[visionrehabtherapist] A people-first language question

  • From: Maduffy@xxxxxxx
  • To: visionrehabtherapist@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:26:40 EDT

Greetings,  colleagues:
This  is Maureen Duffy, Editorial Director of VisionAWARE.org, a “self-help
for vision  loss” web site. I need your thoughts and feedback about a “
people-first  language” issue that is troubling me. At first glance, you might
think this is  an esoteric request, but I assure you that it is not.
We  are strictly a web-only resource, with no brick-and-mortar presence;
thus,  Internet search results are very important to us. Here is my dilemma
regarding  our use of people-first language, which we take great care to use
throughout our  site:
If  I Google a phrase such as “resources for people who are blind,”
VisionAWARE will appear on page 1 of the search results,  which is good.
If  I Google a phrase such as “resources for the blind,” VisionAWARE is
displayed much lower in the search results,  which means that potential
readers are far less likely to find our  information.
A  keyword suggestion tool I’ve used shows substantially more related
results for  “the blind” than for “people who are blind.” Googling “the blind”
returns  roughly 19.6 million search results for that phrase and only
726,000 search  results for “people who are blind.” Clearly, people are more
likely to  think/say/search on something related to/for “the blind” vs. to/for
“people who  are blind.”
Editorially,  we take great care to say, “… for people who are blind or
have low vision,” but  that could be working against readers finding our web
site and the excellent  information contained within it.
Thus  my dilemma: Is it better to abandon our insistence on using
people-first  language and allow more adults in need of vision rehabilitation
information find  our site, or should we continue to set the example with
people-first language  and languish undiscovered by many adults in need of our
information? (Perhaps  the dichotomy is over-dramatized, but you get the idea.)
Your  comments, ideas, and feedback are most welcome.
Thank  you in advance,
Maureen A. Duffy,  CVRT
Editorial Director
AWARE (Associates for World Action in  Rehabilitation & Education)
Phone: 914-528-5120
e-mail:  maureen.duffy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Are you aware of our web site?
_www.visionaware.org_ (http://www.visionaware.org/)
"Self-Help for  Vision Loss"
_www.twitter.com/visionaware_ (http://www.twitter.com/visionaware)
**************Dell Days of Deals! June 15-24 - A New Deal Everyday!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222865043x1201494942/aol
?redir=http:%2F%2Fad.doubleclick.net%2Fclk%3B215692145%3B38015538%3Bh)

Other related posts: