Defining Disability Awareness

Participate in Global Accessibility Awareness Day  by completing one of the activities listed on their site. In this place, my site design is based on one of inclusion; working off of a template, I aimed for a clean design that is readable and approachable, with strong contrasting colors and readability. Though it’s not a perfect design it’s one that my sister with Fibromyalgia can read without strain and my grandpa doesn’t complain about tiny font. The thoughts I reflect here continue my sentiments towards my family I expressed with Defining Inclusive Design for my DTC-106 course material. These reflections continue to evolve as introspective growth. 1 Billion People Worldwide Have Disabilities. The most common disabilities that are kept track of are visual, hearing, motor, cognitive but there are so many nuances you could consider disabilities as a spectrum of chronic conditions. To serve disabilities in every form means meeting those users' half-way and accommodating those needs even if it means making adjustments—in order to do that it’s important to understand what they are going through. For people like my sister, it can be hard to put into words, but as part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (a global movement to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion) I found a video that can do it for her. [1] Topic: Invisible Disabilities (Selected from the Disability Language Style Guide) Activity: Watch a Disability Awareness Video - Explaining Spoon Theory to Someone With/Without a Chronic Illness. Invisible Disabilities (Chronic Conditions)

An invisible disability is a physical, mental or neurological condition that is not visible from the outside, yet can limit or challenge a person’s movements, senses, or activities. Sometimes even completely inhibiting them for weeks. Although many in the general public associate disability with people using wheelchairs or white canes or who are missing limbs, more people have conditions that can’t be seen but are defined as disabilities under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

Just because someone seems fine, it doesn’t mean that they are. The difference in dealing with an invisible illness and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. In digital media there are many limitations to what someone with an invisible illness can enjoy, it hurts to sit too long, bright flashy graphics can be overwhelming, loud sounds can be physically painful, and keeping focus is a challenge. Some days they can push through, and some days all they can do is lie there waiting for the energy to move or pain to reduce.

These conditions are not outwardly visible; they are internal

and can bring about a devastating reduction in their quality of life.

A famous article in the invisible illness community is the “Spoon Theory” by Christine Miserandino where she educates her friend what she goes through by taking a handful of spoons and handing them to her; as each choice was made, a spoon was removed, the choices becoming more complex and challenging as the “day” went on, so each choice had to be deliberate. Her friend came to understand that the spoons represented the state of health for Christine—if she ran out of spoons, she might not have enough energy to weather through tougher patches like colds or she might have a physical breakdown that can last for weeks. Each person (or “Spoonie”) is different, and each illness is different, it’s a gamble from day to day how many spoons someone can start out with, and how much they’ll have by the end of the day. [2]

Reflect on the relationship between your chosen activity and The 7 Principles of Universal Design.

As an ally to my sister with Fibromyalgia I have instinctively been using these practices to help her adjust to and thrive despite her condition. Watching this video taught me that the awareness I feel for my sister’s energy threshold ties into Equitable Use because I am always looking for ways to minimize the impact she feels so that her energy does not deplete too fast. Flexibility in Use is a given, even with this site design I also made sure the cell phone version was easily readable for her, since she cannot walk up the stairs to read it from my computer—the happy medium is a tablet because it has the ease of portability, and the font is larger. When I am writing, I always keep three things in mind: Is it cohesive? Is it memorable? And is it something someone who wasn’t familiar with it could read? (Accessible) Simplifying content so anyone can read it is tricky but it’s especially useful for complicated topics like cybersecurity and sustainability in our environment. For Simple and Intuitive Use visuals can make all the difference sometimes. My brand carries a recognizable and consistent theme, one that carries over to my other works, so it does not take much to pick up on context since I use Perceptible Information to continue my thematic narrative. For my sister I look for ways to reduce physical and cognitive strain; the best kind of experiences are ones with Low Physical Effort, because that’s one more “spoon” she can save for something later especially since her needs can fluctuate.

Approachable Use is part of the spatial awareness we have to prepare every day.

Creating Size and Space involves clearing the walkway of kids' toys, having her pill box ready, keeping her electric blanket charged for later, all of these things we have to plan out so every day is a little easier for her, and for grandpa too.

 [1] Explaining Spoon Theory to Someone With/Without a Chronic Illness [2] But You Dont Look Sick? support for those with invisible illness or chronic illness The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino - But You Dont Look Sick? support for those with invisible illness or chronic illness