Stop Ignoring Your Podcast's Accessibility Issues [S3E84]

Podcast Pontifications

Perhaps I've been too subtle, so let me speak clearly and louder for those in the back: Accessibility matters.

Many podcasters are operating under the impression that accessibility is optional. It's not.

Many podcasters operate under the misconception that people who are deaf cannot listen to podcasts, and people who are blind cannot watch videos. Those podcasters are wrong. Very wrong. If that’s you, you don’t have to understand how that’s possible; you just have to accept that it is. And it is.

People with vision loss and hearing loss have access to all sorts of tools and services to allow them to enjoy the same content that fully-sighted and full-hearing people enjoy. But only if you, the podcaster, do your part to include them in the party.

Here’s how you can start plugging many accessibility holes right now.

• Make transcriptions available starting with your next episode. Fully corrected and readable.
• Upload subtitles with every video you post. (Hint: the same transcript will help you that too)
• Use a website accessibility service to scan your existing web pages for glaring accessibility issues and fix them.
• Use alt-tags when you post images on your social media properties. It’s a handful of extra characters that will soon become second nature.
• If you run or work for a service—either a hosting company or a website-from-RSS company—you need to ensure the pages you generate are accessible.
• If you run a podcast production house, change your services—and yes, pricing and service-delivery timing—so that accessibility is baked-in to your offerings, not sold as an add-on.

Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

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A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/stop-ignoring-your-podcasts-accessibility-issues

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Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy