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Our blogs are on topics that make us think about how an accessible world might be different, or how an inaccessible world impacts on our lives. Have a read and let us know your thoughts.

Our Latest Blog Posts

Colourful candles sticking out of brightly coloured iced cup cakes spelling Happy Birthday

Celebrating 5 Years of Access Advisors

On the 5th of November, Access Advisors marked five years of driving change in digital accessibility. This milestone is a time to reflec…
A silhouette of a person thinking, with a brain outline inside their head. On the left, there’s a clock and hourglass. Butterflies are scattered in the background, with warm yellow and beige tones.

Chandra's ADHD Journey

Embracing the Chaos: Chandra Harrison’s Journey with ADHD

October is ADHD Awareness Month, a time to celebrate the strengths of neurodi…
AI generated picture of a robot hand reaching out to touch a sylized web screen

Risks of Artificial Intelligence

AI brings incredible potential, but it also comes with risks such as biased data, accuracy, and security.
A yellow brain with a wiring pattern over it pictured inside a lightbulb. The lightbulb is upright in the middle of a colourful blue pink and purple motherboard.

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

AI is a transformative technology with significant implications across various industries and sectors. Its relevance touches upon almost…
Bomo demonstrating how to turn data into something tangible that can change mindsets

Together we are Stronger

In a world where digital accessibility is often sidelined as low priority, redundancy is rife, and change is the only constant, our shar…
Ops manager Ross cheekily playing with a fidget toy - A squidgy piece of cheese with a mouse that pops out when the cheese is squeezed.

(Digital) Fidget Toys

Fidget toys are now definitely more than just a passing trend. They are an invaluable tool for helping neurodivergent people manage thei…
A robot hand reaching out through the web to touch finger to finger with a human hand. This creates a spark at both fingertips.

Designing Inclusive Artificial Intelligence Systems

AI has the power to transform lives, but only if it's designed with everyone in mind.
A blue background with a white robotic hand holding a microchip with AI written on it.

Artificial Intelligence and Digital Accessibility

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how we connect with the world, from voice-activated assistants to AI-driven customer service. But i…
Bruce Maguire wearing a Braille Rocks t-shirt

Digital Accessibility at the Olympics 2024

As the 2024 Paris Olympics draws to a close, it's a great time to reflect on the changes made in digital accessibility over the years. T…
Kirsten smiling with the Access Advisors banner in the background

Design for people with chronic pain

Hey Access Advisors whānau! I’m Kirsten, your Social Media Coordinator. 

I’m thrilled to share that this is the longest I’ve been able …

Podcast Accessibility

I'm not sure about you, but I love listening to a good podcast. On the plane, in transit or just while doing tasks that don’t require fu…

WCAG isn’t just for websites

We’ve always said that WCAG guidelines aren’t just for websites. With a bit of help from the experts, they can also be applied to softwa…
Disability Pride Flag

Understanding Disability Pride

Happy Disability Pride Month.

At Access Advisors Disability Pride is about celebrating and being proud of the incredible diversity and …

Improving digital access for people with mental health issues

June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, a perfect time to discuss how digital tools are changing mental health support. Dealing wit…
Baby Chandra being cuddled by Granny Esther

Temporary and Situational Access Needs of a New Mum

When explaining the breadth of digital access needs we most certainly focus on, and take the time to discuss, the permanent needs of peo…
Kev's April Top Tip with the words "Make the target area for links and buttons big enough so they can easily be selected. Space targets far enough apart to avoid errors"

Kev's Top Tip for April

It’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and with that in mind, this top tip is about target size.

In this context, a target is the object tha…

Digital Accessibility in NZ and US

Last year at the m-Enabling conference in the US, I came away thinking that digital accessibility in the US was so much further ahead fr…

Digitally Accessible Tourism

As services move more and more to digital, it is vital to consider digital accessibility from the start in any industry, including the t…
Chinese dragon on a tile with the words Happy Lunar New Year, Year of the Dragon

Digital access for Chinese New Zealanders

For many Chinese immigrants, Mandarin or Cantonese are their first and often only languages. And while we've come a long way in bridging…
Chandra's children, Lewis and Lexi, in their school uniforms ready for another year.

10 Digital Accessibility Tips for schools

As children across the motu head back for another school year, here are ten top tips to help schools improve their digital inclusion for…
Phil Turner, CEO of NZDEN, making introductions

Business Case for Digital Accessibility Workshop

The recent Business Case for Digital Accessibility workshop attracted some amazing speakers, had a fabulous audience and resulted in som…

ADHD Awareness Month

October is ADHD Awareness Month and it’s a topic close to my heart as I received a diagnosis earlier this year. Yes, in hindsight I shou…
Susanna, Lourdes and Chandra farewell hugs

Return of Kanohi ki te Kanohi, Face-to-Face Interactions

In a world increasingly dominated by virtual communication, the return of "Kanohi ki te Kanohi" – or "face to face" interactions – is a …
images of overlay icons displayed in grid

Accessibility Overlays: Making it better or hiding the underlying issues

To me the simplest definition of web accessibility is that EVERYONE should have the same opportunity to access information and services …
Heidi holding a Braille Note device

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology plays a huge part in supporting disabled people’s presence, participation, and achievement in many different ways. …
Katherine and Kirsten sharing a laptop screen

Collaboration is the key

All of these accessibility service providers have similar values, provide complementary services and are also aiming to help create a mo…
Pair of reading glasses resting on top of a stack of documents.

Five Top Things to Consider for Your Accessibility Statement

An accessibility statement is one of the most important pages on your website. It outlines how your company or agency is committed to ma…
A pair of hands type on a laptop keyboard.

Ten tips for better accessibility

To help make your website accessible for as many people as possible, it is important to design, code and test the website properly. The …
Sign with a locked icon held up blocking the view of a person's face

Alternative Text – What Is It, How Can It Be Done Better and…

There is a saying made famous by Henrik Ibsen…that “a picture is worth a thousand words” and it is widely accepted as meaning that compl…
Helen Keller smelling a rose

Helen Keller’s visit to NZ: A childhood memory

Helen Keller, was born 27 June 1880 and died 1st June 1968. She was the author of twelve books, a disability rights advocate, political …
A large collection of spoons of different sizes and finishes are displayed in an unrolled black fabric roll bag.

Spoon theory: Employing diverse workers

During a chat with a dear and valued client the other day I realised that I am extremely fortunate to work in this industry and work wit…
Chandra in hospital bed, her bandaged arm rests on a pillow, as a nurse is checking the arm.

Are you Disabled?

Lately I’ve been wondering about whether I am disabled and wondering how anyone knows if anyone else is disabled.
Te reo Māori language logo. Kia kaha te reo Māori

Making te reo Māori accessible

One of the most amazing things about Aotearoa is the variety and richness of culture we have here. You can see our biculturalism becomin…
A path winds its way up a blue mountain ending at an orange flag on the highest peak.

Clearing Our Way Guide

The purpose of this resource is to encourage people involved in design to think before they proceed with plans because it is far more co…
A young man sitting on a large piece of drift wood, looking out over the ocean.

Accessibility in Aotearoa

While anecdotally we know that web accessibility in New Zealand can be poor, there has been no local data to quantify how big the proble…
Smart phone held in left hand

The Problem with Hands

Considering the ‘problem’ with hands seems like a great way to explore the difference between permanent, temporary and situational acces…
Chandra shows off her broken wrist in its bright red cast.

When Assistive Tech isn’t that Accessible

I started on a journey to learn to use Dragon speech input software, properly. What I’ve learned is that accessing assistive tech can pr…