Sterling Creations Blog

Greetings from our business desk and I’m Christian Robicheau on another
gorgeous fall weekend.
I am pleased to bring you our president’s weekly editorial and for today,
Donna J. Jodhan talks about chasing the illusive rainbow.
This is very insightful reading and I invite you to read on.
Happy weekend everyone.

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Chasing the illusive rainbow
By Donna J. Jodhan

I don’t think that anyone would disagree when it comes to chasing that
beautiful but illusive rainbow! Ah yes! Beautiful, mesmorizing, filled
with dreams, hopes, and expectations! Just beyond our fingertips but yet we
keep chasing it!

I am not sure why this is so in my case and the only lingering defence that
I can offer is that as one who is constantly seeking hope and better than
positive, I keep chasing this beautiful bow!

I still remember what a beautiful rainbow looks like! Despite them being so
rare to see, i can remember seeing them about three distinctive times in my
life!

The first time was when I was standing next to my dad on a beach and he told
me to looktowards the ocean and there it was! A beautiful large rainbow
filled with those magnificent colours and dad told me to make a wish and
this I did!

I still remember that momentous day when I made my childlike wish; that dad
and mom would always be there to guard and guide me! Then came the second
time when I was seated in a rocking chair on the patio of my family’s home!

I had inadvertently looked up at the sky and there it was! As large as life
and huge and so very wonderful! I remembered to make a wish but before I
could finish my thought the rainbow had disappeared leaving me to catch my
breath!

Then the third time was when I saw it once more while standing on the
balcony of my condo. This time my beloved rainbow stayed around for about
two minutes and as I gazed up lovingly at it I could only wish and hope for
a better future for our kids!

I even managed to complete my wish; that tomorrow would be a better one!
More laughter and smiles! No more war and more fun toys for girls and boys!
No more poverty and fresh clean air and water for Humans, birds, animals,
and fishes of the sea!

Then my beautiful rainbow was gone and as the tears trickled down my cheeks
I thank God for my beautiful rainbow.

Just my two cents for today.
Image:
The word “HOPE” in a large, wide font with a color gradient showing all of
the colors of the rainbow.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Greetings from our business desk and I’m Scott Savoy with our weekend
edition.
It is a typical fall weekend and I hope that you are able to get out there
and enjoy the fresh cool air, the fall colours, and so much more.
Today I am pleased to share our president’s editorial with you and for this
week Donna J. Jodhan talks about the ralization barrier.
Want to know more? I invite you to read on.
Happy weekend everyone!

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The realization barrier

I will humbly submit that realization could be classified as a barrier and
why? Because in my humble opinion, unless one is either forced to realize
or is unexpectedly made to do so; this remains a barrier.

It is similar to the concept of walk a mile in my shoes and please allow me
to clarify the picture.

So often and too often a person would honestly try to be either nice or try
to feign understanding or compassion or some similar feeling when asked for
their opinions on a topic or subject with which their familiarity is lacking
or weak. All well and good but in reality they do not understand and cannot
understand unless they are directly related to the topic or subject at hand
or have a friend, family member, or associate who is.
Or better yet; if they themselves live the circumstance.

I see this so often. Especially so when a person is asked to participate in
accessibility development. No amount of reading up on this topic would help
to clarify the picture. It would definitely help to familiarize the person
with accessibility development but in the final analysis this is as far as
they can go.

There is nothing wrong with this but what could and would help is if the
individual involved would change their approach to seek assistance from
someone who lives the circumstance.

In other words: I urge developers to redirect their thinking to follow this
approach.
If you have never lived the circumstance in question, then be strong enough
to go out there and obtain the relevant literature.
Next, seek out the expertise of someone who lives the circumstance.
Finally, put the two together.

It’s like this!
No one expects you to fully understand what it is like to use a screen
reader to access the Internet. You can try to understand by closing your
eyes and this will definitely help but the complete picture would not become
clear to you unless you were forced to either live it or to be close to
someone who does.

In other words; unless you live a particular circumstance, you should not
claim to fully understand.
Just my two cents for today.

Image:
Close up waist down of a blind man with a white cane crossing the street.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends, family, and neighbours and I’m
Christian Robicheau at the business desk wishing everyone the true meaning
of Thanksgiving.
It’s a time for us to appreciate what we have and to give Thanks for the
country in which we live!
Please have a read of our president’s editorial for today.
Donna J. Jodhan chimes in with her thoughts.
Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

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The meaning of Thanksgiving
By Donna J. Jodhan

All I can say is that sometimes kids do indeed ask some of the most
interesting questions; and this is what I encountered a few days ago when a
six year old asked me this question.

I paused and hesitated and then I decided to be truthful, honest, and to
provide a response that would hopefully resonate with this youngster.

As she sat comfortably on my lap waiting for me to answer her question I
gathered my thoughts together and this is what I said.

I told her that to me, Thanksgiving means that I give thanks for living in a
country where I do not need to worry about such things as freezing in winter
because I have warm clothes to wear and warm blankets on my bed.
I do not need to worry about food because there are so many things for me to
eat, drink, and to share with others.
I do not need to worry about not having the Internet in my home because it
is almost always available to me.
I do not have to be concerned over not having fresh running water to drink,
to cook with, or to have my shower and bath with because we have so much of
it in Canada.
I do not need to be concerned about not having electricity; lights that
stay on almost all of the time because they do stay on almost all of the
time.

I shared other reasons of the meaning of Thanksgiving with my little friend
and then I waited for her to respond and after a minute or so she said very
softly.

“Auntie Donna! I am thankful that I live in Canada and I thank God for my
parents, my brothers and sisters, and then! I thank God that I can play
with my friends outside and don’t have to worry about the bad guys coming to
kill me! We don’t have any war here.”

Out of the mouths of babes!

Image:
A plate loaded with a turkey dinner
To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

O! Here comes October and soon it will be time to start ringing in the
holiday season!
Call me a big kid in a candy shop! That’s me!
I’m Scott Savoy welcoming you to our business desk and to our president’s
weekly editorial.
Today, Donna J. Jodhan returns to a topic that really gives her no pleasure
to write about but one that needs to be refreshed in the minds of our
readers.
Please take a few minutes to read and give her your feedback!
Here’s wishing you a pleasant weekend.

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The third party syndrome part two

Over the years as an advocate I have seen where entities of all sizes use
the defence of the third party syndrome as I describe it. It is a defence
where whenever an entity is asked to defend its actions, they defer or
deflect the complainant’s complaint to the actions of their third party
company.

In the case of testing centres, this type of defence seems to be growing at
a rapid rate. Last year, I personally became a victim trapped in this web
when I attempted to discuss this issue with a large international
corporation. Their somewhat weak defence was that their third party testing
centre was responsible for making exams accessible to those who were blind
and vision impaired but alas! When I approached said testing centre their
even weaker defence was that they had tested their system through the use of
blind/vision impaired testers and did not need to do anything more.

Upon further pressing, they could not give me a satisfactory explanation of
how their testing was carried out and when I offered to provide my
professional services to help them identify glaring accessibility glitches
and to assist them in fixing them, they wanted me to sign a non disclosure
agreement but were not willing to pay me.

A non disclosure agreement would have been most acceptable and
understandable but to have asked me to do this and not having been willing
to compensate me for my time was most unacceptable.

Fast forward to today and fairly recently I was made aware that a third
party testing centre out in British Columbia is being identified as one that
is not providing accessible exams to blind/vision impaired persons wishing
to take the language proficiency test in order to become a permanent
resident of Canada.

This testing centre is housed at the University of British Columbia and
administers these tests on behalf of the department of Immigration Canada.
I am not very sure if this department is aware of this glaring glitch and if
it is not then I hope that they are made aware.

What concerns me about this circumstance is that it appears that this
testing centre seems to be totally oblivious of what its obligations need to
be and in light of the accessible Canada Act, it is even more ironic that
this testing centre is representing a Federal Government department.

I can only hope that someone is listening and will take this matter up the
ladder.
Just my two cents for today.

Image:
The Canadian flag

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

My goodness and I’m Christian Robicheau at our business desk saying goodbye
to summer and hello to Fall.
I cannot believe that summer 2021 is over but alas!
Today, I am pleased to share our president’s weekly editorial with you and
for this week Donna J. Jodhan expresses her dismay and sadness over feelings
of desertion.
We encourage you to read on.
Wishing you a first fall weekend.

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Feelings of desertion

There is nothing worse than having these types of feelings. They have a way
of sticking to you and not going away very easily.

This is how I and many other Canadians with disabilities continue to feel
and why? I’ll focus on two specific areas of concern and hopefully others
can share their thoughts.

The first concerns the recent Canadian Federal Elections where Parties
seemed to have forgotten to address most of our major concerns. They seemed
to have either glossed over our concerns or to have ignored them completely.
Once again, our voices went unheard and we were left with horrible feelings
of desertion and disillusion.

The leaders debates barely touched on issues pertaining to persons with
disabilities and party platforms were often very challenging to access
online.

The second area concerns how Canadians are being treated when it comes to
ensuring that we are not left behind in the management of the pandemic.

At the present time, Canadians with disabilities are facing huge challenges
when it comes to being able to access websites with information necessary to
help us obtain vaccine certificates let alone to be able to complete the
necessary forms in order to do so. Then there is the challenge of an
inaccessible app titled Arrive Can that is supposed to be used to process
one’s safe entry back into Canada after traveling abroad. This is another
example of being forgotten and being deserted.

If we pay our taxes then we must be listened to and treated equally. For I
can bet my last dollar that if for some reason I failed to pay my taxes you
would see how quickly the Government would come after me to collect my
taxes.

Fair is fair! Seniors and persons with disabilities need to be given more
inclusivity. We must not be forgotten and we must not be deserted.
Finally, with a rapidly aging population the above mentioned groups are fast
becoming the consumer and customer in the marketplace and this trend is only
going to prevail.

Just my two cents for today!
Image:
A wheelchair sits alone in a courtyard with a cane laid across the top of
it.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Can you believe it! We are just past the mid mark of September and where is
time going?
I’m Scott Savoy at our business desk and today I am pleased to share our
president’s weekly editorial with you.
For today, Donna J. Jodhan has a very unique perspective to share.
Please read on and here’s to a pleasant pre fall weekend.

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The sweet tonic of sport
By Donna J. Jodhan

For lack of a better title, this is the one that I came up with and what am
I referring to today? Well, here goes!

It is my respectful view that sport may be the one and only sweet tonic that
can bring us together whenever we find ourselves cheering for the same
thing. Be it for a team, runner, swimmer, or anything like that. So why
can’t we use the sweet tonic of sport to help us become more united in other
circumstances? Why can’t we use and emulate the sweet tonic of sport to
help us do such things as put our petty differences aside? To help us unite
to sail our ships and fly our planes in the same direction and for the same
cause? To help us work for the good of our society and our world?

Why is it that when it comes to cheering for our favourite team or athlete,
we have no difficulty in coming together to do this? In these circumstances
we rise in unison to clap, cheer, sing, and shout as loudly as we can in
unison? Yet for some very obscure reason we fail miserably when it comes to
doing this in times of great need?

Just look at the many stories of kindness and unity that have recently come
out of the 2021 Japan Olympics! These are lessons that we should not
hesitate to emulate! We should be ashamed for ourselves for not even
trying.

Just my two cents for today.
Image:
An autumn view of an ice rink

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Happy weekend everyone and I’m Christian Robicheau at our business desk.
Today I am pleased to share our president’s weekly editorial with you and
for today Donna J. Jodhan zooms in on the importance of teamwork.
Wishing you a pleasant weekend.

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How important is teamwork

In my respectful opinion, I truly believe that we are living in times when
teamwork is vitally important and even more so if we hope to overcome the
Covid virus.

We need to be on the same page. We need to put our differences aside and
work more closely for the team instead of for the individual. We need to
show more selflessness instead of selfishness.

Our focus must be on less criticizing and more encouraging. More commitment
and more communicating and collaborating. We cannot expect to individualize
our approach if we want to succeed.

Teamwork is probably the only path for us to succeed. We need to work in
units of teams in order to share our knowledge, skills, and experiences.
We need to work together to design, develop, and execute.

We cannot expect to overcome unless we work cohesively together and do so in
the spirit of friendship and good will.

Just my two cents for today.
Image:
Virtual meeting concept. A large number of screen avatars hover above an
open hand.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Welcome to September everyone and I’m Scott Savoy at our business desk.
We are constantly aspiring to fill our lives and dreams with hope and for
this week this is exactly what Donna J. Jodhan our president is doing in
today’s editorial.
Her words of wisdom for this week are touching and searching and I invite
you now to read on.
Happy Labour Day weekend to one and all!

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One day in the land of hope

And this is exactly what I lived on August 18 when I treated my dear friend
Gabriella to a belated birthday lunch.

The sun was shining o so brightly! The air was fresh and pure! And as we
walked contentedly along the Marina in Pickering, I took every opportunity
to drink in my surroundings.

Kids were playing and laughing and calling to each other! Birds were
everywhere and singing so sweetly. Lilly pads were floating in abundance on
the lake and? I was simply living in the land of hope for those precious
moments!

A land where clouds floated by with no hesitation to and fro! A land where
kids simply enjoy the moment with no care in the world for what could happen
next! A land where Gabriella and I simply enjoyed each other’s company,
chatted about any and everything, but most of all cherished the day and the
yummy lunch.

O yes! Living in the land of hope where one can only wish for Covid to soon
become a thing of the past!
Just my two cents for today.

Image:
Recovery from the Corona virus. A pencil eraser erases the Corona virus to
reveal a rainbow.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Okay! Last weekend of August and I’m Christian Robicheau hoping that
wherever you are! Your weekend is going to be as good as mine!
Today, I am pleased to share our president’s editorial with you and for this
week Donna J. Jodhan has some very interesting questions that she hopes will
be answered by our readers.
With an upcoming Federal election to take place in Canada on September 20,
we believe that our president’s editorial for this week is very appropriate.
Happy weekend everyone.

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What colour is your next government going to be?
By Donna J. Jodhan

For lack of a more suitable title, this is my question for today and by this
I am asking this question.
Would it make a difference to Canadians with disabilities as to which
Federal party forms the next Government?

I have some specific thoughts but for today I am going to ask the questions
and hopefully someone out there will take a few minutes to ponder and
respond.

In 2019, the Accessible Canada Act came in to legislation but for the past
two years Canadians with disabilities have been anxiously awaiting certain
promised appointments. These being the appointments of an accessibility
commissioner who will be supposedly housed at the Canadian Human Rights
Commission and the appointment of a Chief Officer who will supposedly be
working in the office of the Minister responsible for disability issues.

A call for nominations for these two high profile positions was made at the
end of May and nominations closed at the end of June but when the call was
made for the present election all work on finding the most suitable
person/persons for these two positions came to a temporary halt.

This probably means that the final decision for these two positions will
probably not be made until some time after this election. However, there is
more to consider. So, let’s just consult our crystal ball to see what might
or could just happen.

If the Liberals are re-elected, will they carry through with their
commitment to make these two positions a reality or would they come up with
some interesting excuse to keep dragging out their decision?

If the Progressive Conservatives are elected, what would they do? Would
they continue with the previous Government’s commitment or will they scrap
the commitment all together?

If per chance the NDP forms the next Government, what will they do?

So far, we have not heard any of the contending parties make any sort of
announcements on matters pertaining to the concerns of Canadians with
disabilities and I suspect that they may not be making any such types of
announcements or promises. For too long party platforms have failed to
include or accommodate the direct addressing of issues on disabilities and I
for one do not expect this to change.

So it is up to us as a community to start being more active and less
passive. We need to take better ownership of our future for if we do not
then we should not expect anyone else to do it for us and why should they?
This is our future and we must take ownership and responsibility for it! It
is time for us to take a more active role in helping to determine the colour
of our next Government.

If indeed we are lucky to see these two appointments become a reality, then
we need to ensure that these two appointees are going to represent our
interests and not just be figure heads appointed through either pre promise
or pre determination.

Just my two cents for today.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan

Greetings and I am Scott Savoy welcoming you to another gorgeous August
weekend.
Just ready made and waiting for us to enjoy.
Today, I am delighted to share our president’s editorial with you and for
this week Donna J. Jodhan wonders about certain types of flowers.
Happy weekend everyone!

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Where have all the flowers gone

This is how I would like to think of those who have and continue to show
immense kindness, generosity, compassion, passion, patience, tolerance,
foresight, and insight. Yes; these are the ones who possess any one or more
than one of these qualities! They are our special flowers forever!

Many would say that these flowers are no longer with us but I would say that
they are still here with us and much closer than we think. All we need to
do is to reach out for them! Put out a call for them and sure enough you’ll
soon see them coming into view.

As soon as they hear you calling they will come! No questions asked! They
will be here to answer your call! To listen, communicate, collaborate, and
to spring into action!

These are our flowers; of all ages, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions,
and above all; of all genders! They reside around the world and can easily
be found! All we need to do is to call out for them and they will respond!

Am I crazy? Not at all! I am only referring to the thousands of persons
who are our flowers of today! Those who will not hesitate to show those
qualities as mentioned above.

Just my two cents for today.

To learn more about me as a sight loss coach visit www.donnajodhan.com

To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca.

Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna’s blogs and editorials.
Donna Jodhan! Advocating accessibility for all
http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com
Weekly features on how to increase your success with your business ventures
http://www.sterlingcreations.com/businessdesk.htm
Weekly articles and editorials on issues about accessibility
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog

Now you can enjoy Donna’s detective DJ crime crushers Series by visiting
http://www.donnajodhan.com

You can follow me on twitter @accessibleworld
and chat with me on Skype at habsfan0526.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan