Update March 9th 2021: I have added several sections to this post, including commentary on the accuracy of my findings, in response to feedback I received on Twitter. If you have an interest in web accessibility, you’ve doubtless found yourself at some point involved in a discussion about the best way to fix inaccessible web…
Review: The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron
Set in early 1940’s France, the Paris Dressmaker tells the story of two women who risked their lives to save the people and country they love. Title: The Paris DressmakerAuthor: Kristy CambronGenre: Historical fiction/romancePublisher: Thomas NelsonPublication date: February 16th 2021 Synopsis Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War…
Review: Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall
Title: Who I Was With HerAuthor: Nita TyndallPublication date: September 15th 2020Publisher: HarperTeenFormat: EbookRating: 5/5 Synopsis There are two things that Corinne Parker knows to be true: that she is in love with Maggie Bailey, the captain of the rival high school’s cross-country team and her secret girlfriend of a year, and that she isn’t…
Rounding Up My Favourite Reads Of The Year
If there’s one thing we can probably all agree on, it’s that 2020 has been an objectively bad year. However, one silver lining has been that I’ve had far more time to read than I anticipated. I was supposed to start postgraduate study in September, however due to the Coronavirus pandemic my start date was…
The Truth Is: You’ll Never Be The Perfect Blind Person
I’m a perfectionist. I look at my completed work and feel irritated and disappointed because it’s never quite good enough. No matter how much time I spend refining a piece of writing or carefully preparing presentation notes, the outcome can never live up to my expectations. I’m also a control freak, so handing over responsibility…
It’s Okay to be My Authentic Self
I’ve been blogging for almost ten years. Writing that down feels a bit scary, especially because I’m not sure how much I have to show for it. I started this blog because I was a confused, unhappy seventeen-year-old. It was fuelled by teen angst and the need for other people to understand just what I…
Guest Post: Top Ten Things Sighted People Never Tell Us About Kissing
This post was submitted to the blog by Caitlin Hernandez. As a totally blind high schooler, I read every online “How To Kiss” article I could find. I lived in terror that, one day, I’d find myself with a partner and they’d laugh, the way my peers often laughed at my choreography. Articles assume, not…
Teachers Change Lives
I’m pretty critical of the education system. I’m pretty critical about everything actually, I’m just that kind of person. Despite this, I look back at my experiences in school very fondly. I am able to do this because I was fortunate enough to have so many wonderful teachers who shaped my life in different ways….
Stop Taking Our Canes Away
This blog post is essentially an expansion of a very long thread about cane travel which I wrote on Twitter. Feel free to check out and engage with the original thread, though much of the content is the same. Cane travel, or orientation and mobility instructors, are tasked with the job of teaching blind people…
Not Every Student Learns the Same way. We Need to Normalise this Difference
I often find myself saying “I failed my A-levels,” when what I actually mean is I got two c’s at a2 history and politics and a B in AS sociology. I also didn’t do well in English literature, psychology or economics. I took so many classes because I started year 12 with four subjects, English…