Disabled people are ALWAYS an afterthought.
If you don’t agree, then you’re wrong. We are, I promise you.

There was a recent conversation in an online forum for blind people. This group has got a number of sighted people too. Usually it is a friendly and welcoming space. The group, of course have a number of rules. One of the most important rules is that all images need an image description, which in a space predominantly for blind people, shouldn’t be a lot to ask.
A post today by one of the sighted members of the group didn’t have any image description. So their post was removed. Rather than re-post with an image description, they posted that they were unhappy with their post being removed and they would be leaving the group.
This eventually led to me pointing out to one of the sighted members that it is hard to be “polite” all the time when you spend so much of your time fighting for an equitable society. When I’m in a virtual space for visually impaired people, an image description should be a given. To keep explaining this is exhausting.
To then be told that we are all human and sometimes “forget” when that’s the exact point I was trying to make proves my point. If you can forget then we are an afterthought. I don’t care how many disabled people you know, how many you help, until disabled people aren’t an afterthought I won’t stop speaking up.
Disability is a matter of when not if. So when you have to deal with the lack of equality every single day (and I assure you it’s every day) don’t tell disabled people how we should feel.
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