This follows on from my previous blog and contains my experience of a Twitter Party

Now - this is where Twitter comes into its own when you add a hashtag ( # followed by a word e.g. #equality) to the end of your message. If you go on Twitter, you can search for everyone in the world who has added the same hashtag to the end of their message and it will be displayed in a time-line. Hence people can see what others are saying on the same topic - and join the conversation.

The most used hashtag for my account is #mhlparty (over 430 Tweets) and it's my first experience at a Twitter Party I am going to share with you today - from a disabled person's perspective.

Accessible Parties.

I like the idea of parties - being around friends, having a laugh, good music and a bit of dancing. On the other hand I feel very uncomfortable in environments like these. For starters, crowded areas where everyone is standing up or dancing/falling over drunk is not my idea of fun. Perhaps because I can't stand up (use a wheelchair) and need some space to move, perhaps because people always used to fall over me as they wobbled to and from the bar. Maybe it was the drunken games of 'who dares chat the cripple up' or the fact that I could commit suicide on less than 1 Unit of Alcohol. Add to this the noise and the fact that my voice is sometimes little more than a whisper does not a conversation make.

All in all, I'm just not cut out to do the Party thing - even though the idea of loud music and waving a glow stick around all night has huge appeal!

Then I started tweeting whilst watching Most Haunted on the television, having a love of all things ghost like since the Ghostbusters first came out in my childhood. Prior to University I was so interested in the Paranormal because of personal experiences that I was originally going to do a Parapsychology degree. I guess you would say I'm a skeptic believer i.e. I believe in paranormal activity but don't believe every sound or bump in a spooky place is spirit activity. So, I take things like Most Haunted with a huge pinch of salt and a good dose of entertainment. Whether you believe or not, Most Haunted as a series has a huge fan base and I saw that some people who watched the show were Tweeting about a Most Haunted Live Party (mhlparty). I had to find out more - so I did and although the show brought us together we all agreed that it was our party and interactions with each other that made the night a fantastic one.

Left: My attempt at psychic art. This picture tweet was my prediction that paranormal findings related to WWII planes might feature (as they were at an old RAF base). Just as I thought - my prediction came true - must indeed be psychic!!

What is a Twitter Party?

Well for mhlparty, it was the idea of the lovely @JuicyJulesRocks and anyone who watches the show can join in. Each Tweet carries the hashtag so we can focus on just party tweets and we have a core group of about 12-20 people with the party theme being based on the show. We all seem to hold the same viewpoint - pretty darnn skeptical about the show but still loving it (and occasionally something does happen which makes us all go a bit quiet and reach for a pillow to hide behind!).

A party is held for every Live event - that's 3 hours of tweeting for 3-7 nights and can best be described as virtual role play. For example, someone will run a bar and make sure we are all well topped up if not getting a bit tipsy by the end of the night and others will let people know what music is playing (our favourite of course being on replay is usually Ghost Busters or for devillish investigations Road to Hell has been known to pop up on the old Jukebox). Not forgetting the party nibbles, lots of chocolate and I tend to supply glowsticks! We have a mhlparty website hoted by the lovely @MrRant and party games include competitions such as 'best costume' and the ever popular 'guess how many times they will swear on live TV'. In fact, our party has had a few mentions on air and we have had an official drop in who monitors the swearing from the broadcasting perspective and helps with the official 'count'.

If you have ever listened to Audio Description of a party scene on a TV programme - Tweets read a bit like that! Our own, virtual, interactive party world. Yes, people probably think we are all quite mad but essentially, we have a laugh and a chat, we've made some good friends and have a great night.

The best sort of party for me?

Yes, most definitely.

• To start with, I didn't have to phone up and check for wheelchair access or
• figure out inaccessible transport/parking.
• I didn't have to explain to anyone why I can't drink alcohol.
• I didn't need to feel 100% well to join in.
• I get a giggle because of my crazy party costume and not in a hurtful way because I've tried to cram my funny shaped body into party clothes.
• I have no fear of bullying or harrassement - or of being safe from some of the terrible disability hate crime of today.
• In all reality I am comfy and warm in my living room and not worrying about hot, claustrophobic environments.
• I can eat and drink what I want at a virtual party - unlike real life.
• I don't have to worry about trying to use a toilet that is inaccessible and wet underfoot with alcohol, vomit and urine - especially when I can only transfer in bare feet.
• I don't need to worry about getting home safely and
• best of all, I can communicate with people rather than words remaining as frustrated thoughts when I haven't the strength to get them out. Without communication, life can be lonely and it's easy for people to pre-judge me as anti-social.

Of course wheelchair users and people with all sorts of impairments go clubbing and enjoy the night life - but my choice is to stay in and party in an alternative way.

A sign of equality?

Nobody knows I have an impairment in most virtual parties - it's not relevant. I don't hide my impairment from anyone but I don't make a point of telling everyone I meet that I use a wheelchair unless it is relevant to the message or situation. I found it interesting that I could Tweet about every day life for months before people started asking if I used a wheelchair because otherwise a tweet didn't make sense! It's not everyday that someone can say they rolled down a hill when out for a walk. It's perhaps testimony to just how far equality has gone. I'm loving my virtual world - so drop in for a chat or a cup of tea anytime you wish :-)

* Dedicated to all the wonderful mhlparty goers.

Tags:disabled | access | socialising | twitter | Mhlparty | disablism | social networking | blogging against disablism day

Twitter - my new best friend.


Twitter has been a global phenomenon for a while now. Until last year I had no idea, what it was or why I was hearing about Tweets everywhere. I wasn't inspired to give it a go thinking it can't be much different to the Face Book Status concept. That was until one day around this time last year I became a little too curious - and now I need therapy, really I do!

Hello everyone. My name is @crip_tic and I'm a Twitter holic.

To find out how I enjoyed a party for the first time in my life using Twitter - continue to the next blog post!


Twitter v. Facebook Status.

Twitter is definitely my social network of choice where I have made real friends and work contacts. I do a lot of work from home and TweetDeck (my free Twitter mission control software for reading and sending Tweets) is on all day on my desktop and on my iPhone when I'm away from my desk. I am only Twitter free when I'm teaching or asleep.

My hundreds of 'friends' on Facebook are largely people who are 'used' for the sake of playing games rather than actually forming friendships and some of the posts are quite frankly annoying, self pitying or self indulgent congratulatory messages about how clever they are, how drunk they were or how much Jesus loves them. Either that or people share their misery in good old Country and Western style 'Dogs dead, divorce papers came through, teenage daughter is pregnant and worst of all the price of cider has gone up'. Much more of that and I'd have to add depression to my list of ailments.

Interestingly, I have some friends with bi-polar who refuse to get involved with Facebook so perhaps they had been tipped off beforehand!! On the other hand, some of the status messages do make me wonder if it's just one big peer support group FOR people with varying mental health problems and it could be argued that due to the therapeutic and supportive benefits of Facebook - perhaps it should be funded by the NHS?

What's Twitter all about and is it accessible to disabled people?

The moment I created my account and typed my first message into the 'what's happening' box I was hooked. Essentially that is the start and end of all that Tweeting is about - these tiny glimpses into life, lovingly known as Tweets. People share what they are doing, where they are, photographs, drawings, links, what they like/don't like, what they think or talk about a TV programme they are watching ... you get the idea.

The concept is amazingly simple. No annoying adverts, no games - just a list of Tweets. You tell the world what you're doing in less than 140 characters. Others will be doing the same in real-time rather like instant messages. If you follow people, you will see their Tweets appear in your time-line. Likewise, if they follow you, they will see your Tweets.

Accessible Twitter

Twitter, could be used by virtually anyone in conjunction with assistive technology that might be needed to use a computer/phone or learning support to master the basics.

People can Tweet in so many different ways and one of my favourites is by drawing pictures. It's not that I can't type or read, but more because I use a graphics tablet instead of a mouse and like to be more creative with communicating my message (and sometimes it's a lot funnier because I can't draw for toffee!) On my desktop I use Wacom Minis which is free tablet software for Wacom tablets. It allows you to run an application called Draw Tweet on either a Mac or PC. It's really easy to use and could suit someone who prefers to communicate for whatever reason by drawing with some basic pens and colours. My pictures are saved in TwitPic which is a free photograph and drawing website linked to my Twitter account.

Using photographs to share what you are doing is another none-text way of getting your message across and something I use quite a bit. Video is also an option allowing BSL users to tweet signed messages to each other. Visually impaired people (amongst millions of sighted people) might consider audio tweets as an option. For people who prefer text input, there is a website which makes tweets easier for visually impaired people and a range of desktop software and phone applications to try out. On TweetDeck for example you can alter the colours of text against the background which might be useful if you're dyslexic but doesn't allow for changes in font size within the application or a change in the font itself.



To find out more about how I enjoyed a party for the first time in my life using Twitter - continue to the next blog post!

Tags:disabled | access | socialising | twitter | disablism | social networking | blogging against disablism day

Monday the 8th of June 2009 - remember that day.

Why?

Two amazing things happend.

1) Firstly Apple showcased a thunderous new iphone - iphone 3Gs with additional accessibility features and
2) Disabled people in the UK finally have rights to equality under the new UN treaty.

Wait - shouldn’t the second one be at the number one slot?

Seriously though, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability is a landmark piece of legislation.

On Monday it was adopted by the UK government and could lead to better daily lives for all of us in the UK who have impairments. Sadly, and true to form, the signing of this has made few headlines. If disabled people are not aware of their rights - then how can we know when to challenge common breaches of equality and dignity?

Disabled people need to know about it and use the legislation to challenge inequality. We want to be treated with dignity, respect, fairness and equality.

Tags:rights | discrimination | disabled | gadgets

It’s blogging against disablism day and here is my round up of top gadgets and innovative products that, in my opinion, are not to be missed.

Just the other day I was Oooo-ing at an iPhone that a BSL interpreter had on one of my courses. Now there’s a phone that I can’t wait to get my hands on. But wait, I hear your cry. What about blind people - how are they going to manage in a world that is going touch screen? To which I replied, well actually... did you know that people with visual impairments CAN access a whole range of apple products with some interesting innovations and built in design

It’s true, technology can be life enhancing and access features for disabled people are at risk of being left out of the top ten things to include in new devices.

Being a total tech head I’m always on the lookout for the next gizmo and gadget that I can’t possibly live without - and many of them are offering life enhancing capabilities and good accessibility.

Innovation:

1) Lip-reading computers developed at the Unversity of East Anglia. Many disabled people lose their voices but retain lip movement so this would be perfect. Think of the business applications - especially when it can read several different languages. More about lip-reading computers

2) Phones. Other useful tech includes the ability to translate sign language to audio for mobile phones. If you have no vision then this concept case for the iPhone is interesting.

Moving on - you can now control your light switches from your iPhone! I have so many remotes for switching plugs and lights that to have one cool gadget as a universal control - now that’s progress.

So, my next one is home automation (environmental controls).

3) Home automation is now affordable outside of ‘special disabled equipment’ from the NHS. In my dream world, one command would open the curtains, bring the lights up from dim, set the radio going with soothing sounds whilst my coffee and breakfast was being made for me in the kitchen by yet more fab gadgetry. Oh wait, actually I suppose I do have this in the form of a PA... hmmm.

4) Brain waves for blogging and tweeting. Yes if you can’t move a muscle then use your noggin to keep up with your bloggin (I always knew I was a poet???) and use of Twitter (if you don’t mind wearing a mad cap full of electrodes - hey I’d try it).

5) Brain waves for controlling wheelchairs. Yes working prototypes are available. You programme your chair to move left or right according to thinking about a particular object. What happens when you’re weaving about the newsagents thinking Left Left Left and your distracted by a top shelf magazine I don’t know - perhaps you start spinning round or something!

6) Gadget web-sites - I’ve found many a useful invention on these sites.

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com

is my favourite one but there are lots on the web - go and see if you can find something that could change your life!

Tags:disabled | independent living | gadgets

As a freelance trainer, I have been doing some courses lately at the sorts of night stay hotels you see at motorway stops (without naming names....).

Anyway, about 1/2 of those I visit for the first time do the following.

I report to reception.

‘Hello, I have a group for training booked by [x] can you tell me which room I am in please]’.

they then either lead me into a foyer and say ‘sit here the trainer will be out soon’, or turn to my PA and proceed to introduce themselves as if she is the trainer.

So I thought, I will clearly introduce myself as the trainer next time I do a course.

Method 2

I then went to a company and on arrival about 45 mins before the course started, I said to the receptionist:

‘Hello, I’m here to do the training.....’
“Oh I think there is training in there, but I’m a bit concerned because the trainer hasn’t turned up yet’.

Ehm... let’s start that again, I thought.

“No, you don’t have to worry - I AM the trainer....”

“OOOOOH. Your the trainer... oh oh oh.”

This company also made a ten minute toilet trip a 30 minute one because my PA had to clear the corridor of material being stored, to open the WC door, and put it all back afterwards. So 0/10 for access.

Tags:disabled | attitudes

BBC Radio 4's Money Box was broadcast on Saturday, 5 April 2008 at 1204 BST.
In the programme the lack of alternative formats was addressed. This was in relation to American Express offering bank statements in PDF formats that were not coded for visually impaired people to read via their screen readers. The issue has still not been fixed and is causing difficulties for the many people who use screen readers (Blind and visually impaired people, those with reading impairments who listen to the spoke word and people with learning difficulties who may also find it easier hearing items rather than reading them.
This is unlawful under the DDA and American Express apologized to the BBC stating that they are working to fix the problem that began last December.

Tags:alternative formats | access | DDA | disabled | discrimination | visually impaired