The new Helen Keller Barbie doll has a terrible message for kids

The new Helen Keller Barbie doll has a terrible message for kids

Mattel had the chance to tell kids you can have a facial difference and be a role model, but instead they erased a big part of Helen Keller’s life. I wish toy companies created affirming dolls for disabled kids.

Transcript

Haben speaking, hello! A new Barbie doll came out with Helen Keller and this Helen Keller has perfectly symmetrical eyes. The real Helen Keller when she was a kid and in her twenties did not have symmetrical eyes. One of her eyes drooped, and back then she and the people around her would have her be in profile in photos to try to hide one of her eyes.

So this new doll shows her with perfectly symmetrical eyes, essentially erasing her real lived experiences, which is a harmful message for blind kids today, and even blind adults. I have asymmetrical eyes. My eyes dance and kids teased me when I was younger. Today, adults often tell me to hide my eyes under dark glasses. It’s frustrating and disappointing that this new Barbie doll erases that part of Helen Keller’s experiences.

Another thing I want to point out is that the doll comes with a book that says, “Braille.” So the book says braille, which doesn’t make any sense. It feels like a token. It would be like a print book that says, “Print.” It doesn’t make any sense. It’s very tokenized. It sounds like it’s a doll for sighted girls. What sighted people would imagine for blind people rather than a doll for actual blind kids. I’m really disappointed with this, and I wish blind kids had access to more toys and dolls that actually represent our real experiences.

Avoid AccessiBe & other companies claiming quick & easy AI accessibility

Avoid AccessiBe & other companies claiming quick & easy AI accessibility

Global Accessibility Awareness Day is May 20th, and throughout the month accessibility advocates will be introducing more people to inclusive design. If you are new to digital accessibility, beware of companies claiming to provide quick and easy automated accessibility “solutions.” An alarming number of companies, nonprofits, and government agencies have fallen for this. Millions of dollars have poured into this. Artificial intelligence only works in limited situations and is nowhere near the point where we can rely on it for all our accessibility needs. Avoid AccessiBe, AudioEye, EqualWeb, User1st, UserWay, & other services claiming to provide automated web accessibility “solutions.”

I made this video to alert those new to digital accessibility.

Over 400 accessibility experts and allies signed the Overlay Fact Sheet, a document describing the harms caused by these services.

May you continue learning about digital accessibility this month, and all year long!

Transcript

Haben speaking. Hello! There are companies out there that are claiming you can add one line of code to your website, and it’ll be fully accessible to blind and disabled people. Beware of companies claiming to use AI solutions to make websites accessible. AI is a tool, and right now it’s extremely limited in what it can do for accessibility.

I gave examples of auto-captioning in my last video. Auto-captioning turns my name, Haben Girma, into “happen grandma.” Imagine if you are a deaf person relying on the captioning and it’s auto-captioning. You miss out on key terms, important details, if you’re only relying on AI based solutions like auto-captioning.

So it’s a myth out there that you can rely on AI for all your accessibility needs. AI is great in certain, very specific situations, but these companies out there—there are many of them, so it’s not just one—they’re claiming you can add one line of code and then your website will be accessible given their AI-based accessibility solutions. It’s extremely frustrating to me, and many of my blind friends, that millions of dollars are being poured into these companies.

One of these companies is called AccessiBe, and I went to their website. I’m blind, I’m a screenreader user. So I navigate websites using a screenreader, and on their own website I encountered barriers. If I’m finding barriers on their own website, how can I trust them to make other websites accessible? I don’t. I don’t trust them to make other websites accessible and I’m not the only one.

Over 400 accessibility experts and allies have signed a document describing the harms these services cause. Beware of companies claiming to use AI-based solutions to make websites accessible. Avoid these companies. Take full responsibility for accessibility. Disabled people are 1 billion people around the world. That’s a huge market. When you invest in accessibility, you get more customers, more revenue in the long run, and your product is better overall. Invest in real accessibility solutions.