Hi Readers,
This is the final part in this miniseries on blindness in the context of my personal practice. You can read part1 and part2 here. In this last part I would like to discuss my views on something that I believe is important for all people with disabilities, however, this can also play a role within society as well. I would like to discuss accessibility.
Accessibility my view:
Accessibility means different things to different people. Accessibility in the context of disability can mean having access to something in a form that works for them in relation to there specific needs. This can vary from person to person and within disability. For a more formal definition of accessibility click here In my view, accessibility does not just mean being able to reach something easily as the definition in the above link suggests, nor does it mean obtaining access to something easily. For me, accessibility means having access to things that everyone has access to. I realize that this is not possible within our society, but it is changing. Accessibility in my view, is important to all disabilities and people in general. For instance, having access to healthcare forms in a timely manner, being able to fill them out and having the ability to receive such forms in a way that I can read them is important. Furthermore, someone requiring access using a wheelchair to a building is necessary for them to access everything from banking, healthcare, and seeing friends. I am not an expert of this, but I believe that this is just one-way accessibility can be understood. Lastly, accessibility can also be viewed as more fundamental not for people with disabilities but people such as having access to basic rights like healthcare, housing, along with other concerns. For example, people who have a chronic illness can be affected by such issues, along with some people who are a part of the Lgbtqia community. Again, these are just my views.
Accessibility and a Solitary practice:
Before, I move into my practice, I want to discuss one final aspect of accessibility in terms of how it relates to Witchcraft, and Paganism as a whole. When reading blogs several of them contain images. Such images for me are not always accessible since people are not aware that images need to have something called alt text within them. Alt text is text within a photograph that indicates what the images is along with its purpose within the context of them post. For example, all my images contain alt text as it allows for people who are blind or visually impaired to understand what the photo is. Adding alt text to images can assist with adding more traffic to your blog as well along with being more inclusive. This link provides information on alt text along with its significance. Most blog sites provide an option for utilizing it.
This all correlates with my practice along with my blindness because as a solitary practitioner I am using what is available to me. I am not simply referring to books, online materials, and the like. I am referring to videos, blogs, and so forth. I want you as a reader to understand that I can only access a portion of what you may access. Without alt text in a blog, descriptions in a video of what actions are taken, in addition to descriptions of symbols sigils, altars, and so forth I can only understand what people are doing from a limited view. Furthermore, having access to the right information will determine what I am able to truly learn. Sure, I have several alternatives methods for which to learn such things but a lot of Witchcraft, and Paganism is experiential. If I want to go to a festival I must figure transportation which is not always accessible in many areas, in addition to making sure I have enough information concerning what types of rituals are taking place along with ow I can participate. I want you to understand that accessibility can be implemented in other ways. Providing descriptions of your altars might give me or someone inspiration to set it up in a different way, adding descriptions to images can allow someone who is blind to understand an aspect of your practice that they may wish to use or learn more about, in addition to understanding its meaning for you.
I would like to provide ways I work around such things but how by writing this I hope people understand why accessibility matters. I can understand images by getting descriptions, I can get access to festivals by looking at my transportation options, but this is a struggle for me, and most importantly I can research. However, research can only go so far. I still have access to the nature around me which is important to my practice along with some online materials. Having access to such materials makes it possible for me to learn more about what I want to explore. Access authors works through there blogs allows me to add more to my practice. Furthermore, these things can be expanded on such as using tactile drawing kits or boards to make art for your magickal texts, creating photos, and so forth. These are just some of things I came up with but again more could be added. This blog is an amazing resource for blind/visually impaired Pagans of all paths. This blog inspired me to write this post and blog. We all want fulfilling practices and accessibility to resources, adaptation, and inclusion are all important.
Do you have any questions comments, or thoughts? Leave a comment and I will answer as soon as possible.
I discuss more in the video below:
Interested in more content? Do not want to miss anything? I urge you to subscribe to my blog via email below, along with my YouTube channel!
Many Blessings!!