#improving accessibility

[saltyyetbland]

Welcome 양띵 to the QSMP!

I know that the current state of the QSMP is a bit iffy and many may not feel comfortable watching QSMP right now (valid response), but I still feel like a warm welcome to these new Korean creators is still needed regardless as they are being introduced to an international community, which is a very scary thing ngl.

So welcome 양띵 or Yangdding who will be one of the new Korean CCs!

She streams on CHZZK and her channel can be found here.

Her Youtube can be found here.

Fun fact: She was the first YouTuber in Korea to reach 1 million view and is considered to be the one to create the foundation for Korean Minecraft content.

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

Last week, Johnson & Johnson agreed not to enforce their secondary patents on bedaquiline in most countries after a long public pressure campaign by TB activists around the world.

(A special shoutout to Nandita Venkatesan and Phumeza Tisilethe, the two women who led the charge to prevent the patent evergreening in India, which is the only reason generic bedaquiline is in production.)

But the problem of patent evergreening is everywhere--as this NYT story reports, Gilead intentionally denied people access to a drug they knew to be less toxic than alternatives because it wanted to extend its monopoly on HIV drugs for as long as possible.

Similarly, Johnson & Johnson has been intentionally denying people access to affordable bedaquiline, even though they knew they could make a profit even if they decreased the price by 65%.

What's especially galling is that both these companies benefit tremendously from public investment (bedaquiline research was funded primarily by the public), and so we end up paying for it twice--once to develop it, and once to have it available to the sick.

This is infuriating, and it is resulting in the real impoverishment and death of so many people. How does it end? With better governance and regulation. In this respect, India can be a model for us--their courts have done a much better job than U.S. ones of determining what really deserves to be patented and for how long. I'm hopeful that we can learn from the, but disgusted by this ongoing horror.

[softgrungeprophet]

this is all i want

[beastwhimsy]

six YEARS of art between these two drawings. I'm proud of where I am now and the practice I've done over the years [: I can't wait to see where I go next with my art!!

[illegal-prime]

Normalize updating laws and regulations that are no longer fit for purpose.

Normalize working with powerful enemies to find a solution where everybody wins.

Normalize mutual compromise.

Normalize collaboration over opposition.

Normalize civil discourse on divisive issues.

Normalize good faith and the principle of charity.

Normalize discussion of specific social, political, and economic issues.

Normalize advocacy for specific and implementable policy reforms to to tackle said issues.

Normalize imperfect solutions.

Normalize civic engagement.

Normalize public sector action.

Normalize incremental success.

Normalize improving society instead of destroying and rebuilding it from the ground up.

NORMALIZE PROGRESS!!!

[thedisablednaturalist]

can sustainable city activists please remember not everyone is able to walk or ride a bike k thx

[transgender-chiroptera]

Can you share some of your favorite bat facts? I wanna add more to my lil arsenal of cool random facts. :]

Of course! Apologies for the late response, I saw this at like 1am four days ago, forgot everything I knew about bats, and then fell asleep and only remembered I even got this ask today. Anyways! Some bat facts :)

Common Vampire bats are some of my absolute favourites, mostly because of their ability to run on the ground! They can gallop with their forelimbs and take off from the ground by leaping into the air and catapulting themselves with their wings, which is speculated to be how Pterodactyls took off as well! Most bats cannot take off from the ground, and must be elevated to take flight, so this is pretty cool. Makes sense too, since they mostly feed from the ankles of large mammals and so need ground maneuverability!

Here's a video of a vamp taking off, and here's a video of one walking around! I think their skittery movements and lil' faces are just the CUTEST, but I know I'm probably in the minority there. Also there's a large dish of blood in the second video, so fair warning there!

All three true Vampire bats have evolved special grooves in their mouths in order to act as a gutter of sorts to funnel the blood into their mouths, but the exact arrangement differs between them. The Hairy-Legged Vampire bat has a groove along the roof of the mouth, whereas the White-Winged and Common Vampire bats have lingual grooves under the tounge! Speaking of White-Winged Vampire bats, they're the only bats in the world with 22 teeth, for some reason (likely no reason since the molars are vestigial), AND they have scent glands in their mouths that might be used to deter predators. Pretty cool stuff!

Finally, all three species of true Vampire Bats are cute as hell. Look at these lil' guys!!

(left to right- White-winged, Hairy-legged, and Common Vampire bats!)

[androdragynous]

btw gamedev accessibility check speedrun tactic is just have every element use at least two senses. i also think of it as the nirnroot test, specifically because of the plant in Skyrim that glows and makes a weird noise at you so you can locate it.

often, because these are games, that will be "sight" and "sound", but with things like controller rumble it can also include "touch". most games do not include "taste" and "smell", but to the devs out there inevitably working on that, you have my respect.

anyways. the multi-sense check is basically:

if something is only present as an audio cue, like a sound effect in a certain direction, add a visual effect / cue or captions that include a directional indicator. if all dialogue is spoken, try to include subtitles (even better if you have various font sizes, or light and dark mode toggles).

if something is only present as a visual cue, like an item you can interact with being a different color, add an audio effect like a sound that plays when you're touching an interactive object. if all dialogue is written, try and include text to speech options, voice actors (a big ask, I know) or compatibility with screen readers.

it doesn't cover every situation (toggles for flashing, snow / rain / particle effects, high pitched noises, etc for example only affect one sense) but if you're really lost on where to start with making your work accessible. well. it's a start!

[badolmen]

Actually it really fucking frustrates me as a disabled person how ‘controversial’ video game accessibility is, how contrived it is to find actually useful accessibility mods for even popular games, how abled gamers try to distance themselves from us because we’re the ones without social lives, who don’t leave the house, who can’t work.

[aurorangen]

After the turtle hatching, Sulani's ecosystem started thriving! The coral reefs looked healthier than before, more of the marine life was coming back and of course there were plenty more fish in the sea.

[dbzautism]

i don't feel like trying to fix/finish this anymore so i'm just gonna post it lol

redraw of this image

[bare1yart]

*wakes up from an almost 3 year coma* whugh where am i

[thepavementsings]

Everyone who speaks to or does stuff with Pierre always immediately talks about how open and willing to participate fully he is in whatever they're doing. I just think the fact that he walks into all of these situations with a true joy and appreciation for all the opportunities f1 brings him to enrich his own life is so lovely and refreshing he's so important to me actually

[the-pale-3lf]

I wish there were Durge-specific paladin, cleric, warlock options where your deity/patron is Bhaal and your oath/contract broke if you defied him, which would lend far more gravitas to playing a redeemed Durge

[queerplatonicpositivity]

"Same-sex marriage should be legal" and "Same-sex marriage does not fix many of the problems with legal rights and marriage" are two concepts that can coexist.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

@chasani THE WORSTIES! Nearly Two Whole months later!! Don't worry, Gonta's tarantula has a bigger enclosure at home, she's gonna hang out on his shoulder while they have lunch :]

Please don't tag as ou/goku!