Growing up in Tottenham, North London, I often found myself asking the same question. Why does this place carry so many labels that don’t fully match the reality? For many people outside the area, Tottenham is reduced to headlines such as crime, poverty, unrest, but that version never captured the whole story of where I grew up. Tottenham is layered. It’s a place of deep cultural diversity, tight-knit families, street markets, music, football pride, and history. At the same time, it’s an area shaped by long-standing inequality and rapid change. New developments rise next to aging council estates, and longtime residents are pushed out as rents climb. I remember thinking, where does this investment come from, and why does it arrive so late? And more importantly, who is it really meant to serve? You should care about this because Tottenham reflects a larger urban story. It shows how communities can be rich in culture yet underserved by systems of power. Understanding places like Tottenham helps us question how cities grow, who benefits from that growth, and how narratives can either erase or honor the people who live there.
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When I think about my hometown, I think about it’s age more often than not. Often you find younger people moving from small towns for various reasons. Those reasons can be things like school, new work, or just that they need more social interaction. It’s all to common that my hometown houses an older demographic only matched by the age of our infrastructure. Old posters, buildings and tradition still linger making me question what our history was like. I’ve spoken to people who have lived here all their lives and they claim there used to be a movie theater, music venue, and even an arcade. This peaked my interest because the locations they claimed these places used to be where in furniture stores and what is now an ice-cream shop. Another notable feature is that most houses in the older area of town have a “coal miner’s shower” in them, which is a very specific type of shower that existed for people who mined coal, when that industry was booming in the area, to clean off after a day. Many places are rich in history, covered up by time and newer business. Not only that but the places I remember as a kid like a local family video and sports store that no longer exist. Nonetheless, I find the history of old buildings interesting and love to see old places used for new reasons, it adds a touch of personality and history to any location.
In the little town where I’m from, things calm down after nightfall. I find myself wondering why so much of this place’s life revolves around only a handful of locations. You visit the same diner, the same high school football field, or the same gas station if you want to see people. Everyone ends up in the same places since there aren’t many options.
The setting is a small village with even fewer chances. Businesses that aren’t well-known don’t last long, and anything new is viewed with mistrust. The routine might be comforting, but it can also seem boring. When I have nothing to do on the weekends and nowhere fresh to go, I’ve found myself wondering why things never change. Environment is important to each individual because it shapes your identity and how you view yourself. If nothing ever changes how can people grow or strive to discover new things.
- What accessibility issues crop up for the page you chose?
Two click-away links are invisible on the page
Four areas where contrast errors exist
- Who is most likely to need the content on the page?
People who need support with their technology
- How might the accessibility issues impede people’s access to the content?Who might be most impacted?
It may affect the page’s UX. They might think the page is cluttered or the colors too much.
- Name one or two ways that the accessibility of the site could be improved – the smaller and easier, the better!
Get rid of the invisible links in the background
Clean up the coloring on the page to improve overall contrast and make the UX better.
Hello, I major in Human recourse because I believe that i can talk to anyone and am very sociable, also I am not scared of confrontation. I have multiple hobbies and interest that I use social media to engage in. Cooking, Aquatics, Stocks, Video games, and podcast are in my regiment of media that i consume. I keep myself private on social media because at the end of the day people are so wrapped up in there own lives that I don’t really broadcast mine because who really cares, I think it opens the door to self doubt when it comes to thinking about others opinions, I am very self conscious and carful where I invest my energy and what thoughts go through my mind. I have 3 dogs and spend time with them in my free time.
Read the article and watch the video about the Cahokia AR app: https://cahokiamounds.org/augmented-reality-project/. You do not need to buy the app!
Write a blog post applying what we’ve read and discussed about audience, accessibility, and representation to the Cahokia app. What does the app do well? For what audiences does it enhance access and accessibility? What groups does it exclude? Your blog post should be at least 200 words. Add the tag “Cahokia” before you publish.
Web accessibility guidelines help us to ensure that our content meets at least a minimum threshold for accessibility. While it’s a long way off from universal design (designing to make sure our projects are maximally accessible for a maximal audience), it’s an important first step.
There are a variety of tools for evaluating accessibility. Tools like Funkify allow you to simulate various disabilities to get a sense of how design impacts usability. That’s useful to a point, although it’s always better (and necessary!) to talk to actual people whose lived experiences are a much better guide.
Today, we’ll use WAVE, the web accessibility evaluation tool.
- Choose a page on the SIUE website to evaluate, and run it through the checker at https://wave.webaim.org/.
- In a blog post (with the tag “Accessibility”), answer the following questions. Bullet points are fine!
- What accessibility issues crop up for the page you chose?
- Who is most likely to need the content on the page?
- How might the accessibility issues impede people’s access to the content? Who might be most impacted?
- Name one or two ways that the accessibility of the site could be improved – the smaller and easier, the better!
There was several topics stood out to me, AI fiction, AI imaginaries, and the ways the class approaches data and technology from a human-centered perspective. I’m particularly interested in how AI fiction and AI imaginaries help us explore ethical questions about technology, such as bias, power, creativity, and what it means to be human in an increasingly automated world. I’m also intrested in learning about creative approaches to data and the idea of humanizing data through visualization and storytelling rather than treating it as something purely technical or abstract. Topics like visualizing textual data and digitization technologies appeal to me because they show how humanities sources can be transformed and reinterpreted using digital tools. Civic technology is another area I want to explore further, especially how digital projects can address real community needs and social issues. But in general, I’m excited to learn how technology, storytelling, and ethics intersect throughout this course and to apply these ideas in future projects.
Interest statement
Imagine this, you are on the main road in the town of Mascoutah. You look up and see a giant mural of the native tribes that used to live in this wonderful place. You see several places as well, such as homes, the Night Deposit, which used to be an old bank that is now a bar. Now, why might I be telling you about this sleepy town? Well, funny enough, that is Mascoutah’s nickname. And I am here to inform you just briefly about this place. Now the town has several activities to do, but Mascoutah also provides major housing to Scott Air Force Base. Now, why might you all care about something like this? As we all know, the housing market has not been the greatest. Prices keep going up due to companies like BlackRock and several others that are buying up family homes. This is so they can shrink the housing market supply and increase prices to whatever they want. If there are not many houses to choose from, then it becomes an issue for the people who need a place to live. Especially when set in a specific area. This is interesting, as it contributes to the ongoing problem. This has incentivized more people to join the military because they are provided a home, whether they are active or not, by the military. This has pushed some of these companies away from Mascoutah because the majority of the people are there for the military work. So building homes in this town has become somewhat of a joke. AKA calling it a sleepy town because military people live there for work rather than other activities.
I think the Topic The Modern web and the reading of how google took over the web looks very intriguing. This appeals to me because I only use google and have been my whole life. Google has really taken over the internet and has a sort of monopoly over it. Honestly, who wants to use internet express. Google has such a clean UI that its almost a must to use on a daily basis. Also the AI Imaginaries in fiction and non fiction look intriguing. its crazy how far AI has come in a few short years. I remember when it first came it it wasn’t very useful and now it controls the internet. AI today has the ability to read create and think. Overall I am very excited about this class, there are so many different types of topics when it comes to Hum. Its like a mix of history, Technology and Innovation, there is really no way to define social Hum because it is so diverse.