Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #1: My Promise

Transcript

Remarkable World Commentary Episode #1: My Promise · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

• 0:00
  [Music]
• 0:08
  Greetings Donna J Donan LLB ACSP and NBA
• 0:12
  invites you to listen to her podcast
• 0:15
  Remarkable, a bi-weekly commentary where
• 0:17
  Donna shares her most inner thoughts
• 0:20
  insights, and much more with her
• 0:22
  listeners. Donna will focus on topics
• 0:24
  that are directly affecting the future
• 0:26
  of kids, especially so with kids with
• 0:29
  disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate,
• 0:32
  author, sight loss coach, dinner mystery
• 0:34
  producer and writer, entrepreneur, law
• 0:38
  graduate, and podcast commentator. She has
• 0:41
  decades of lived experiences, knowledge,
• 0:44
  skills, and expertise and as someone who
• 0:47
  is internationally known for her work
• 0:49
  and roles, she just wants to make things
• 0:51
  better than possible. Donna wants to hear
• 0:54
  from her listeners and invites you to
• 0:56
  write her at DonnaJ@gmail.com
• 1:00
  [Music]
• 1:04
  Hello there, my name is Donna J
• 1:09
  Jan and this is the very first recording
• 1:14
  of my remarkable biweekly World
• 1:19
  commentary. I want to make this podcast a
• 1:22
  very informal one where I talk to you
• 1:26
  about myself and what my aspirations and
• 1:30
  missions
• 1:31
  are. I have been an advocate, an author, a
• 1:36
  blogger, a coach, a dinner mystery
• 1:40
  producer and writer, an
• 1:43
  entrepreneur, a law graduate, and a
• 1:46
  podcast
• 1:48
  commentator. I've been doing these things
• 1:51
  or I have been in these roles since the
• 1:54
  year
• 1:55
  2000 and it has enabled me to gather a
• 2:00
  plethora of life experiences, skills,
• 2:03
  knowledge, and expertise as a blind and
• 2:06
  vision impaired
• 2:08
  person. Before I start into what this
• 2:13
  podcast is all about, I'd like to thank
• 2:16
  my very good friend and associate Eron
• 2:20
  Deazy for having encouraged me to start
• 2:24
  a series entitled Remarkable Bi-Weekly
• 2:29
  World
• 2:31
  Commentary. I am hoping
• 2:35
  to give you different messages or share
• 2:39
  different messages with you to impart
• 2:42
  why I am doing what I am
• 2:46
  doing. For this first podcast, I'd
• 2:51
  like to tell you about my
• 2:53
  promise. It is a promise I made several
• 2:57
  years
• 2:58
  ago to ensure that the kids of the future
• 3:02
  have a better future than I have had it.
• 3:06
  Not just the kids, but those kids who are
• 3:12
  with
• 3:14
  disabilities. Kids with
• 3:17
  disabilities. What is their
• 3:20
  future? I would like to be part of their
• 3:23
  future and I would like to do my best to
• 3:26
  ensure that theirs is a better future.
• 3:31
  This is my promise to the kids of the
• 3:34
  future, especially to those kids with a
• 3:39
  disability.
• 3:41
  We need to help them make it better than
• 3:45
  [Music]
• 3:47
  possible. Why I promised what I promised.
• 3:49
  I promised what I promised because of
• 3:54
  such an evolving world
• 3:57
  with technology acting like a freight
• 4:00
  train, with websites still being so
• 4:04
  inaccessible and in order for us to be
• 4:07
  able to be a part of this world, we need
• 4:10
  to have websites that are accessible and
• 4:15
  especially so for our kids of the future.
• 4:19
  Kids with
• 4:22
  disabilities. We need to build more
• 4:24
  awareness if our kids are to have a
• 4:26
  better
• 4:30
  future. This is why I launched my Charter
• 4:32
  Challenge in
• 4:35
  2006 against the Canadian government
• 4:37
  because of their inaccessible
• 4:40
  websites and presto, I was extremely
• 4:42
  successful in
• 4:46
  2012 when I
• 4:49
  was victorious at the Canadian Court of
• 4:52
  Appeal against the Canadian government
• 4:56
  and they were forced to start making
• 4:59
  their websites
• 5:04
  accessible. I had a great team behind me
• 5:07
  but I was the leader of this Charter
• 5:09
  Challenge and then in
• 5:11
  2015 I spearheaded another
• 5:14
  team that campaigned for an accessible
• 5:18
  Canada Act and this was passed in July
• 5:22
  of
• 5:24
  2019. Now one of my final advocacy pieces
• 5:29
  would be when I appear in front of
• 5:35
  the Human Rights
• 5:37
  Tribunal to plead my case for
• 5:40
  departments of the Canadian government
• 5:43
  to make sure that whenever emergencies
• 5:46
  take place or
• 5:48
  arise, the requirements and needs of
• 5:51
  those with special needs are not
• 5:55
  [Music]
• 5:57
  ignored. Who inspired
• 6:00
  me? Believe it or not, it was the late
• 6:02
  Steve Jobs that inspired me. Why did
• 6:06
  Mr. Jobs inspire me? Because he was not a
• 6:10
  person with a
• 6:11
  disability. He was just someone who
• 6:14
  wanted to use technology to ensure that
• 6:18
  the world of those around him
• 6:22
  would change. And it sure changed the
• 6:25
  world for those of us who are blind and
• 6:27
  vision impaired because Steve Jobs
• 6:31
  introduced the iPad, the iPhone, and all
• 6:34
  the other devices, equipping them with
• 6:37
  something called VoiceOver that opened up a whole
• 6:40
  new world for me and for millions of
• 6:44
  others around the
• 6:48
  world. This is who inspired
• 6:50
  me, the late Steve Jobs. Of course,
• 6:54
  there were others too many to mention.
• 6:59
  But I thank my parents, my granny, my
• 7:02
  friends, my associates for having
• 7:05
  encouraged me to make this great promise.
• 7:08
  And now I
• 7:13
  intend to carry out this promise and to
• 7:14
  make sure that it is done by the time I
• 7:17
  am called to the next
• 7:22
  world. What is my mission?
• 7:26
  To speak up
• 7:30
  professionally, to impose, to focus on
• 7:32
  important topics, to reach out and
• 7:35
  engage. That is my
• 7:40
  mission. How do I engage, or how do we
• 7:44
  engage? Through social media, through
• 7:48
  blogs and
• 7:51
  articles, through virtual and
• 7:53
  face-to-face contact, virtual meetings
• 7:56
  and face-to-face
• 7:59
  contact. What is my
• 8:03
  message? It is a call for others to join
• 8:06
  me. Together we can build a better future
• 8:09
  for our kids, especially those kids with
• 8:13
  a
• 8:17
  disability. I'm going to end my podcast
• 8:19
  by giving you some examples of topics
• 8:22
  that I intend to focus on.
• 8:26
  Online
• 8:30
  banking, where sadly enough most of us
• 8:32
  with a disability, especially those with
• 8:37
  a vision impairment, are being left
• 8:39
  behind because developers and designers
• 8:42
  don't seem to quite get it that we need
• 8:47
  to be included, that accessibility is a
• 8:51
  must.
• 8:55
  Accessibility, inclusivity, and equity
• 8:57
  are rights that are ours. They're not a
• 9:01
  nice to have, they are not a duty to
• 9:05
  accommodate. It is our right to
• 9:09
  accessibility,
• 9:12
  inclusivity,
• 9:14
  and
• 9:19
  equity. I will be focusing on such things
• 9:22
  as not just online
• 9:25
  banking, barriers to self
• 9:27
  checkouts, touch screen
• 9:30
  inaccessibility, barriers to QR
• 9:33
  codes, barriers in the travel
• 9:38
  industry, barriers through procurement
• 9:41
  processes within the
• 9:43
  Canadian
• 9:45
  government, and artificial barriers such
• 9:48
  as
• 9:49
  attitude. Of course, there is a lot
• 9:53
  more, but now I'm asking you to help me
• 9:58
  secure a better future for our kids, not
• 10:03
  just mainstream kids, but kids with
• 10:08
  disabilities. Instead of snuffing out the
• 10:11
  future of our kids, we need to make it
• 10:15
  better. These are our stars, these are our
• 10:19
  angels, and these are the ones who will
• 10:22
  take us
• 10:23
  forward as we move
• 10:27
  along. I'm Donna J
• 10:31
  Jan and I look forward to being with you
• 10:35
  at my
• 10:36
  next remarkable bi-weekly World
• 10:41
  commentary. Thank you and have a great
• 10:47
  day. Donna thanks you for tuning in to
• 10:50
  listen to her and looks forward to
• 10:52
  hearing from you. You can write to her at
• 10:55
  DonnaJ@gmail.com
• 10:59
  [Music]