By Karen Mardahl | Senior Member
The STC AccessAbility SIG is a small but dedicated group. Our major claim to STC fame is preparing the conference accessibility guide for the STC Summit each year.
The AccessAbility SIG would like to see technical communicators driving the necessary changes within a company—getting development to discuss accessibility from the first day of planning and guiding the company to see the wisdom of incorporating accessibility into the business strategy. Technical communicators have many different backgrounds, but we all have the potential to make these changes.
The concept of accessibility is universal. However, some are moving away from the term accessibility and referring to “inclusive design.” Why? The word accessibility takes on different meanings in different contexts, and if it is considered something for people with disabilities, people without those disabilities ignore it. This is unfortunate, because everyone gains when our world becomes more accessible.
Sometimes legislation is the only way to convince companies to embrace accessibility in their products and services. This usually means the accessibility will be built-on, not built-in—which is expensive and time-consuming. Many people are unaware of the skills and processes required to make products and services that are more inclusive.
The SIG has a mix of expertise, too. We are not all experts! Some people come to learn and some have years of experience. Building a body of knowledge about accessibility for technical communication would be a more lasting way to develop resources for technical communication. We should be the ones who lead the technical communication field to a greater awareness of accessibility.
Even better—we can collaborate with other STC communities on issues that have a strong connection to accessibility, such as usability, plain language, and e-learning. Collaboration is how to compensate for our small size. Why should we lead alone when we can lead together and find the starfish?
Starfish? Listen to former SIG Manager Dan Voss, and you'll learn about the starfish, too.
I marvel at the way this organization has grown in the past 12 years from a small committee to an organization of experts on accessibility that is respected the world over—one that has made many significant contributions to the cause of universal accessibility. Can that elusive goal ever be achieved? Well, that takes me back to the story with which Judy Skinner concluded her landmark article on disabilities in Proceedings to the 47th Annual STC International Conference, “My Brain Works … My Legs Don't! Let's Take the ‘Dis’ Out of Disabilities.” It's a story that is familiar to many, but which takes on a special poignancy in the context of helping those with disabilities:
“I'm reminded of the story about the beach strewn with starfish and the little girl picking them up and throwing them back in the ocean.
‘Little girl,’ a passer-by said, ‘what are you doing?’
‘I'm saving starfish,’ she replied.
‘But there are so many! Your efforts can't possibly make a difference.’
As she picked up another starfish, the little girl said, ‘It makes a difference to that one.'’
We ask you to help us make a difference.
Yes, we've come a long way. We've “saved” many, many starfish, but we won't rest until they are all back in the sea. Let's help those starfish together!
The AccessAbility SIG online:
www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1852045
STC email listserv
Thanks to Dan Voss, Lori Gillen, Fabien Vais, and Whitney Quesenbery for inspiration and assistance with this article.
