Prof. Sam LawlerMar 1

2 neat things from the presentations I gave at the local science centre yesterday:

First, there was a Cree poet there who gave me a copy of his book https://www.yourwestcentral.com/articles/book-the-star-poems-a-cree-sky-narrative which is AMAZING. I didn't get a chance to look carefully at it until afterwards, so I didn't realize how incredibly special it was that he gave me a copy!

In the book, there's an appendix where the author discusses Cree translations for physics terms like gravity, boson, quantum foam, and time. I LOVE IT.

Book: The Star Poems: A Cree Sky Narrative — Your West Central Voice

It’s innovative, bilingual, and gives us another kind of Genesis. The Star Poems: A Cree Sky Narrative/acâhkos nikamowini-pîkiskwêwina: nêhiyawi-kîsik âcimowin is a Cree/English poetry collection…

Your West Central Voice
Show threadProf. Sam LawlerMar 1

Second, I suddenly had to think really hard about my own ingrained ableism: I had an audience member with a white cane. I did my best to describe what I was showing on the screen (writing all those fedi alt-text captions seriously helped with that skill!)

But, the biggest problem, was I kept saying things like "you can see X in the sky with your eyes." I have to think hard about how to do that differently. I focus a lot on "naked-eye astronomy" but there's a lot of assumptions in that.

Show threadProf. Sam Lawler

So, I know there's a really great community of accessibility activists here, and I'd love to get some suggestions of how to talk about the night sky without these built-in assumptions that I've internalized about how everyone's eyes work.

(Interesting side note: the Blind audience member was SUPER outspoken about how terrible urban light pollution is! They focused on how it drives all the birds away and causes health problems)

Mar 1 at 2:59pmWeb
Show threadAlMar 1
@sundogplanets
That is a really good observation from the blind. pollution like racism effects us all.
Show threadAurani the Wrath CatMar 1

@sundogplanets I have been told that most people accept things like this, or colloquial uses ("have you seen Y lately?") in stride; but I can't speak for everyone.

But something I have been doing with Web content, is avoiding phrases like "see the below image". I instead use phrases like, "refer to the following image"; making sure that the image is actually after the text, both visually and when navigated via keyboard.

Show threadCabbidgesMar 1
@sundogplanets
Just wait until you connect with old people. Jeesh I hate not seeing the stars.
Show threadAmelia Bellamy-Royds Mar 1

@sundogplanets For describing your default cut-off of which astronomical features can be seen without telescopes etc, you could say it can be seen by someone with 20/20 vision, or glasses that can correct to it.

It would take more work, but for conveying things more general you could try analogies. Like the size of the moon in your field of vision being the same as a nickel (quarter?) at arm's length. Brightness could be in terms of a candle or lightbulb viewed in the dark from X m or km away.

Show threadLéonie WatsonMar 2
@sundogplanets I'm no activist, but I am blind. My advice would be not to assume that blind people were always so. Many of us have a good visual understanding of the world - it might be a little dated or hazy, but it's still there. So when you say "night sky" I know exactly what you mean. Someone who has always been blind may have a very different understanding of course.