ABSTRACT
This chapter presents three cases of language inaccessibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the concepts of linguicism, ableism and audism we will examine and discuss: (1) how ideas about ability lead to (re)-oppression, (2) when and how changes reversing language inaccessibility can come about, and (3) how oppression, once it is known, still doesn’t change practices. Ethnographic and netnographic observations of and from within activist and non-governmental groups have been employed to collect data for three cases of how the deaf, the hard-of-hearing, and people with cognitive disabilities were affected by the pandemic. The results reveal (re)formation of obstacles to education when moved online, blocked access to vital healthcare information due to institutionalised language inaccessibility and how activist, non-governmental groups and stakeholders themselves, in coalition, overcame some of the barriers through activism which taught others about their vulnerability.
