When the hunt for accessible WordPress plugins makes me exhausted and frustration takes over the keyboard. A blind webmasters commentary
There are great plugins. There are bad plugins. There are fantastic plugins. There are accessible plugins.
And I quote from my latest encounter with one of those: It’s fantastic -according to the 5.0 rating and 200k active users,
“Easy to use and 100% FREE social media plugin which adds social media icons to your website with tons of customization features”
I’m not naming this company because I know I can find something else to use and I don’t have the energy to try to make them change things. But here is the deal: It’s a simple thing one would think. A few buttons, a few links, five minutes to set up, set and forget. Unfortunately, after thirty minutes of fighting with it, I deactivated, deleted, and drew a deep breath, backing away from the computer.
And I remember perfectly decent people say to me,
“Well, at least you can do some of the things you need. Better than nothing isn’t it?”
Let me say that again,
“At least you can…. Better than nothing…”
Oh, pardon me while I throw my prospects in the waste bin and cleanse work ethics from my brain. Let me also tie myself to a corner and promise to never want to excel in anything, ever. Allow me to learn the concept of Good Enough, I am blind after all, why want to be professional?
, Now, let me reframe all of that:
“Boss, you know that new computer?”
“Yeah, it’s amazing isn’t it? It’s really fast.”
“Yes, I’m sure it is. But there’s no monitor.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that. We’re thinking of getting the monitor sometime in the future. I’ve got people looking into it, I think. It is something I thought about but it seems complicated.”
“Okay, so how am I supposed to do my work? I have video to edit for the Friday show.”
“Oh well, I can’t see a real problem. Just build yourself a monitor and use that.”
“Err, well, it’s not something I ever thought I’d have to learn. So, no I cannot.”
“No? I thought you were capable and could do anything.”
“I’m a video editor, it’s not my job to build the equipment I need to use, is it?”
“Funny, it’s not my job either. I don’t even know who makes those. But don’t fret. You can always use the 486 over there can’t you?”
“You mean the DX? The one with the broken mouse and 16 mb of RAM?”
“Yes, of-course. Hell, At least you’ll have a chair and a desk to work at. That’s more than some have. It’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”
***
JennyK.
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