I was flattered to be invited to speak at this conference a year ago. A trip to Australia, a presentation and to meet others living with similar challenges to my own, an opportunity not to be missed. The journey was long and testing, but it was worth it to be a part of such a great event. I was annoyed with myself that I was unwell but my excitement drove me on. Senses had made every effort to make this conference fully accessible for all in the DeafBlind community- I was extremely impressed.There was good lighting, there were On Stage…
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I was flattered to be considered to speak at Qcon San Francisco this year. To discuss accessibility challenges for people living with similar challenges to my own but to make it more technical than I usually would. I was delighted to be in a position to ask for help from my friends at Sigma with whom I work alongside from time to time. Chris Bush and I set about putting together a great presentation that would make the audience of digital giants, designers and developers simply consider accessibility, it’s importance and relevance in the world of technology. Chris is the…
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I was invited to the Second Cross Government Accessibility Meetup as a guest speaker in the summer, so took time out to travel up to Leeds. Another great opportunity to speak about the importance of accessibility for all on all Government websites. I found it very refreshing that those attending were very positive about making a difference. I think it is much harder for people who do not rely on specific accessibility features to completely understand and absolutely impossible to be completely up to speed with all disabilities and impairments. I cannot speak for all, however, I can advocate…
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I was lucky to be invited to speak to the BBC's Accessibility Champions, they had all come together from all over the country to Salford's Media City. A fantastic audience to talk about two of my biggest passions, accessibility and technology. Speaking about the difficulties so many have in accessing the things many take for granted. I'm always delighted to get questions after a presentation. Several questions were based on my online experiences using the BBC website and also the BBC iplayer app. I use the iplayer app most regularly, I rarely watch television. The reason for this is the…
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Over the past months I have blogged a fair amount about British Airways both good and bad and thought a few flights further down the line it appropriate to revisit the whole "flying with guidedog" subject again. In May I had a horrendous time with BA both outward journey and inbound. I was not with Guidedog Unis on this occasion and though on booking the airline had been informed of my deafblindness the information had failed to reach all departments and therefore my needs were not taken in to account. British Airways took the matter very seriously and as a…
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