News
Capturing Vision Through Sound and Touch
Disability Justice Project Fellows Harness iPhone Technology to Spotlight Climate Crisis in the Pacific
September 11, 2024
Last year, the Disability Justice Project (DJP) trained Indigenous activists with disabilities from the Pacific on the iPhone camera to create a documentary series on disability and climate change. With VoiceOver, the iPhone provides image descriptions for blind and low-vision filmmakers and feedback on whether a subject is in focus. “If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense for a blind person to use a camera,” says DJP filmmaker Ari Hazelman. “The iPhone gives you more avenues to tell your story in a more profound way as a blind person.”
The Pacific region is among the most impacted in the world by climate change. Among its low-lying islands, there is no escape from the rising sea and no refuge from extreme weather events. Pacific activists are pushing for more inclusive warning systems for weather emergencies and more accessible evacuation centers. They want to be considered and involved in the creation of disaster mitigation and response plans. Indigenous Pacific Islanders with disabilities are also leading the way in sustainable land management and climate adaptation, offering valuable insights that can benefit us all.
Choose the viewing experience most accessible for you:
Original Version
American Sign Language
Fijian Sign Language
Audio Descriptions
Open Captions
Descriptive Transcript
Original Version
American Sign Language
Fijian Sign Language
Audio Descriptions
Open Captions
Descriptive Transcript
Click here for a link to a descriptive transcript.
Credits:
Director & Producer: Jody Santos
Producers: Ari Hazelman | Sa Utailesolo | Faaolo Utumapu-Utailesolo
Videographers: Ari Hazelman | Des LaFave | Isoa Nabainivalu | Ruby Nabetari
Sophia Paffenroth | Sa Utailesolo | Melvina Voua
Editor: Des LaFave
Sound Mixing: Billy Wirasnik
Colorist: Justin Poirier
News From the Global Frontlines of Disability Justice
‘We Only Ask to Be Noticed’
“I woke up choked and suffocated inside my locked room,” says Nur Hamda, “smelling burnt timber, with my eyes stinging, even while closed.” Smoke from Indonesia’s wildfires is seeping into homes, keeping people from work, and making it difficult to breathe. For Indonesians with disabilities, inaccessible warnings, unsafe evacuation routes, and limited healthcare make the crisis even harder to navigate. Now, disabled advocates are asking why their needs continue to be overlooked.
Not Accessible For Me
In Nigeria, children and adults with spina bifida and hydrocephalus continue to face discrimination, inaccessible schools, unaffordable healthcare and barriers to public transportation. Despite legal protections, many are still denied basic rights, leaving families to shoulder the financial and emotional costs. More than two years after a deadline for public institutions to become accessible, the gap between what the law promises and what disabled Nigerians experience remains wide.
Reducing the Disability Tax
Indonesia has adopted a new regulation aimed at reducing the extra costs disabled people face, guaranteeing discounts across nine sectors, including health care, transportation and assistive devices. But disabled Indonesians say fees and administrative hurdles involved in obtaining the documents needed to access those rights could leave some people behind. As the government begins implementing the policy, advocates are calling for disability assessments to be free and accessible.
Joy As Resistance
In Kenya, queer and disabled people are finding common ground around questions of identity, access, family, and belonging. Ahead of a Nairobi event exploring where disability and queerness intersect, organizers and participants talk about the communities they have found and the spaces they are trying to create. “Queer people and disabled people share way more than they think they do,” says one organizer. The event will use storytelling, art, performance, and what its organizers call “queer joy” to start a conversation they say is long overdue.
The Politics of Waiting, Wanting, and Hoping
In Malaysia, disability exclusion is rarely one dramatic denial. More often, writes Beatrice Leong, it is “a series of ordinary delays” — inaccessible schools, symbolic consultations, policies without enforcement, and a system that asks disabled people to wait patiently for dignity and belonging. Blending personal reflection with political analysis, Leong examines what happens when inclusion is promised repeatedly, but justice never fully arrives.
Read more about The Politics of Waiting, Wanting, and Hoping
Beyond the ADA
The ADA’s influence extends far beyond the United States. It helped shape a growing international approach to disability rights that eventually contributed to the development of the CRPD. But global disability movements have also expanded on ideas that U.S. law has yet to fully embrace. “I think many U.S. disability rights activists were surprised to find out how much we could learn from the international community,” says Eric Rosenthal, founder and executive director of Disability Rights International.