VIDEO-Stevie Wonder advocates accessibility for disabled people during Grammys | Examiner.com

Stevie Wonder took the opportunity before presenting a Grammy Monday night to let an audience of nearly 26 million viewers know the importance of inclusiveness in today's society.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for NARAS

As he stood onstage surrounded by members of the a cappella group Pentatonix, a smiling Wonder tore open the envelope containing the name of the Song of the Year winner and flashed the seemingly blank card at the audience.

"OK, so, um, y'all can't read this, huh?" Wonder asked. And no one else could, because the winner's name was printed in Braille.

"You can't read it; you can't read Braille! Na na na na na na!" Wonder joked in a singsong voice while laughing before growing serious. “I just want to say, before saying the winner, that we need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability," he said, and the crowd showed its support of Wonder's statement with a round of applause.

Amy Johnson, a certified vision rehabilitation therapist with the Vision Education and Rehabilitation Center in Jacksonville, agrees with Wonder's message. "Things should be accessible to everyone," she said. "I often look at the bumper sticker I keep on my bulletin board; it came out when the ADA was passed. It says, 'To boldly go where everyone else has gone before.'"

Though the United States has made great strides in equal opportunity for people with disabilities since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1995, Wonder's comments prove that we as a nation have a long way to go before inclusiveness is truly the way of the present, and not something that continues to need advocacy. Since February is AMD and Low Vision Awareness Month, it's a great time to learn more about low vision.