December 2021 Update
Meri Kirihimete and Happy Holidays to you.
It’s almost the end of 2021 and what a huge and rather odd year it has been for all of us at Access Advisors. It has been challenging to say the least, but even amongst the uncertainty, 2021 has been a hugely rewarding year for us. We are also excited to see more and more people embracing the need for accessibility and including us in their mahi.
We have seen some amazing team members move on to new things and have had some new faces join us for new adventures. Ross, Kevin, Julius, Sandrine, Eden and myself are all very much looking forward to answering curly accessibility questions again in 2022 and we will welcome the opportunity to work with you in whatever capacity you need, whether for training, reviews or research.
Top Left: Britta, Chandra and David at awards dinner. Top Right: One of our wonderful research panelists demonstrating how he uses his mobile phone. Middle Left: Julius and Britta out celebrating with Chandra. Centre: Chandra with Editor of From Yesterday to Tomorrow.
Our Research Panel has also been out and about both virtually and in person spreading good cheer and knowledge of accessibility. I’m very grateful to all our panel members who have told stories about their challenges in accessing digital technology, often in front of many people they didn’t know. Nga Mihi Nui to our panel and the clients who have shown us hospitality and understanding for these activities.
Other highlights for 2021 include continuing to work with our retainer clients and all the wonderful new clients we have met. We’ve been involved with gathering submissions for the Digital Strategy for Aotearoa, helping the organisers of Techweek as their accessibility partners, consulting on the Skills Workstream for the ITP, we’ve written a chapter in a book as well as a few blog posts and attended and hosted various events. The highlight though was hearing that there will soon be a Ministry for Disabled People and supporting legislation. Access Advisors were finalists in the People’s Choice Award and Chandra was a finalist in the New Zealand Excellence in IT awards.
Access Advisors would like to take this opportunity to say ngā mihi nui to everyone who supported our mahi during 2021…whether you were a new client, a familiar face, someone from a disability support service, whanau, friend, social media follower or you joined us for a webinar or hui. Thank you – we appreciate you all!
This is our final newsletter for 2021 and the team are finishing up at various times this week, we are all returning to advising on accessibility from 10 January 2022. We will still be active on social media and our emails will be monitored during this down time, so be sure to stay connected on Facebook and LinkedIn.
We look forward to working with you and spreading news and advice about digital accessibility again in 2022!
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, we couldn’t do it without you. We wish you a safe, fun and relaxing summer break!
Ngā mihi
Chandra
Dr Chandra Harrison
Managing Director