You'd think I'd have travelled on public transport enough by now to know that if, on a fairly busy commuter train, there is a set of six seats which are entirely unoccupied, it tends to be for a very good reason.
Like a big pile of puke.
I woke up.
I got out of bed.
I looked in the bathroom mirror and was pleasantly surprised to see that my hair didn't look like a family of hamsters had taken up residence in it overnight.
I brushed my teeth.
I chose the clothes I wanted to wear today and only changed my mind twice.
I did my hair, and it only took ten minutes to get it to a state where I was happy to leave the house.
I put on make-up and managed to make it look subtle.
I left the house.
I got to the station as the train was pulling in and stepped on just before the doors closed.
I had enough personal space.
I was able to change to another overland train instead of having to get all hot and sweaty on the tube.
I had two seats all to myself.
I smiled as I looked up at the sky and the pillowy clouds scattered across its perfect wintry blueness.
I got off the train 17 minutes after leaving the house and joined the river of souls pouring towards Euston Road from the doors of St Pancras station.
The red men turned green as I approached.
I caught sight of my reflection in a window as I walked into work, and my hair hadn't turned into a frizzy mess.
I sat down at my desk 28 minutes after leaving the house and powered up my new laptop.
I'm going into the wilds of NotLondon this afternoon to shadow a colleague as she does a presentation, to get an idea of what's expected of me when its my turn.
I'm going to come back to London, go home, cook dinner, pour a glass of Wine (or maybe Port) and relax in front of the fire.
If I'm lucky, I'll have company for that last bit.
Today is going to be a good day.
For Kris, who courageously invited me to babble incoherently about photography and photoblogging. Which I did. For nearly two hours.
Things not to do at 11pm on a weeknight
Take it into your head that you're going to move the MovableType install to a different domain on your hosting account by just dragging and dropping the MT install directory.
It doesn't work and you'll panic about getting it all working again.
Things to do at 11pm the next weeknight
Stop faffing. Think about what you're trying to do, and don't mess with things if you're not sure what they'll do.*
Go to bed.**
In other news
Typekey authentication for comments now works properly. So the two of you who tried to login can now login to your heart's content.
* is it just me, or is trying to restore a borked MT install that doesn't only have your entire blog, but someone else's too, the second most arse-clenching geek thing you can do, next to flashing the BIOS on your motherboard?
** obviously, that bit didn't work.
Some of you will have heard my rants about web accessibility, some of you won't.
For several obvious and not so obvious reasons, accessibility is very important to me. I don't talk about it much here, which might seem a bit surprising, but when its your job, you need to have some "off" time too.
So why am I breaking that particular personal rule and potentially "outing" myself now?
Because it's important.
Because not enough people know they legally have to do it, and because those that do, all too often can't be bothered doing it properly.
Because the state of the web just isn't good enough, and because when people do make an effort and do something that's particularly impressive it deserves to be brought to the attention of as wide an audience as possible.
I recently became aware of net-guide, a directory designed to include (and ranks) only sites that are accessible.
Paul Crichton, whose company Net Progress created the Net Guide site wrote to his Member of Parliament, Liberal Democrat Tom Brake MP, to seek his support for accessibility in general and RNIB's Campaign for Good Web Design. Tom Brake's response was to table a parliamentary 'Early Day Motion' (EDM) to canvass support for web accessibility across Parliament.
An Early Day Motion is a petition that MPs can sign. EDMs allow MPs to put on record their opinion on a subject and canvass support for it from fellow MPs.
A complete database of EDMs is available on the web at http://edm.ais.co.uk, where you can read the current list of EDMs and find out which MPs have signed them (and to deviate from the seriousness of this post - have a look at some of the EDMs. Pure comedy).
Every EDM has a unique title and number. The EDM on web accessibility tabled by Tom brake MP is entitled 'net-guide RNIB Accreditation'. It is EDM number 461.
The full text of the EDM reads as follows:
"That this House offers its congratulations to net-progress, an internet consultancy based in Carshalton, Surrey on the launch of net-guide.co.uk; commends net-guide for achieving "See it Right" accreditation from the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB); notes that the See it Right website logo is awarded to websites which have demonstrated a commitment to best practice website accessibility; further notes net-guide is an internet search engine and website directory designed to be easy to use, regardless of whether or not users are blind or partially sighted; recognises the diligent work done by net-guide in conducting independent audits on the accessibility of the websites in its database, which gives users an idea of the ease of use of the websites returned in a search or from browsing the directories; believes that two million people
in the UK with a sight problem deserve fair access to electronic information and calls on web designers to take on the board the practical advice offered by RNIB for producing websites which meet the information needs of the blind and partially sighted, a requirement enshrined in Section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1999."
The last point in the EDM is the crucial one: "That this House... calls on web designers to take on the board the practical advice offered by RNIB for producing websites which meet the information needs of the blind and partially sighted, a requirement enshrined in Section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1999."
For this to become a reality the Government must be encouraged to back initiatives that alert businesses, large and small, to the vital importance of accessible web design.
For the EDM to have maximum effect it needs support from as many MPs as possible, and this is where you come in.
RNIB and Net Progress are asking you to send a letter to your MP asking him or her to lend their support by signing the EDM and by writing to the appropriate Department of Trade and Industry Minister.
If you don't know the name of your MP you can search the database on the Parliament UK web site at www.locata.co.uk/commons or call RNIB's Public Policy Team on 020-7391 2123.
Here is an example letter for you to send to your MP. You may simply fill in the blanks or adapt the letter to make it more personal to you.
---
[Your MP's name], House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA
Dear [your MP's name] MP,
Disabled people and web sites
There are more than nine million disabled people in the UK. At least two million people experience serious sight problems. Increasing numbers of disabled people use the Internet for information, shopping, study, work and entertainment. However, disabled people find that many web sites are extremely difficult to use because of the way they have been designed.
In April 2004, the Disability Rights Commission published a report that revealed the extent of the problem: 81% of UK web sites fail to meet even the most basic requirements for accessibility.
This form of disability discrimination is unacceptable and unnecessary.
Tom Brake MP has tabled an EDM (461) calling on web designers to ensure that they design web sites that disabled people can use.
I would be grateful if you would demonstrate your support for this issue by signing the EDM.
I would also be grateful if you would write to DTI Minister for E-Commerce Mike O' Brien MP, expressing your support for the EDM and asking him to support initiatives that will encourage businesses to ensure the accessibility of their web sites to disabled people.
Tom Brake MP is one of a growing number of MPs to have made sure that his own web site is accessible to disabled constituents. I would be pleased to know what steps have been taken to make your own web site accessible to disabled people.
Yours sincerely,
[your name and address]
---
It's not difficult. You can do it online. It takes a few minutes, and any support you can give will be very much appreciated.
When you receive a response from your MP, please email a copy of his or her letter to Julie.Howell@rnib.org.uk (postal address: Julie Howell, RNIB, Bakewell Road, Orton Southgate, Peterborough, Cambs PE2 6XU).
Linking to/reposting this on your own blog would be fantastic too.
Thank you.
What a week.
It's been so much more intense than I thought it would be, what with training my replacement while being trained in my new role, the retirement party for my lovely ex-boss and meeting the ex-colleague whose departure led to me getting the job.
I've worked 44 hours and I'm totally knackered, but I'm also really excited about the job too.
That said, thank FUCK it's Friday.
Today I start my new job.
As of 9 am this morning, I am now a Consultant.
Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree... how lovely are your branches.
Submitted to Photo Friday: Silhouette
The biggest, fattest squirrel in the whole wide world.
Ever.
Yes folks, I have myself a new squirrel friend.
Yes, that means this is not my first squirrel friend.
Yes, I'm aware that makes me a bit odd at best, and a total nutcase at worst, but I haven't had a pet since I moved to London, can't get one and damnit, squirrels are cute and don't shit on the carpet.
[those of you who aren't aware of my nuttiness (I'll stop with the bad puns eventually, honest) about squirrels can look here, here, here and here for evidence]
Start a new job (10th Jan).
Speak to my family at least once a week, whether I need to or not.
Take at least one photo every day.
Get the most that I can out of the membership of the Photograhpers' Gallery that I was given for Christmas.
Allow myself to fail, learn from it and try again.
Spend more time with friends.
Do more things I've never done before (off to a good start already - I've upgraded my bios and participated in a pub quiz).
Love.
Implement at least one redesign of this blog.
Complete, submit and have a css Zen Garden entry accepted.
Listen to the radio more.
Laugh.
See more music performed live.
Read more books.
Walk more.
Be thankful for what I have.
Cry.
Be inspired, and do something about it.
Write more.
Be selfish when necessary, and not feel guilty about it.
Accept that not all of these things are possible, but do everything within my control do make them happen.
Drunk:
Whisky (Dalwhinnie)
Port (Cockburns)
Diet Coke
Eaten:
Too much junk food
Not enough proper food
Kissed:
With passion
With tenderness
Happy New Year
Goodnight
Good morning
Goodbye (for now)
On the carpet in front of a roaring fire
In bed
In the kitchen
While standing in the street in bare feet
Made:
A number of resolutions
My bed (once)
Coffee
Sausage Sandwiches
Toast
Broken:
Two fingernails
One PC
Three resolutions
Fixed:
One PC
Ironed (I offered):
One shirt
One pair of trousers
Participated in:
A pub quiz (our team was 2nd equal with 46 out of 50)
An irc channel
An online message board
Procrastinated, instead of:
Getting out of bed
Doing the dishes
Putting the clean washing away
Implementing the redesign of this blog
Dying my hair
Answering email
Going to bed
Read:
Lots of blogs
Some news
Someone else's Christmas present books
Lots of geeky tech advice sites
Instructions for flashing my bios
Watched:
Crappy New Years telly
John Grisham's The Rainmaker
Shouted:
At the TV
Slept:
Entwined
Alone
Late
Taken:
92 digital photos
3 phone photos
6 lomo photos
Cried:
A single tear
Listened to:
Snoring
Radio 4
Hayseed Dixie
A cd that came with Kerrang magazine months ago
Schism (now sadly defunct as a band)
The same 3 songs by Biffy Clyro (Iname, Glitter & Trauma and Questions & Answers) on repeat for the last two hours.
Talked:
In person
On the phone
Online
With people I'd never met before
Downloaded:
Updates to Trillian, Firefox, AVG, FTP Voyager, Topstyle Pro, MovableType, my motherboard drivers, my bios
PuTTY
PocoMail
SpyBot
Ad-aware
MotherboardMonitor
Prime95 Torture Test
Interesting.zip
5 Art Nouveau style fonts
Several Art Nouveau style illuminated pages
Mozilla ActiveX Control
Written:
This.
2005.
Just.
There's been a lot of new in my life as 2004 drew to a close.
Simon Pegg for example.
In glasses.
On the telly. Twice.
Ace.
There's lots I could say, but I'm not going to waffle for now, because I've had way too much Port and it's likely to get a bit emotional.
So instead I'll just say Happy New Year, and that I hope 2005 is a fabulous year for all of you.
... the online home and (not very) alter(ed)-ego of Ann McMeekin, a recently freelance Web Accessibility Consultant.
... passionate about many things, most of which will turn up on this site at some time or other.
... contactable via email.
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