Infinite Flow Dance

#Gratitude My highlight of the week so far: Attending #LICreatorAccelerator learning session “Accessibility on LinkedIn and Beyond”.   When I founded Infinite Flow Dance a dance company that employs disabled and non-disabled dancers with diverse intersectional identities, in 2015, I knew almost nothing about accessibility outside of my lived experience of being a stroke survivor.  I learned about accessibility and disability inclusion as I built Infinite Flow through our operations, programming, and community outreach.   7 years later, here I am positioned as an expert in disability-related topics.  But, let me admit, it’s been 7 years of listening, experimenting, and learning from mistakes.  As a professional dance and movement artist, I’ve learned to embrace being forever both a teacher and student.  Likewise, I consider myself a disability-voice-in-progress and will continue to be a work-in-progress, while contributing and serving where I can.   A couple of things I learned yesterday: ** From Jennison Asuncion’s screenreader demo: Camel case hashtags (#DiversityAndInclusion vs. #diversityandinclusion) are essential for screenreaders to read properly.  FYI, a screen reader is a form of assistive technology that renders text and image content as speech or braille output.  It’s essential for blind users.  ** From fellow #LICreatorAccelerator members and disability advocates Tiffany A. Yu, MSc: Practicing accessibility is another form of creativity.  Debra Ruh: To let go of perfection in trying to get accessibility right, for example using the “right” language in ALT text.  ALT text, a short written description of an image, which is also essential for screen readers to read.   My message to all creators: * Place accessibility first not last.  Some of the world’s greatest innovations, such as the typewriter, email, and sliding doors have come about as a result of designing for disability.  With 1.7 billion disabled people globally, which is 15% of the world population, making your content more accessible opens doors of infinite possibility.   It may take you 10% more time to create content, but this effort will pay off 10 fold. * Where to start: 1) Add ALT text/image descriptions 2) Add captions by adding or embedding SRT files 3) Have a basic understanding of inclusive language, starting with the basics of People’s First Language and Identity-First language.  I’ll be sharing more on this in the coming weeks - A simple google search will lead to some how-to’s as well.   The video: Audio-described version of Infinite Flow Dance sizzle reel.  This was described by DD, one of my youth dance students who has a blind father and parents who are both professional audio describers.  (Yesterday’s conversation got me thinking about how we can more easily and efficiently add audio description to our videos) #LICreatorAccelerator #MoveOutOfTheBox #UnboxInfiniteCreativity #Diversity #Inclusion #Accessibility #Disability