Yesterday a friend of mine asked me to take a look at a website that is being built. When he called it up, the first thing I noticed was all the stuff I couldn’t see well enough to read. The next thing I thought of was that I’d have to highlight what I’d want to read. How often I’ve wished that people would just build it right, and that I wouldn’t need to make negative critiques of things that aren’t accessible.
It isn’t just my visually impaired community that is affected. Dyslexics struggle with reading a site, and so do others. This angers and saddens me. I’m angry because for over sixty years, I’ve needed my community at large to respond to my needs, and been saddened that those with accessibility needs have had to stand up—for the most part without others who should and could advocate for us.
I spent time advocating for this with my friend.
I get that an artist thinks in aesthetic terms when they design a website. An architect thinks about the function of the building, and no one seems to notice that the disabled want access to what most people can easily access.
The conversation went to that ugly word: money. “Well, we’ve spent a great deal on this site already, and we don’t have the funds.” Well now, I’m thinking about the fact that had they started with accessibility in mind, the builder might have done it differently. Now I have to explain what I’ve learned about my community here in Europe. I’m thinking about how many times an LGBT person has to come out—again. The disabled are also in this same boat, despite having been a known or recognized community far longer. I speak as a white female who is disabled and a member of the L portion of the LGBT community.
The conversation with my friend turned to what it takes to make a community function well. This caused us to both think about the hard work that has to go into any group.
One of the graphics on the new site displays a hen done in red. Suddenly, I was feeling like the Little Red Hen: “Who will help me plant the seeds?” “Oh, not I,” said ___, until, finally, the hen pulls the bread out of the oven and asks who wants to eat the bread, and a chorus of “Me!” springs up from the assembled crowd. Well, the little red hen denied them the bread because they had not participated in community building. It’s an old tale that has been modernized. The lesson stands.
We are all world citizens, whether we accept this as a part of ourselves or not. We live in countries, communities, neighborhoods, streets, and homes. Where are the red hens? Sometimes I feel like a red hen trying to be heard to get needed help. I do what I can, and that means writing and helping others.
How well do we know those around us, and how much time do we take to notice each other?
Here’s what I’ve been thinking: What if…?
What if you took the time to notice your neighbor?
What if, in noticing your neighbor, you did a good deed for them?
What if, in being noticed, they felt seen, and in being seen they, too, did something for their neighbor?
What if your street or apartment building then reached out to the nearest street, and slowly the spark were lit, and harmony spread?
What if neighborhoods became places of resources that supported one another?
What if we purchased locally, supported one another in the small business, and what if that small business made it a point to meet the local needs?
This is a huge what if, and yet, this is how world peace needs to begin. It starts in our small communities, and it spreads outward.
What if the little red hen had asked for help, and the response had been a resounding yes!!!
I don’t think any of the above is a fantasy, and I do know that there are voices being raised in communities. People do step up to help, and to create better environments.
I envision a world where we can all gather and feast at the table. As a therapist, I hope that when the work of healing is done, my clients leave wanting to make the world—or their little corner of it—just a wee bit better.
We are all red hens, and at the same time we’re all members of a community that requires us to look around and meet the needs that are present. Ah, one step towards world peace.