Hi, folks.

At the FAB Congress, there was some discussion of how folks for whom English was
not an easy second language had trouble accessing presentations, due in part to
lack of Powerpoints or handouts (many folks can read English better than they
can listen; this is certainly the case for my French!). If we truly wish to be
inclusive, we need to make ourselves and our ideas accessible to a wide array
of folks.

This potentially extends to the IJFAB blog, as well. Just wanted to thank the
IJFAB blog for getting a Translation widget added to the blog so quickly. At
the bottom of every page is now a widget to translate. Maybe this would be
better off at the top of the page for folks who don't scroll all the way down,
but it is there where such things are often placed and it does a decent job of
translation. Elegance will be lost in literal translation, as will some
subtleties of meaning, but it is a great leap forward in the accessibility of
the blog to folks who do not work in English either orally/aurally or in
written form.

FWIW, I have also decided to begin making the captions of any images I use in my
blog entries more descriptive so that folks with visual impairments who use
e-reader software can still access the salient content. Others may also wish to
consider this small accomodation.

Thanks, IJFAB blog, for being so quick on the uptake.

Best,
 Alison
   --------------------------------------------------
   Alison Reiheld
   Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
   College of Arts and Sciences
   SIU-Edwardsville
   [log in to unmask]
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