Got 1 minute? Learn 1 new thing!
Inaccessible vaccine registration, 1-minute learnings, and community design
IN THE MARGINS
“You can’t save the world"
With Earth Day coming up on Thursday, 22 April, one specific thing said to me comes to mind: “You can’t save the world, Laneen.”
I was told that many times growing up, as if my “big heart” was a bad thing. Does being constantly empathetic and sympathetic mean shitty or shady people will try to take advantage of you? Yeah. Does that mean I will change how much I care? No. I know I can’t save everyone or everything but I will try to save what I can: a friend, a stray animal, a piece of the planet.
As I’ve grown up, I’ve gotten better on the people side of things: not overextending myself, learning that it’s not my responsibility to help others that don’t want to help themselves, etc. Learning that I can’t set myself on fire just to keep others warm because let’s be real, the martyrs don’t get to see the fruits of their labor. Someone being unnecessarily rude to someone experiencing homelessness still makes me want to cry. Animal cruelty for laughs still makes me angry. Governments funding war instead of healthcare and education still baffles me. At heart I’m a helper so no, I can’t save the world but I can make it a little bit better than how it was before me.
ACCESSIBILITY
Vaccine Registration Inaccessibility
Thinking about the Earth means thinking about the people that are on it. And all these billions of people have different needs. How can we meet those needs during a pandemic? One way is to make sure crucial vaccine information is accessible and yet there is a lot of inequity in vaccine registration currently. These are state vaccine registration sites which are inaccessible to blind users as well as users with cognitive disabilities who use screen readers.
In this example of a person trying to register for a vaccine using a screen reader, you can see just how frustrating it must be for screen reader users. This real county health department website has a large number of accessibility errors including missing skip/bypass blocks, empty buttons, links that open in new tabs without warning, and images missing alternative text.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Problem-Solving Through Care and History
Sometimes helping the planet starts with helping your community. FLOX Studio, Inc. is a community design and strategy studio. Their work is collaborative, impact-focused, and iterative. What I like about that approach is it’s always open for dialogue and dynamic interactions - which is where change really starts. On Wednesday, they are hosting a monthly Community Jam. April’s topic is about community problem-solving through the lens of care and history.
ART & DESIGN
Learn 1 Thing in 1 Minute
To bring some bloom to the Earth doom: My friend and colleague Marq Mervin (Artist, Educator, and Activist extraordinaire) is kicking off a fun project: The 1 Minute Festival. From 19 April - 22 April, a community of creatives will be coming together to teach people something new or interesting in a one-minute video! So far there’s been video game secrets (FFXIV, yassss) and sketching tips. So cool to see the students bring theory into practice!
Check out 1MF on Instagram or on 1MF on Facebook
Signing off from the Starship SBLTN,
Laneen (Pronouns: she/they)
🎧 Listening - Neighborhood sounds as pandemic restrictions lift
💬 Quote - "A flower is simply a weed with an advertising budget."
📖 Reading - Diversifying the Environmental Movement (NatGeo article)
🖊️ Word of the Day - Intersectional Environmentalism