Every not so very often, a video comes along that raises my blood to temperatures just shy of scalding myself. This is one such video:
Now, I don’t claim to speak for all Access professionals, but in some ways, I want to speak for them. Please, if you want to speak passionately about a subject in an event that involves other speakers too, do these 8 things:
- Do not speak over another person
- Do not interrupt
- Speak coherently
- Speak clearly
- Speak slower
- Take turns to speak
- 1 to 6
- All of the above
Granted, this is only one moderator performing his duties for just two individuals. But, this is a presidential debate. How did it devolve into such a situation? Moderator Chris Wallace tried his best to retain control and steer the conversation. It was a catastrophic failure of a civilised debate.
So, as I observed Chris’ attempts, he gave me an idea: Access Professionals should be able to exercise moderator powers. If a speaker talks incoherently or talks too fast for even hearing people to comprehend what they are saying, Access Professionals should be able to tell others to slow down, regroup their thoughts, then speak what needs to be said.
Perhaps it is also high time someone creates a course aptly titled: Access Professionals Working With Speakers Who Exhibit Uncivilised Behaviour While Speaking In An Event Involving Other Speakers With Accessibility Services Provisioned For In The Presence Of Other Access Professionals.