Today I wanted to reflect on the idea of technology, accessibility and inclusion. Throughout my undergraduate music degree, and now also throughout this PDP program so far, I have struggled with my attendance in my classes due to my physical disabilities and chronic illness. It is challenging to communicate this with professors and peers sometimes due to the attached stigmas, as well as embarrassment in not knowing what these people may be thinking of me, and not wanting to draw more attention to myself. When COVID first started, that was a difficult time for everyone. I myself was worried about my attendance for things even more-so due to the fear of becoming ill. When classes started up again online over Zoom, it was actually one of the best things that has happened since my time in higher education. Online classes has allowed me the opportunity to have the highest attendance I have ever had, as well as feel like I am more involved and actively participating with my peers.

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

Another assistive technology that I only learned more about since being in this class was closed captioning on anything that incorporates audio, including Zoom! Although attending classes over Zoom was incredibly helpful, there were still times where my medications caused brain fog and I felt like I could not always follow along by just listening to what people were saying. Having the addition of closed captions has allowed me to better be able to follow along, and I have even started turning on the subtitles when I watch YouTube videos, and shows on Netflix because of this which has made a world of a difference.