
- (17:35) - Practicing Open-Minded Empathy
- (19:22) - Expanding Our Circle of Recognition
- (23:26) - Uncovering Our "Half and Half" Nature
- (25:33) - Biographical Illumination
- (29:03) - Credits
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What is What Works?
Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and creative spirit are used to enrich others and maintain the status quo. It's time for an intervention. What Works is a show about rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.