"The Celebration"

by Christi Belcourt, a Canadian visual artist who creates paintings inspired by Métis and First Nations historical beadwork

🎨 Acrylic on canvas

https://christibelcourt.ca/pages/about

#art #artist #womensart 🇨🇦

Please RT for reach: Do I have anyone following who knows or knows someone who would know how to access old UK court records? I’m looking for a case that was eventually dismissed but was held at Southwark Crown Court in 1991 - 1992.

@brian PresentAble exists because Microsoft has not been willing to provide much more than basic access to PowerPoint. So, I guess I will be financially benefiting from the reality that accessibility is almost always an afterthought.

But I would like to add another thought to this discussion: I think products (like Leasey, PresentAble, and others) provide far better access and are far more usable to us as blind people than we will ever get from tech companies. This is because these products are being designed and developed by blind people for blind people. Instead of simply considering accessibility as an afterthought and/or trying to force accessibility into product designs that weren't designed with our needs in mind, we now (more than ever) are doing what sighted people have always had the ability to do. We are solving our own needs. Our products are meant for us. Even if big tech ever committed itself to being accessible, their definition of accessible would never rise to the level of accessibility we define for ourselves when we create Leasey, PresentAble, and others.

For at least 20 years, I was strongly of the mindset that we needed to put all of our effort into getting companies to understand us and better include us. While I don't believe we should ever let companies off the hook, I think we also neeed to embrace the reality that now allows us to define for us what constitutes accessibility for us. Companies will never let us define accessibility in the ways we have defined accessibility in products like Leasey and PresentAble. Companies will always force our accessibility to be a secondary or charitable add-on to what they develop for sighted customers.

So, I believe there will always be a place for Leasey, PresentAble, and all the wonderful products our community has yet to fully develop. The hard part will be getting employers to understand that they need to provide our solutions to us so we can better do the jobs they are paying us to do.

me "oh good, a third party candidate!"
one casual search later :eyetwitch:

Ah, that feeling when you go to fill out your ballot and everybody running for some races is just punchable af

I just learned that the documentary Shifting Baselines https://f3m.ca/en/film/shifting-baselines/, about the environmental destruction caused by SpaceX, is available through most US libraries streaming on Kanopy

I'm in it. So is @planet4589.bsky.social. So are my goats and my llama! (RIP llama. Glad he was immortalized in such a key role in this film hahaha)

The director described it to me as "Depressing. But with goats!" It's truly a beautiful film and I hope lots of you get to watch it.

Christa Pike is still alive, over a week after not dying from lethal injection in Tennessee.

She's awake and speaking, but apparently doesn't remember the execution.

"“We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her,” the lawyers said. "

https://people.com/christa-pike-awake-12149655

After working with Zulu potter, Jabulile Nala from South Africa, I began to wonder why #ceramics has become an expensive hobby requiring extensive tools and equipment when originally, it was just earth and fire which are free. I created this workshop series for those who are interested in clay but find the cost of classes prohibitive. I offered it at a sliding scale but now it's available for free. Enjoy!

https://potterybyosa.com/blogs/clay-people/clay-is-for-everyone
#pottery #HowTo #DIY #PeerTube #MakerTube #OnlineCourse

here is my stamp of approval to take a rest whenever you feel like you need to without feeling bad: 🐾

My latest: with the surge in #flu and #Covid, re really should be using N95, KN95 or similar, rather than baggy surgical #masks.
With thanks to the #WorldHealthNetwork,
@adamfinkel.bsky.social

@gregggonsalves.bsky.social
for calling attention to this issue.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2026/01/15/experts-call-for-n95s-over-surgical-masks-as-flu-covid-viruses-spread/

Oh no!

"Margaret Hamilton, a profoundly influential computer scientist best known for leading the software engineering team at MIT during NASA’s Apollo program, died on Sep. 30. She was 90.

A computing pioneer who authored over 130 publications, Hamilton helped to establish software engineering as a dedicated discipline."

We all remember her from these iconic pictures.

https://news.mit.edu/2026/margaret-hamilton-computing-pioneer-dies-1007
https://news.mit.edu/2016/scene-at-mit-margaret-hamilton-apollo-code-0817
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We report: in the past few days, we have come to the conclusion that our favourite pair of shoes is no longer waterproof. Upon close examination, we have noticed a gap between the midsole and the outsole of our left shoe. In the meantime, the clouds have kept on getting taller.

I shared this study with my psychiatrist when discussing my ADHD and perimenopause symptoms, so naturally, I thought some of you wonderful folks may also find it interesting.

This 2025 study focuses on the connection between ADHD and early perimenopause symptoms, especially in folks aged 35-39.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12538516/

#adhd #perimenopause

On things no-one tells you about menopause/perimenopause.
#menopause #perimenopause
https://www.tumblr.com/jadedbirch/767607895194992640

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)! We understand that access to quality employment helps people who are blind or have low vision live more independent lives. #NDEAM is a great time to check out ACB’s employment-related resources, including ACB Job Connection, which lists nationwide job announcements. Check out ACB Job Connection here: https://www.acb.org/jobs

Version 1.2.4 was just released to the App Store of #Earshot

Here’s what’s new:

Add audio files from Files to the new Personal Audio section in Library. Earshot saves your place and remembers a playback speed for each file. This update also expands Siri and Shortcuts playback actions, lets you share episode links, adds podcast search and sorting options, and offers an optional Home Screen badge for downloaded unheard episodes. Launch, Library, Queue, and folder picker responsiveness have improved. Personal Audio import and reset cleanup are more reliable.
Get the app for free at the following link:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earshot-podcasts/id6770760602
Thanks for everyone’s support.

RE: https://caneandable.social/@WeirdWriter/117394794263235205

"But I am not voting for a savior. I am voting for an opponent I can negotiate with."

Nailed it. In a system that does not require a certain level of voter participation to validate a result, not voting doesn't hurt them.

uspol

Hey Oregon voters 👋

Midterms are coming up soon - Tuesday, November 3!

First question, are you registered to vote?

Oregon's voter registration deadline is October 13 so there's only about a week left. Make sure you don't get left out!

Here's a link where you can check your voter registration status:

https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/myvote.aspx?lang=en

If you're not registered here's the link you need:

https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/registration.aspx?lang=en

1/n

#Oregon #Elections #Midterms #Vote #Voting #VoteByMail #GOTV #USPol

Mossy bank and leaves in Grenofen woods last week #Dartmoor #Devon #mosstodon