https://rowest.ca/writing daily 0.75 2026-04-06 https://rowest.ca/writing/an-open-letter-to-opseus-presidential-candidates monthly 0.5 2026-04-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/f972cb7e-74c5-4c02-8875-536c2de6bd47/Sara+Labelle+Campaign.JPG Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - Sara’s brand Sara’s campaign uses a palette of teal, red, grey, blue, and white. Of the ten possible colour combinations that can be made using Sara’s palette, only one meets contrast minimums for text (red on white, 5.69:1). The teal on white (3.99:1) that Sara uses on her website fails to meet contrast requirements, as do the red on blue (2.42:1), white on grey (3.25:1), and white on blue (1.7:1) in the image included here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/3221c4c7-23ff-409e-979c-5666bdd9eee7/Melissa+Campaign.png Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - Melissa’s brand When it comes to Melissa’s campaign, the colour palette is much cleaner. The red and white combination exactly meets contrast minimums (4.5:1). The potential for accessibility is unfortunately lost when it comes to typesetting and layout choices. Again, there is a lack of hierarchy to this post as all text below the header is both in all caps and bolded. In addition to the problems caused by all text in all caps, there is insufficient spacing between lines of text in the same paragraph and between sections. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/09e8c191-735b-4c97-8e46-267d69812a6a/JP+Social+Post.png Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - JP’s brand JP’s campaign uses a primary palette of four colours: dark blue, light blue, lime green, and white. Of the six possible colour combinations this palette can make, half exceed contrast minimums. Combinations of the green, light blue, and/or white fall below thresholds, with contrasts between 1.46:1 and 2.83:1. For the most part, JP’s campaign has used the colour combinations that exceed standards. Unfortunately, the pull quote in this post is an example of content that does not meet contrast minimums. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/7c3e1a07-da33-4ff8-a75d-cf79eadd2054/Sara+Website.png Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - Sara’s website Sara created her website using a service called Hostinger, which promotes itself as an AI-powered website builder. Even Hostinger’s own documentation admits that it is not WCAG compliant. So using this platform for a campaign to represent a union in which more than a quarter of members are disabled is certainly a choice. As previously mentioned, Sara’s decision to use white text on a teal background has resulted in a website that does not meet contrast minimums. Inspecting the code of her website reveals that none of the images have alt text. Between Sara’s choice of platform and colour palette, it comes as no surprise that this is the least accessible website of the three. On average, only 81.3% of page elements were WCAG compliant. A single page of the website included 28 separate contrast errors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/7b077572-d2ca-4d7d-ad2c-f48d1f4712ff/Melissa+Shaw+Website.png Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - Melissa’s website Melissa’s website is hosted by Google. Unlike Hostinger, Google provides guidance on how to build a website that is WCAG compliant. Unfortunately, key aspects of the site are inaccessible. Most notably, the navigation bar for the site is almost completely invisible as it is white text overtop of an image of a tree. Once again, this site includes no alt text. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/80d02b4e-33eb-4ce0-8640-91c67766de6f/JP+Website.png Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - JP’s website JP’s website is hosted by Wordpress. While some of JP’s social posts run into trouble with contrast minimums, the site’s colour use is WCAG compliant. Unlike Sara and Melissa’s websites, JP’s site includes alt text and a video transcript in both French and English. Where this site stumbles is in its use of plugins. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1775443881370-I5BYLTL10GM2B1MWKTBB/2026+Convention+Package+WCAG+Report.png Writing - An open letter to OPSEU’s Presidential candidates - To be specific, the 2026 Resolutions Package has 84,530 accessibility errors. 84,530 reminders that accessibility remains an afterthought, even when legislation requires it. https://rowest.ca/writing/the-intersection-between-disability-and-labour monthly 0.5 2026-04-05 https://rowest.ca/writing/sidelines monthly 0.5 2024-07-21 https://rowest.ca/writing/wavesandwind monthly 0.5 2023-08-21 https://rowest.ca/writing/opc-recommendations monthly 0.5 2022-10-26 https://rowest.ca/writing/ottawa-peoples-commission-presentation monthly 0.5 2022-10-13 https://rowest.ca/writing/writing-about-disability monthly 0.5 2022-10-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/c9edb88f-ea81-4a1b-9bbf-024bd7e7a321/47068828344_d5b31e076d_c.jpg Writing - Disabled isn’t a dirty word: Navigating the language around disability - Here’s what I’m talking about. This brick was clunky and awkward (I literally had to crop the antennae in this picture to fit it on screen). Running on a 1G network meant it was really hard to hear the person on the other end. Was it a phone? Technically. Did it work? Also, technically. Would we use it now? No, because we have better tools available. https://rowest.ca/writing/buying-st-brigids monthly 0.5 2022-10-10 https://rowest.ca/writing/we-need-to-talk-about-1907 monthly 0.5 2022-10-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/79a572f9-aab3-48c7-b32c-3a0ac36e59cd/a067275-v8-crop.jpg Writing - We need to talk about 1907 - Make it stand out Genjiu Nishimura, Grocer, 122 Powell Street, after the riots, Sept 8-9, 1907. Photographer: Unknown. Reprinted courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Item ID: 3363563 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/35993135-2b7a-4961-8f92-3973c600c7b3/c023555.jpg Writing - We need to talk about 1907 - Make it stand out Damage done by the Asiatic Exclusion League to the store of K. Okada, 201 Powell Street. Photographer: Unknown. Reprinted courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Item ID: C-023555 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1d9f7561-9de0-409c-bc4a-8d5151ca1dcd/c016768.jpg Writing - We need to talk about 1907 - Make it stand out William Lyon Mackenzie King and President Roosevelt. While this photo depicts the two men at a later meeting (in 1936), the two had an important meeting following the riots, where they reaffirmed the importance of keeping North America white. Photographer: Unknown. Reprinted courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Item ID: 3194409 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/06ca6542-0b05-4ce2-a890-6102e51fd930/e010965384-v8.jpg Writing - We need to talk about 1907 - Make it stand out Minister of Labour R. Lemieux accompanied by his spouse in Japan, 1908. Photograph credit: Rodolphe Lemieux. Reprinted courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, Item ID: 4318845 https://rowest.ca/writing/the-future-is-fare-free monthly 0.5 2022-03-30 https://rowest.ca/writing/n8s3rfov5ty36pdox2j8qtt94ju7et monthly 0.5 2022-03-25 https://rowest.ca/writing/bkabxvh98k8w263g9ogtknc5262ju1 monthly 0.5 2022-03-08 https://rowest.ca/writing/798qxunja0n1v6vbx2uqw1my1h3dor monthly 0.5 2022-03-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/e304d1c8-8487-45d5-9f9e-144c25a6e542/Alls+fare+graph.jpg Writing - All’s fare?  - Make it stand out Graph by Katie Sheedy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/645d7536-10b6-40ce-9052-8ba591abb2e7/Alls+fare+chart.jpg Writing - All’s fare?  - Make it stand out Layout design by Katie Sheedy https://rowest.ca/writing/lq116k91tsy5ba8cxrjjhispmopugi monthly 0.5 2022-03-08 https://rowest.ca/writing/big-ideas monthly 0.5 2021-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/9ec6cc7f-62d8-4226-9672-220443f63524/projectniamemes-01.jpeg Writing - Big ideas to kick at the darkness - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://rowest.ca/writing/basics monthly 0.5 2021-09-21 https://rowest.ca/writing/reckoning monthly 0.5 2021-09-21 https://rowest.ca/writing/newofficialplan monthly 0.5 2021-06-14 https://rowest.ca/writing/whats-below-the-surface monthly 0.5 2021-06-14 https://rowest.ca/writing/covid-19-neoliberalisms-chernobyl monthly 0.5 2021-04-14 https://rowest.ca/writing/transgender-day-of-remembrance-dont-just-grieve-get-to-work monthly 0.5 2021-06-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1623695250489-N81R7AKPIWDT4BRFLKDW/TvT_TMM_TDoR2020_Infographics_fb_EN_01-1024x536.png Writing - Transgender Day of Remembrance: Don't just grieve, get to work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1623695391045-UNYF93ZQNO1MN07OMYI7/Cissexism-and-Transphobia-1024x576.jpeg Writing - Transgender Day of Remembrance: Don't just grieve, get to work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://rowest.ca/writing/hot-sheet monthly 0.5 2020-11-07 https://rowest.ca/writing/disabilitychurn monthly 0.5 2020-11-07 https://rowest.ca/writing/managing-dissent monthly 0.5 2020-11-07 https://rowest.ca/writing/ending-hunger monthly 0.5 2021-11-14 https://rowest.ca/writing/tag/COVID monthly 0.5 https://rowest.ca/writing/tag/Organized+Labour monthly 0.5 https://rowest.ca/writing/tag/Disability+Justice monthly 0.5 https://rowest.ca/writing/tag/ODSP monthly 0.5 https://rowest.ca/writing/tag/Statistics monthly 0.5 https://rowest.ca/home daily 1.0 2026-04-06 https://rowest.ca/outreach daily 0.75 2023-02-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/2b280148-b777-43b9-94b6-4c9e1dcdcdc6/CCPA-EOYCampaign-Insta-Static-03.png Campaigns & Outreach In the fall of 2020, I spearheaded an end of year giving campaign to drive donations among the CCPA's supporters, both current donors and active supporters. Working with local artist, Katie Sheedy, I storyboarded a short video that would work across platforms and devised a multi-week email campaign. The campaign saw a 39% increase in end of year giving in the midst of a global pandemic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/079f2a88-845b-4cad-badc-8421d667c106/democracy.png Campaigns & Outreach Leading up to British Columbia's Electoral Reform Referendum, I was contracted by the Broadbent Institute to design and layout a report by David Moscrop on Proportional Representation. This work involved knowledge translation, including creating a series of images for social media to help improve understanding of proportional representation's benefits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1604770857512-47XXWK2HUO7IT9EZ6XJU/6BC+SD.png Campaigns & Outreach When the Trudeau government was re-elected in 2019, the first thing the PM announced was an expensive tax cut. I created this campaign that mobilized thousands of Canadians from coast to coast to email their MPs, by showing what else $6B could fund. The campaign called for funding affordable housing, public transit, climate change infrastructure, post secondary education, child care and more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/91e7afa2-2118-44eb-9cf6-26de4306e9db/ccpa+homage.jpg Campaigns & Outreach The pandemic meant changing the way the CCPA was planning to mark their 40th anniversary. I created this unassuming image for the CCPA's 40th anniversary digital fundraising campaign based on Josef Albers "Homage to the Square". If you're unfamiliar with the Homage to the Square, check out my post about it on Instagram raise $1 for every subscriber on the mailing list that it was sent to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/12b28855-c428-45f2-a6a5-77dab37edec5/facebook-event-image.jpeg Campaigns & Outreach This remains my all-time favourite design project. Supporting Our Youth is an innovative series of programs that supports 2SLGBTQQIA+ youth in Toronto and the annual bowlathon is its hallmark fundraiser. I chose watercolour patterns and a variety of bowling balls to give the materials a sophisticated aesthetic that nodded at the traditional rainbow associated with 2SLGBTQQIA+ issues but also celebrated the unique identities within the youth community. Read more about this project by clicking on the image. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1676332089296-8T85EA64N63O6G1WQU1D/Screen%2BShot%2B2022-03-23%2Bat%2B1.14.47%2BPM.jpg Campaigns & Outreach In the summer of 2020, Ontario grocers announced that they were cutting the $2 hourly top up that their frontline workers had received in the early months of the pandemic. I turned analysis from CCPA Senior Economist David Macdonald into a series of short videos for social media which led to David being interviewed by news media and invited to speak to FINA, with the grocery executives also being called in to a FINA hearing over their decision to keep their bonuses while cutting the so-called hero pay. https://rowest.ca/about daily 0.75 2026-04-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1623699824866-AMRQWHKQH3RVAE1BOL40/RoProfile.jpg About - Hi, I’m Róisín. But you probably already know that by now! So here’s some stuff you might not know yet. Róisín is pronounced Ro-sheen. It makes me think of my kayak paddle hitting a shimmering lake. When I’m not paddling in a lake, I am helping to make the world more accessible. You can find our work at Darn Good Work. Prior to setting up our little shop, I worked as the Editor of a magazine, the Monitor. It was a big undertaking, as the publication’s first Editor who wasn't a cis/het man, and as someone who is openly disabled. During my tenure, I ensured that the publication achieved gender parity in every issue that we published and implemented a pronoun inclusion policy for all of the contributors ( because you can’t know someone’s gender just by reading their name ). I also introduced a prismatic approach to engaging with issues – rather than having a single feature issue on a topic, I had multiple authors from various lived experiences engage with the issue from different entry points to give our readership a range of perspectives. Prior to this role, I acquired 10 years of experience in communications and campaigning work, beginning my career while I was in school at Simon Fraser University. I completed both a first class honours undergraduate degree in Communication with a minor in Dialogue and an MA in Communication at SFU. I am disabled and chronically ill but having passing privilege. As a white able-presenting person, I work to make the world more accessible, including the world of progressive organizing and research. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f50391cf4ad704dbce3ab51/1632243334581-ROF37FF16HRPUKRPBJPO/woofums.jpg About - What I’ve been up to I recently completed my term as a board member with the Riverside Park Community Association where I was the chair of the Planning and Land Use Committee. I also served as a member of the Federation of Community Associations’ Planning and Zoning Committee. It was an honour to get to serve my community at this level, and contributing to our New Official Plan submission. For the past few years, I volunteered with Horizon Ottawa and am the founder and an organizer/meal provider with Ottawa Community Cooks. My volunteer service includes two terms with the Ottawa Valley Roller Derby Ombuds Committee and Strategic Planning Committee, as well as serving on the Board of Directors for two years. In 2021, I also completed a term with the Talking Back Feminist Media Conference Steering Committee. While I was an elected member of the Ottawa South NDP Executive Committee, I resigned due to the Federal NDP’s silence on the continued logging of Fairy Creek and the ongoing UNDRIP violations and violence experienced the Wet’suwet’en First Nations who oppose the construction of a fracked gas pipeline through their home. When I’m not organizing, I like to spend my time park skating (and in the pre-pandemic times, playing roller derby), running, gardening, canning, hiking, kayaking, and cross stitching. I live in what is known as Ottawa, on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. As a settler in this place, I aim to be a good steward of the land and water while I am here. The highlight of my time in this place has been successfully convincing my dog, Woofums, to get into a canoe and paddle around a lake with me. https://rowest.ca/sessions daily 0.75 2025-09-29