Disabilities Blog Posts

International Assistance Dog Week 2022


Happy International Assistance Dog Week! It’s that time of year to give our special helping hounds a big round of applause. International Assistance Dog Week gives a massive thank you to all the dedicated service dogs that provide support for individuals with disabilities and other medical conditions as they navigate daily life. Here at PowerMapper, we would also like to give particular recognition to the trainers who dedicate so much time to training these dogs.

How disabilities affect website use


This post follows on from the one on Disability Statistics, and shows how the most common disabilities affect website use.

Christmas cards for people with limited vision


Well, it’s that time of year again. While I consider myself one of life’s formidably organised Christmas present buyers (I started in August) I seem to fall sadly short when it comes to finding the time to write and post my Christmas cards. I know that to many, card writing seems an outmoded way of sending Christmas greetings, but for many of my ageing relatives, some of whom now live alone, a hand written card arriving in the mail is still much appreciated.

Having something to say beats slick presentation


Today is World Stroke Day, which aims to raise awareness of the condition. Earlier this week I saw a conference keynote speech by Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovators Dilemma and a Professor at Harvard Business School. He introduced himself by apologizing for hesitating while speaking because he'd suffered a stroke a few months earlier. In spite of this he was an engaging speaker - much better than the other professional conference speakers.

Giving accessible presentations


A few days ago I attended a presentation given by some UK Government departments - the main topic was providing equality of access to government contracts. There was the usual torrent of PowerPoint slides filled with facts, figures and addresses of websites which publish government contracts.  At the end of the presentations the question and answer session started: Chief Official: "Does anyone have any questions?" Lady in Audience: "Will any of the slides be available after the meeting?