melonsap:
Cheat Code #3 for accommodating disabled characters in sci-fi/fantasy:
If you want your setting to be accommodating, change the environment more than the person.
i.e.: On a worldbuilding level, if you want to portray a society that keeps disabled people in mind, then that needs to be reflected more broadly, even without your disabled character on screen. Because this means that your society was considering disabled people as part of itself when it was figuring out what’s necessary.
If your computer takes voice commands, it should also have an optional keyboard in case someone can’t speak.
If your magic school has multiple floors, it should have a teleporting rune circle for those that can’t take the ever-changing stairs.
Whenever you have a feature you’re adding, ask yourself—"If my character couldn’t use this, what would they do instead?“ And if the answer is "they’d have to wait until they could” or “they need someone else to use it for them,” then your setting isn’t accommodating. An accommodating setting always has an actionable answer to that question.
And as a bonus, if you follow through with it, oftentimes you’ll end up with a more interesting world and story overall. Spells most people can speak can be written in ancient elven instead? That means you can have a character sneak a spell into a magic-banned city by writing it on their hair ribbon, and that it’s possible that a book might be a self-generating spell on its own. Your spaceship has textured lines on the walls to let blind people navigate without guidance? Not only can you make it look artistic (different colored paints, glowing patterns), but now your engineer can make it to the warp core when the power’s out and oxygen’s finite.
Don’t limit yourself just to what’s needed in the moment. Figure out interesting alternatives to your setting’s features, and your world will automatically feel more alive.
Cheat Code 1: How to avoid eliminating disability in your setting
Cheat Code 2: What kinds of aid to use to accommodate disability
(via nordictwin)
