@dr_pete I'm part of the leadership for our office Employee Resource Group on disabilities and neurodiversity, and one of the things we talk about is the different types of disabilities: Permanent, Temporary, and Situational.
@dr_pete Permanent disabilities are what most people think of: deafness, using a wheelchair for mobility, etc. Temporary disabilities are things like a broken leg, your eyes being dilated at the eye doctor, etc.
@dr_pete Situational disabilities are things like your hands being too full to open a door, you're pushing a stroller, etc. One of the things we find is that the more people realize that accessibility isn't about "those people over there," but about everyone, perspectives change.
@dr_pete (Not that people should need that personal connection to value accessibility, but it matters.) We also find that a lof of the things that are developed for accessibility (as I said earlier) become commonplace and useful.
@dr_pete So when people complain about "oh, I don't want to do this extra work for this app," they're really missing out on the role accessibility plays broadly. (Also, not caring about "those other people" is a sign that you have problems.)
@drmag00 Maybe this is a little cynical, but it also feel like an angle to promote accessibility (in a potentially positive way) -- addressing accessibility issues can potentially benefit a lot more people than our current narrow view considers.
@drmag00 That's not to say the 1% or the 0.1% don't matter, but that accessibility issues aren't some line in the sand that everyone is neatly on one side or the other.
@dr_pete Oh, I agree. The unfortunate truth is that we know there are plenty of people (maybe even a majority) who need to see how something impacts them directly to care about it.
@drmag00 There's way too much I didn't appreciate until I saw what my niece goes through.
@dr_pete Ever since we had kids, I realized how many design choices are made by men who've never pushed a stroller around.
@drmag00 I once helped a mom holding a baby (and traveling alone) fold her stroller on the jetway, and she looked at me like I was a figment of her imagination. Like, seriously, dudes, it's not that hard.