Pwlina
Papanikolaou is a 31-year old legal base criminologist, activist and
researcher. Born partially sighted, she completed her primary and secondary
education, graduating from the classic Hellenic general high school. She
entered the Law school in Athens, Greece and quickly she got engaged to the
movement of Equal Opportunities and Rights for the Partially Sighted and
overall, for Persons with Disability. Pwlina is specialized in Criminology and
the last four years she conducts her PHD research on the victimisation case
studies in crimes against the environment (“Green criminology”). She is
currently employed in the Ministry of Justice. Pwlina speaks to A4D-D4A about sight and her personal
vision, technology and society- and finally- implementing design in everyday
life.
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| Pic above: Pwlina Navigating Intelligence... |
Central pic above: Pwlina Navigating Intelligence on her I-phone 5
A4D-D4A:Pwlina, what kind of applications, tools or techniques you use daily,
for work or leisure?
Pwlina: I started reading and studying by using large-scale typefaces,
audio-books and eventually a scanner/printer with a 24- screen reader on a PC
with Windows Aero-NVPA (“NVDA”) (NonVisual Desktop Access). I convert
photocopies on PDF and OCR files, to read and process them later, with the
additional support of Alt Text (Alternative Text) description for pictures and
photos. HIL Link database (through Virtual Private Network :VPN) is a big help
also, giving access to thousands of magazines and publications. My I-Phone 5
offers some impressive apps as well, like a really good magnifying lens system
(Magnificent), also the emoticons are a huge fun to play with, because of the
great voice roll-overs. There is a proposal to VOICE OVER all Apple Apps- that
would be ideal! The site APVIS.COM has
all kinds of apps to download, compatible with all different kinds of screen
readers. I am trained to use the traditional white cane if needed, which can be used as a kind
of landmark to facilitate interaction
with my fellow citizens during public circulation and transport. I AM NOT a
Braille user, never been one, and I cannot intonate enough the need to
personalize the educational methods and tools for partially sighted people and
people in general. Every single one of us is an individual!!!So he/she needs a
different approach to learning, according to age, character, abilities, talent,
flair etc.
A4D-D4A:You mentioned education. The RNIBP (Royal National Institute for Blind
People) in Scotland, launched recently a new program, for training and
accessibility of partially sighted, long-term unemployed people, to work.
What's the importance of re-designing work environment, in order to absorb more
professionals with disability?
P:The
importance of education, functionality and accessibility FOR ALL, is huge. The
political decisions and strategies need to readdress the agenda towards
designing universal working environments for the digital age- places where all
people could work together, having access to all the tools and applications
they need, in order to be ABLE to work WELL . The more we create systems to engage
professionals with a disability - to use their assets, (what THEY CAN DO and
not the opposite), the more we eliminate poverty, discrimination and
approaching regulation, growth and peace in society.
A4D-D4A:Ecofriendly,
sustainable and ethical design is no longer a trend but an wide professional
sector, tending to commercial domination and social recognition. You believe
there is room for partially sighted
citizens to explore the field further, and attain eventually more equal opportunities
and larger working flexibility?
P:It is a
matter of how you see things, in the end. We live in a society of
post-innovation, giving birth to new sectors and specialization, is also vital.
We do not know everything, there is certainly room for knowledge and evolution
towards new disciplines.
A4D-D4A:Do you have
any favourite objects, buildings, spaces, interfaces, accessories or clothes?
P:Strong
colours, touch pads, shapes and contrasts work with me! Especially in public
places like the Metro, it is good when you have the staircase ends, defined
with strong colours. GPS is a good invention also and speaking PCs and mobiles
(laughs)...Google's interactive maps with voice rollovers. Shiny surfaces with
colour and TEXTURE, (velvety, fluffy, furry)- I' d love to see embossed posters
or maps, with textures you can TOUCH in
the metro, or even ads spraying scent,
triggered by motion detectors, when the passenger stops by... I was impressed
in Strasbourg, France, when I heard a full AUDIO description at the ticket
point, about how purchasing my ticket. They also do transport plan cards with
large typeface, which I also used, designed for PT people. When I am at home, I
often use to underline text, my favourite 1.0 lead- mechanical pencil- I don't
use highlighters whatsoever.
A4D-D4A:What is the
future of a child, born with high percentage of vision deficiency? Could we
talk about a generation of partially sighted architects, industrial designers
or/and graphic designers in 15 years from now?
P:As
I mentioned before, it is a matter of how you see things in the end. Innovation
accelerates evolution, in contemporary society. Maybe you should ask – where
the percentage of prejudice would be, regarding disability, in 15 years from
now? Disability is not a desease. It is a daily situation you deal with, like
every other daily mission, and it is part of life.
PWLINA THANK YOU !!!
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