Love this being covered and love even more how it was covered and that he’s getting actual paying jobs! I can’t believe this wasn’t sent to me until now! I especially like how the focus is on the artist and how what he is doing matters and is impressive, and not the non-disabled people around him heroically tolerating/facilitating things for him.
Also this quote from him is gold, “But since I’m building the image, I have a very clear image of what’s happened. At that point, why would I need sighted people at all?”
According to my WebAim evaluation tool, the stupid news article has multiple major errors rendering it unusable for someone using a screen reader. Eckert’s own site has no such issues, of course.
I wanted to send the article to a friend who uses a screen reader, darn it.
LOL. That’s like…so infuriatingly typical. I tried to bring that up at one writing job that was all rah rah inclusivity and rainbows and was told it wasn’t going to happen by my editor because in her words, “Blind people don’t use computers”. Um…I think that’s the Amish you’re thinking about? And even they make exceptions!
This is kind of a long story, but I think it belongs here…so in college I bought this random trivet at the thrift store. I thought it was unique and I loved the colors… I’ve never been a “decor” person so it’s pretty remarkable that I even noticed it/bought it. It has been with me at every home I’ve lived in since I was 18 (now 31). Somehow I have managed not to break it, even though I am incredibly destructive when it comes to breakable things. It’s also made it through countless purges of my belongings as I’ve moved 15+ times and across the country, etc. All this to say, it’s very important to me, as far as inanimate objects go.
So anyway, about a month ago, I was browsing Craigslist for dish sets because I’m trying to buy a house and I have no dishes so I figured I could find something really cheap used. I come across this set of 80 dishes, in a design that MATCH my trivet. I’ve had this for 13 years and never seen a plate or anything with the same design. So apparently they are this fancy brand, Villeroy and Boch, which I’ve never heard of but this lady is selling them for $1000!! I’m like…ok that’s not happening for me, haha. But I decide, hey I’ll e-mail her and tell her the story and ask if maybe she would sell me a few plates, or bowls or a mug. It would be so cool to have a few matching dishes. Meanwhile, I’m telling my best Tucson friend about this, the whole story from finding the trivet in college, and now these dishes on craigslist, and she’s like “wow so cool, but so expensive, that’s too bad!” and we drop it and I don’t think anything of it.
So the lady never e-mails me back, which bums me out but at the same time I understand because I’m sure people tell a lot of stories on Craigslist. I pretty much forgot about it and moved on…and then my birthday was this past weekend, and I’m over at Tucson besties house and she can’t contain herself with excitement over me opening my present. I’m worried because we have very different taste in everything and if she’s really excited I don’t want to disappoint her with my excitement level over the present. So I open the box and inside is a SET OF THESE DISHES. She found and e-mailed Craigslist lady and told her the story and asked her not to respond to me so she could buy me a set for my birthday. It was the most meaningful, thoughtful gift I’ve honestly ever received from anyone. The fact that she took the time to find the post and the lady and drive across town to meet up with her, etc it just kind of blew me away! I historically have had really shitty birthdays, for one reason or another, and this just made my whole weekend. I know I’ll have these dishes forever and they will always remind me of my friend and this birthday, and how special this gift was!
