Author: OneWorld

By Shruti Pushkarna

They say charity begins at home. Well, so does inclusion. We all love to judge others, call out their mistakes, conveniently forgetting our own follies. Aren’t we all guilty of excluding people who don’t talk, walk or look like us?

Most of us don’t even realise how and when we omit vulnerable communities from everyday conversations, business, politics, entertainment et cetera.

Persons with disabilities struggle to navigate not only in a physically inaccessible environment, but also among people unconsciously wired to discriminate and dismiss.

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By Shruti Pushkarna

Shruti PushkarnaI was fifteen, when I first traveled outside the country, across the Pacific. The trip was an eye-opener, educative and liberating. It exposed me to different people, culture, food, places and more. Something that shaped me in different ways in the following years.

To me travel means independence. I wonder what it means to a person with disability who is written off as ‘dependent’. Do disabled people like to travel? Do they have the freedom to travel given the inaccessible (physical) environment and limiting societal perceptions?

To get a sense of their desires, challenges, and the scope of travel in and outside India, I spoke with Neha Arora, the Founder of Planet Abled. An organisation that makes travel accessible and inclusive for persons with all types of disabilities and the elderly. Neha worked with companies like HCL, Nokia and Adobe before launching Planet Abled.

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By Shruti Pushkarna

Have you mindlessly indulged in stereotyping because that’s what you have seen or heard thus far? Let me tell you, this oversight is equivalent to promoting those clichés. You are just as guilty.

Here are 10 myths that have grown into commonly accepted facts over the years.

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By Shruti Pushkarna

May 19, 2022 marks the eleventh edition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). Founders, Joe Devon and Jennison Asuncion teamed up in 2012 to initiate the famous GAAD movement following a blogpost (by Joe) and a thread on Twitter (spotted by Jennison).

The objective is to raise awareness and know-how on how to make the digital environment (products and services) accessible for one billion people across the world, who live with some form of disability.

Through various events, talks and hackathons, everyone gets talking, thinking and learning about digital inclusion and access. India has been an active participant in the movement. But other than the usual suspects, including disability advocates, potential beneficiaries of accessible ecosystems, accessibility testers and consultants, most of us don’t really care about this annual observance.

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