CONFERENCES: IMC Leeds 2018: #disIMC: Current Challenges to Accessibility and Ways Forward – A Round Table Discussion


Today at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds, I was part of a round table discussion on current challenges in Academia.  It was an honour and privilege to be invited to be a part of this – which I managed despite a last-minute scheduling clash.  It was a powerful discussion about the current challenged faced by Medievalists with Disabilities in our research environment and work.  I’m grateful to those who organised it, and to all who contributed. 
My own short paper was on the concept of Active Accessibility.  In my view too often accessibility is seen as a standard, and only related to the built environment.  I would argue that accessibility should be an active process – one of continued change, based on asking the questions – is this accessible, how can we ensure it stays accessible, and how can we improve it?  Active accessibility also involves widening our view of accessibility to include not just the built environment but also the intellectual environment and the emotional environment.  The key takeaway is we can do much better, we need to stay strong and keep pushing for the improvements we need in order to be able to fully engage with our work. 
The video livestream can be found here.
My notes can be found here: (Black and white) (Grey background)


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