All posts by Dona

Volunteerism can suck

Rant, ,

Before my children were in school I don’t think I volunteered for anything. After my daughter began elementary school I started volunteering at her school, first as a helper in the classroom, then as a field trip supervisor, then as a PTA board member. I held office as recording secretary, corresponding secretary, MCCPTA rep, & vice president. I also was email list coordinator/ manager/ moderator until last year.

I’ve also volunteered with the local neighborhood and with a local film group that shows foreign films one Sunday a month during the non-summer months. I signed on to the film group simply to work on the website, but this year I was “promoted” to director of operations. I put the verb in the preceding sentence in quotes because I was more or less forced into the position because no one else wanted it. The duties involve ordering films, talking to the distributors and negotiating the film rental fees. I pretty much hate this position and I’ve let the president know I do not want to do it any longer.

She found someone else to do the position, but seems to think that my time is her time. She sets up meetings then demands I attend them, even when I have other commitments. This summer I had more important plans, but said I could attend her meeting briefly. She refused to let me leave the meeting and I missed an event my daughter was a part of.

I’ve recently begun helping out a friend with another volunteer organization, and had a meeting scheduled for this Wednesday. I told the president of the film group that I had a prior commitment, and I thought she understood. I said that it might be postponed, but I was not sure. I just got an email from her asking if I changed the meeting.

I know I am reading too much into the email, but based on the meeting last summer, I am touchy when it comes to this woman and her meetings. The meeting was postponed, and I can meet with the film group folks, but it makes me angry that I allow myself to be jerked around like this.

I think this is my last year with this group. As much as I like the idea, I don’t like the way this woman treats the volunteers.

new contact lenses

Rant,

It is a dreary day here in the DC Metro area. I had to drive to Springfield (halfway around the beltway) to go to my optometrist this morning. I always put this off – I mean what normal middle aged woman wouldn’t? Dr Adam is nice enough, but who wants to be told they are getting old and need stronger reading glasses?

Another thing about that place that bothers me. 90% of the women that work there are gorgeous. It is a real blow to one’s self-esteem to pay them a visit. For the most part they are nice enough, but there are a few who are so fakey nice that it makes me want to vomit.

I nearly did today, actually, but not because of a fakey nice person. Dr Adam fitted me with a pair of contact lenses that made me nauseous. One is way weaker than the other and this is supposed to solve the reading and distance issues. Not for me. I couldn’t see up close at all, and far away clear but looking out made me sick to my stomach. My husband has this “mono vision” and loves it. I am sick thinking about it.

Got a nice new pair of glasses though – at least I will in a couple of weeks.

Why do I continue to drive the beltway to go somewhere I feel inferior? Easy – they are on our insurance plan and it is familiar.

Yeah – this is nearly a throw away post, but my husband is taking me out to dinner and I must rush!

WordPress = accessible — not yet

Wordpress, ,

I got no work done today. I should have sent some files to our new coder so she could get started, but I slacked off and did some volunteer stuff instead.

My friend Maria called me the other day to see if I was interested in helping her with a project she and a few others were working on. She is trying to get back into the work force after being a stay at home mom for 15 or so years. The job she left had something to do with helping folks get back into the workforce after a disabling injury. I think she wants to go into a field similar to that.

In the decade and a half since she left the workforce, times have changed. Computers are more prevalent now, for one thing and because she’s blind, that presents a bit of a problem. She’s done her best obtain training on using screen readers to navigate computers, and is not adverse to asking for help when she needs it.

Today she wanted my help in setting up a web page for her job seekers group, Unlimited Success. I’d done a little research and found out that WordPress (thank goodness) was the most accessible weblog so suggested she use WordPress.com. After three hours of trial and error she decided to switch gears and let me do the actual content uploads.

Sitting next to Maria today made me realize how very hard it is to navigate the Internet without sight. Pages are set up for the sighted. Looking at my “write post” page, I have no problem figuring out what to do. When you use this page with a screen reader, however, it is not so simple. We could not work out how to move from the Title field to the post field. Tab was the logical keystroke, but it went directly to Save and continue editing. The keystroke(s) that need to be used are the down arrow. This will highlight all of the wysiwyg entities before settling into the post field. That is too much work. There needs to be a way to move easily from Title to Post. I cannot even imagine what the widgets area is like for a screen reader user.

So Matt, if you are listening – there is work to be done to make this an accessible place for all.

Anyway, keep an eye on http://unltdsuccess.wordpress.com It should have some great information for blind and visually impared job seekers, especially in the DC Metro area.