Sharing stories & creating content — a nonprofit MarComms professional, nonvisual accessibility pusher, she/they person. Not all the things — just Some.💙
About Me:
💫 I assume everyone is a lesbian until proven otherwise
💫 I know thousands of blind people & amplify their voices
💫 I’m always in search of how to better phrase a message
We have an urgent request for our members to submit comments in support of phasing out subminimum wages for people with disabilities. In December, the US Department of Labor released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to phaseout Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
I’m headed to the @NFB_voice National Convention — working behind the scenes on communications but also connecting directly with thousands of blind people to continue amplifying our stories. #NFB24 💙
@JuntaeDeLane Yes I agree — unfortunately too many folks think they lack a creativity trait when actually they just aren’t building their creativity muscle. Marketing is an art & a science — creativity is critical.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which is tomorrow, is a great litmus test for how mainstream tech news orgs cover accessibility.
It reminds that we can’t—shouldn’t—devote meaningful coverage of disability in tech to just one damn day of the year.
To me, editing isn't an act of self-criticism — it's an act of self-awareness.
It's not about putting yourself down. It's about getting curious about your choices.
Less: This sentence sucks!
More: What can I do to make this stronger?
Who are some people with disabilities in STEM that you would recommend for people to follow or explore their work? (thought leaders, activists, advocates)
Put in the work.
I don’t know why this idea is getting a bad rep. But a lot of people are becoming anti-work lately and that’s not a good thing.
Great things take work.
Great relationships
Great businesses
Great friendships
Great health
Great art
It all takes work.
A journalist’s job is NOT to read every single pitch that they receive. That would be impossible.
A journalist’s job is to report the news that’s important to their audience.
Spend your time finding the right journalists, not mass-blasting pitches.
Recently had this discussion with a solicitor about PDF document accessibility.
If it has to be PDF, minimum OCR, with header tagging done correctly, and searchable. Image descriptions would be a bonus.
Word files work well but I’m not sure why PDF seems to be the standard.
@NFB_voice 1. Start your PDF with a well structured word document.
2. Don't use image only PDF documents.
3. Make sure the PDF is searchable and selectable.
4. Tag the PDF file.
@NFB_voice Accessible PDFs start with correctly designed source files. Use heading styles and avoid manual trickery, and your docs will be 60% there. Add image descriptions, and you are 80% there. #NoSignificantBarriers#a11y
Program & event flyers, pricing plans, reports. So many inaccessible PDFs.
Marketing & Comms folks:
- know your target audience has disabled people
- anywhere an image is, alt text goes behind it
- clear text clutter
- explore the accessibility tools
- get feedback & improve
We encounter inaccessible PDF files everywhere—at school, at work, in emails from friends and family… What do you suggest when others ask you how to make PDF’s accessible?
Things that matter more than social media likes:
-Family + friends
-Mental health
-Physical health
-Hobbies
-Sales
-Revenue
-Yummy leftovers
-Enjoying your life
Keep showing up but keep it in perspective.