Disabled Writers & Accessibility
— Last added to Feb. 5/21 by Sylvia Skene, last extensively checked and updated December 4, 2020 by Lindsay Stone, Langara College Library & Information Technology practicum student.
The Basics
Leary, Alaina. “Why The Publishing Industry Can’t Get Disability Right.” The Establishment – Medium, Nov. 17, 2016. Discussion of why there are not enough portrayals of disability in stories published by writers and why it is important for the publishing industry to be more inclusive. Read Article
Leary, Alaina. “Why The Publishing Industry Needs To Be More Inclusive Of Autistic Disabled People.” Bustle, Jan. 10, 2018. Read Article
A Deeper Dive
Eakes, Laurie Alice. “Yes, Blind People Read Books. We Write Them, Too.” HuffPost, Sep. 17, 2018. Read Article
Griffith, Nicola. “Rewriting the Old Disability Script.” The New York Times, Nov. 14, 2018. Read Article
Leduc, Amanda. “What the Literary World Gets Wrong About Accessibility.” Literary Hub, Mar. 12, 2020. Read Article
Lu, Alex. “What Does It Mean to Be a Disabled Writer? Discussing writing, publishing, and disability with Keah Brown, Esmé Weijun Wang, and Jillian Weise.” Electric Literature, May 7, 2018. Read Article
Perry, David. “Job Discrimination in Plain Print.” Al-Jazeera America, Feb. 10, 2016. Read Article
Resources
Frontier Accessibility. Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
Offers website accessibility audits. Visit Digital and Website Webpage
“Improving the Accessibility of Your Mainstream Digital Content.” Inclusive Publishing. Read Article
“Introduction to Inclusive Publishing.” Inclusive Publishing. Read Article
“WCAG and Government Web Standards in Canada. What is web accessibility standards?” MultipleMedia. (A little slow to load) Read Article
Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility
BC-based organization that offers assistance with plain-language documents. Accessed Feb. 5/21.
W3C. “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.” Accessed Feb. 5/21. Read Working Draft
Guides
The DAISY Consortium: Ensures accessibility for people with print disabilities in both specialist and mainstream formats. Visit Site
Duyvis, Corinne and Kayla Whaley. “Introduction to Disability Terminology.” Disability in Kidlit, Jul. 8, 2016. Read Article
“Guidelines for Writing About People with Disabilities”. ADA National Network. Guidelines for inclusive language writing from the National Network of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Read Article
Karapita, Mike. “Making Accessible Media: Inclusive Language Guide.” Humber, 2017. Canadian-style guide for inclusive language. Glossary of current terminology is included. Read Guide
National Network of Equitable Library Services: Information for Publishers and Authors.
NNELS invites authors and publishers to participate in making books and other content available to Canadians with print disabilities, allowing them to “read” the books that others have access to. Visit Site
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Strategies, standards, and supporting resources to help you make the web more accessible to people with disabilities. Visit Site
All Resources
