Astronomer Wanda Diaz Merced Uses Physics and Technology to Expand Accessibility to the Universe

May 26, 2017 Kit Englard

The ESO telescope located at La Silla, Chile. The building has a gold dome, and is sitting on a hill. In the background is the milky way.

Wanda Diaz Merced is an astronomer who has had a visual impairment for most of her life, and attended school during a time when there was less awareness for the needs of students with disabilities. She grew up in Puerto Rico, where like all children, she became an observer to the world around her. “Even though my parents were poor and I had no exposition to science activities besides the science class in my school, I always knew I wanted to know how things worked.” Merced said of her life. This intrinsic curiosity about the natural world would lead Merced to pursue science as a professional career.

Microsoft Build 2017 Accessibility Highlights: Day 3

May 15, 2017 Kit Englard

Black //build/ logo

The third, and final, day of Microsoft’s Build 2017 was met with a lot less flare, but no less innovation. The keynote presentation on Day 3 featured a video, rather than speakers, and focused on innovative technology for businesses. There was also a continuation of the AI theme that had been going on throughout the conference.

March for Science Denies Internal Climate Problems

May 3, 2017 Kit Englard

Little girl sitting on someone's shoulders at one of the March for Science events, holding a sign which reads, "We need to understand."

March for Science took place last month, the main event being in D.C. with sister marches happening around the country. Overall, the march has been considered to be wildly successful. You can even find images of dogs participating in the event. However, not all people were represented during the events, and we can all guess what got left out. Yep, it’s accessibility.

Cripping the Con Changes What is Means to be a Geek

April 21, 2017 Kit Englard

Comic Conventions are notorious for not being accessible to people with disabilities. Lack of interpreters at presentations and panels, inaccessible buildings, not enough seating around the convention for people to rest, are all problems that can prevent potential disabled convention goers from enjoying themselves. It sends the unintended message that, ’you are not welcome here’.

Cripping the Con is changing what it means to be a disabled geek by creating a completely accessible comic convention.

Marvel Disability Inclusion Series: Marvel, You Can Do Better

April 13, 2017 Kit Englard

Marvel comics laying in a pile on a blue background.

Marvel has a reputation for underrepresenting minorities in their content. Just recently, Marvel’s Sales VP made comments in an interview with ICv2 about a decline in sales being a direct result from including a more diverse range of characters. Translation: having too many female and minority characters were causing readers to spend money and time elsewhere.

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