Breaking Barriers: Making Your Podcast Accessible with the Blind Blogger
Episode 2519th November 2024 • Podcasting Tech • Mathew Passy
00:00:00 00:32:55

Share Episode

Shownotes

Have you ever thought about how your podcast sounds to a visually impaired listener? Or how small changes could make a big impact on inclusivity? If not, you’re in for an eye-opening conversation. In this episode, host Mathew Passy sits down with Maxwell Ivey, affectionately known as the Blind Blogger, to share powerful, practical ways to make podcasts more accessible to everyone.

Maxwell, an accessibility advocate and founder of Accessibility Advantage, has devoted his life to helping others experience the digital world without barriers. Despite being visually impaired due to retinitis pigmentosa, Maxwell’s expertise in digital accessibility is unparalleled. Known for his insightful guidance, he’s here to teach us why accessibility isn’t just a checkbox but a way to connect with listeners more meaningfully.

What’s in it for you? Providing audio descriptions, accessible website navigation, and alternative text can forge a stronger bond with your listeners, increasing loyalty and expanding your reach. Maxwell covers it all—from why transcripts boost accessibility and SEO to the power of captions for broader engagement.

In This Episode, We Cover:

  • The Impact of Audio Descriptions
  • Maxwell explains how describing visual elements during your recordings can deepen the experience for visually impaired audiences, allowing them to feel fully included in your content.
  • Making Podcast Players Accessible
  • Discover how tools like WAVES and AudioEye can help ensure your podcast players are accessible, with properly labeled buttons and controls that work seamlessly with screen readers.
  • Designing for Simplicity
  • Simplifying your website’s navigation and adding alternative text for images makes it easier for people using adaptive technologies—and helps your SEO game, too.
  • The Power of Transcripts and Closed Captions
  • Transcripts aren’t just for accessibility; they also cater to younger audiences, with 37% of people under 35 preferring content with captions. Maxwell shares why every podcaster should consider adding this option.
  • Maximizing Your Accessibility Efforts
  • From consulting with clients to continuous improvements, Maxwell discusses how to approach accessibility as an ongoing practice that strengthens audience relationships and shows commitment to inclusivity.

Links and Resources Mentioned:


  • Follow Maxwell Ivy on Social media: 

LinkedIn - The Blind blogger Maxwell Ivy

Instagram - theblindblogger

Facebook - Maxwell Ivey Jr

Twitter - @maxwellivey

Youtube - @MaxwellIvey


  • Technology in podcasting that assists visually impaired podcasters - Interlink 360 Video Camera
  • Podcast event organizers that fosters inclusivity - Podfest
  • A platform for connecting podcast hosts with potential guests - PodMatch

This episode is essential for podcasters committed to inclusivity. Join us to learn how small changes can make a huge difference in making podcasting accessible to all. Let’s make the podcasting world a welcoming place for everyone—tune in now!

**As an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases of podcasting gear from Amazon.com. We also participate in affiliate programs with many of the software services mentioned on our website. If you purchase something through the links we provide, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The team at Podcasting Tech only recommends products and services that we would use ourselves and that we believe will provide value to our viewers and readers.**


For additional resources and insights visit podcastingtech.com or follow us on social media:


PODCASTING TECH IS POWERED BY:


EQUIPMENT IN USE:

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome to Podcasting Tech, a podcast that equips busy

Speaker:

entrepreneurs engaged in podcasting with proven and cost effective

Speaker:

solutions for achieving a professional sound and appearance.

Speaker:

I'm Matthew Passi, your host and a 15 year veteran in the podcasting

Speaker:

space. We'll help you cut through the noise and offer guidance on software and

Speaker:

hardware that can elevate the quality of your show. Tune in weekly

Speaker:

for insightful interviews with tech creators, behind the scenes studio tours, and

Speaker:

strategies for podcasting success. Head to podcasting tech dot

Speaker:

com to subscribe to this show on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform

Speaker:

and join us on this exciting journey to unlock the full potential of your

Speaker:

podcast. Gonna talk about something that we

Speaker:

not a lot of podcasters really address, and it's something that more of us

Speaker:

should be thinking about, the idea of accessibility with

Speaker:

our digital content. And joining us to talk about that is

Speaker:

Maxwell Ivy, known as the Blind blogger.

Speaker:

He also runs the accessibility advantage. You can find out the accessibilityadvantage.com.

Speaker:

And for as long as I've known Maxwell, which has been a few years since

Speaker:

we first met at a Map Con here in South Jersey,

Speaker:

maybe 5 years ago, He has always been out there trying to

Speaker:

help podcasters make their content more accessible so

Speaker:

that everybody can enjoy what it is that you were doing, and

Speaker:

we are excited to chat with him about that today. Maxwell, thank you for joining

Speaker:

us. Oh, thank you, Matthew. I'm happy to be here. It's always

Speaker:

great when I get to spend time with one of my one of my favorite

Speaker:

leaders of the podcast industry, so thank you. Oh, is that person here?

Speaker:

I don't see them. Well,

Speaker:

I I I wanna definitely talk about accessibility. I wanna talk about all the different

Speaker:

things that podcasters can and should be doing, but, you

Speaker:

know, the blind blogger is such a unique moniker for

Speaker:

someone to have. Tell us a little bit how you started with

Speaker:

that and where you're at these days with your with your digital media,

Speaker:

adventure. Right. So you know that I started

Speaker:

life as a car loaner. After my dad's death I

Speaker:

transitioned to brokering used rides on the Internet,

Speaker:

as social media came along I was building a community

Speaker:

there and as a former shorthand, people on LinkedIn and Facebook just

Speaker:

referred to me as the blind blogger because in 2009,

Speaker:

'ten, along in there, there weren't a lot of people with

Speaker:

disabilities period on the Internet and very few of them were putting

Speaker:

themselves out there as openly as I was. You know, I like to

Speaker:

tell people I wasn't the the most talented, most

Speaker:

prolific, or most consistent, but I was the most shameless. So people knew

Speaker:

me and they hung that name on me and it stuck and when I decided

Speaker:

to start a second website to talk more about being a blonde entrepreneur, it was

Speaker:

the natural choice and it stuck with me and, you

Speaker:

know, the only thing I regret about the blind blogger is,

Speaker:

in some cases, it's a little limiting, but I think I've finally found the

Speaker:

right balance with the old and the new. I just tell people, Hey,

Speaker:

I'm the blind blogger of Maxwell Ivy. Now let's talk about accessibility,

Speaker:

because the truth, the truth is I've been

Speaker:

talking about accessibility for years. It's just I'm

Speaker:

surprised you and everybody else didn't tell me that that was what I was doing

Speaker:

while I was doing it because up until 4 years ago, I really didn't

Speaker:

realize just how much of an impact I was having, how big an advocate

Speaker:

I was for making the Internet and content on the Internet

Speaker:

more inclusive. And it was only as I started to get work

Speaker:

thrown at me, basically, in the area of writing on the

Speaker:

subject of accessibility that I realized, wait a minute. I've been doing this stuff for

Speaker:

17 years now and I am the expert. And it's

Speaker:

about time I lean into that role and start to

Speaker:

be recognized for it more directly and get paid for it, of course.

Speaker:

We always wanna get paid for our good work. Before we jump

Speaker:

into the the work of accessibility specifically and and what you've been doing over

Speaker:

at the Accessibility Advantage, because we do like to talk about technology and

Speaker:

equipment and tools, I'm wondering what has been some of

Speaker:

the best innovations, specifically in

Speaker:

podcasting as far as equipment that allows you to

Speaker:

have a show and and be successful with your content creation journey?

Speaker:

Well, I hate to to spoil such a great question, but,

Speaker:

I am not a high-tech person and even living vicariously

Speaker:

through my friends with disabilities who are high-tech persons, there

Speaker:

haven't been a lot of of big time innovations that

Speaker:

have made having a podcast easier. I do

Speaker:

have one thing that I'm using right now that I really love, although it's not

Speaker:

as smart as it advertises itself to be. I have an interlink 360

Speaker:

video camera, and it uses artificial intelligence

Speaker:

to stay focused on my face and keep me centered in the camera

Speaker:

view. Now, it took over an hour with a sighted person

Speaker:

to configure it where it actually knows what it's supposed to do and when it's

Speaker:

supposed to do it, but it does work really well now. So I can

Speaker:

move forward and back and side and it'll still have me in focus. And

Speaker:

this is important because I don't have complete

Speaker:

control of my space. And as a blind person, one of the most

Speaker:

important things to you is consistency. How do you create a

Speaker:

consistent workspace or a consistent routine? And so

Speaker:

I can't guarantee the furniture will be in the same place every time,

Speaker:

but now I have a camera where I don't have to worry about that anymore.

Speaker:

So that's that's an innovation. I would say

Speaker:

that some of the new microphones that I haven't gotten to try yet are probably

Speaker:

using artificial intelligence, and, I would

Speaker:

also say just more people getting involved and becoming familiar

Speaker:

with accessibility so that I don't have to

Speaker:

spend as much time getting them up to speed as to what I need.

Speaker:

And, you know, speaking of technology, I think you were there at the

Speaker:

event where I won that, that very nice,

Speaker:

microphone at Joe's event. I took it home and I used

Speaker:

it twice, and then it broke, and a

Speaker:

while after I posted those 2 episodes, people said, you know, Max, we loved your

Speaker:

interviews, but the audio wasn't synced. The volume

Speaker:

we'd have to raise the volume to, hear your guest and then

Speaker:

we'd have to lower it so you didn't blast us out of the room.

Speaker:

So, sometimes technology can be very challenging if you have a disability,

Speaker:

but I feel like, Zoom, Google Meet, and the other

Speaker:

meeting platforms have done a good job of helping

Speaker:

the the novice and the disabled balance their

Speaker:

their sound quality so that people can really enjoy the

Speaker:

audio and concentrate solely on the message. And and,

Speaker:

certainly, there's a lot of post production tools as well that will fix a lot

Speaker:

of problems, that might come up with, when you have difficulties in

Speaker:

recording your your content. So let's let's talk about accessibility in

Speaker:

the podcasting space. And, you know, I I think

Speaker:

people are gonna hear this and they're gonna think, well, podcasts are an audio

Speaker:

medium, you know, what is the big challenge for a blind blogger

Speaker:

to listen to a podcast? Tell us what

Speaker:

are the biggest hurdles that you come across when

Speaker:

either you're trying to find specific content or

Speaker:

you've landed on a specific show or network or

Speaker:

program, but, you know, there are other things that

Speaker:

would be done better to make your your experience

Speaker:

enjoying it, a little bit smoother. Right.

Speaker:

So I'm gonna come with this from 2 points. I'm gonna start with

Speaker:

the positive, what podcast hosts can be doing

Speaker:

that will help them take advantage of accessibility to build

Speaker:

a better connection with their audience. One of the

Speaker:

big trends in podcasting is people recording in

Speaker:

video and then outputting the audio. The problem

Speaker:

is, is depending on who you ask, anywhere from 70 to 85

Speaker:

percent of your audience is only going to listen to your

Speaker:

podcast. So they don't have the advantage of your video.

Speaker:

So the one thing that would really help your audience

Speaker:

is if you would do what is called an audio description. That's

Speaker:

where you tell them a little bit about what you look like, your background,

Speaker:

what you're wearing, what your set looks like. If you have a dog or a

Speaker:

cat that thinks it's part of the show and will make an occasional appearance

Speaker:

describing them, but more importantly, if there are head shakes,

Speaker:

if there are facial expressions, if there are things that happen during the

Speaker:

video recording that you think to yourself, if I had

Speaker:

seen that happen, it would have affected me emotionally,

Speaker:

or it would have entertained me, or made me laugh, or something. If I had

Speaker:

seen that, it would have affected the way I,

Speaker:

experienced this show, then you want

Speaker:

to describe those things as they happen as best as you can. Sometimes you'll have

Speaker:

to describe them afterwards. Sometimes you may wanna put it in the in the post

Speaker:

production show notes, but these are the kind of things that your

Speaker:

audience who, by the way, they're just as blind as I am, most of

Speaker:

them, they can't appreciate what was going

Speaker:

on on screen while you were recording this audio that you're outputting

Speaker:

to your player. So I highly encourage people to do an audio description.

Speaker:

If at the end of this recording you want me to do mine for you

Speaker:

to give them an example, I could do that. That's one thing I would say

Speaker:

because it allows you to build a stronger connection with your audience, which leads

Speaker:

to more loyal listeners, which leads to downloads,

Speaker:

reviews, and, hopefully, email subscribers are people who will buy

Speaker:

whatever it is you're selling the next time you have something to sell. So that's

Speaker:

Let's let's not wait. Let's let's get a sample of an audio description now so

Speaker:

that while we're thinking about it, people can understand what it is that you're referring

Speaker:

to. Well, I was hoping you would say that, but you being the host, I

Speaker:

didn't wanna step over. So

Speaker:

so I am a 59 year old white Caucasian

Speaker:

male, and I say that because I'm a pale person. I have medium

Speaker:

length brown curly hair, brown eyes. I'm

Speaker:

wearing a white blue button down dress shirt, black tie. I'm sitting in a

Speaker:

generic office chair, in my bedroom, which also

Speaker:

doubles as my recording space. I have my back background

Speaker:

blacked out or blurred out, whatever the big kids' term for it is,

Speaker:

so there's nothing back there. No dogs, cats,

Speaker:

children, etcetera. No, no monograms

Speaker:

or, logos on my clothing, no visible tattoos.

Speaker:

Those are the kind of things you would want to describe for people in the

Speaker:

beginning of your introduction. And, of course, for me, since I have a disability,

Speaker:

at the end, I would mention that I am almost totally blind

Speaker:

having retinitis pigmentosa, otherwise known as RP.

Speaker:

Okay. Thank you for sharing all that with us and and

Speaker:

explaining what a good visual, what a good audio

Speaker:

description is for a podcast, something that maybe more people can be, thinking

Speaker:

about in the future. So what was your your second point on this front

Speaker:

as far as trying to enjoy podcasts, you know, with accessibility

Speaker:

challenges? Right. So the the most important thing

Speaker:

is your player and where they're gonna find your player.

Speaker:

So if you're using one of the top podcasting

Speaker:

platforms, the odds are their players' buttons are going to be accessible.

Speaker:

I have not been on any of the majors where that's been the

Speaker:

case. It probably will be more likely to be the case with

Speaker:

a with a free hosting provider or

Speaker:

with somebody who is new to the industry as a hosting

Speaker:

provider, but you do want to check and see if the

Speaker:

buttons are properly labeled. It's easier if you have

Speaker:

access to a screen reader or if you use a product like WAVES

Speaker:

or the free checker at audioeye.com. Either of those can help you determine

Speaker:

if your website or your player's website is accessible,

Speaker:

at least for the most part, probably about 70%, 60%.

Speaker:

It'll sell you, you know, at least that much of it whether it's right or

Speaker:

wrong. So your podcast player being able to pause,

Speaker:

stop, fast forward, rewind, being able to share your

Speaker:

content by clicking the buttons, or by subscribing to

Speaker:

whatever their favorite platform is, those things need to be tested.

Speaker:

And then the website where you locate it. You want to make

Speaker:

the podcast player on your website. I would

Speaker:

say it should be the only thing on the page, unless

Speaker:

you're using a plugin that allows you to embed

Speaker:

your player on your homepage and then have it display the

Speaker:

latest episode within that player, which I understand a lot of people do that now

Speaker:

as well. In that case, you just want to make sure that there are as

Speaker:

few elements on the home page as possible alongside

Speaker:

the player. So when people use adaptive

Speaker:

technology, whether it is somebody who is slightly

Speaker:

visually impaired that has a screen magnifier,

Speaker:

or somebody who's more impaired like me that uses a screen reader, or you're talking

Speaker:

about hearing impaired, or people using automated switch devices

Speaker:

because they have a lack of limbs or motor control,

Speaker:

regardless, it takes people like me longer

Speaker:

to navigate your websites. So

Speaker:

the simpler design that you have, the fewer elements that

Speaker:

you use on any one page, the better, because

Speaker:

the the fewer things I have to pass through in order to find the one

Speaker:

thing that I came to your website to do, which as a podcaster,

Speaker:

that one thing should be your podcast. So if

Speaker:

I have to navigate through 3 different pages

Speaker:

or if I have to navigate through 25 links before I find

Speaker:

the link to this week's episode or the player for where I can listen

Speaker:

to any of your episodes, that's just making things harder for

Speaker:

me and for people like me. So that's why I was was talking about

Speaker:

adaptive technology and

Speaker:

in some cases the adaptive technology

Speaker:

also can can lead to some some help

Speaker:

for, people that are are wanting to bring more

Speaker:

traction to their website. Because after you talk about

Speaker:

navigating a website and focusing on a simple clean design

Speaker:

with a minimal number of elements, one of the next things you're gonna

Speaker:

talk about is image. Because as podcasters, we've all got

Speaker:

artwork for our shows, we've got artwork for our episodes, we've

Speaker:

got artwork for our profile on our home page, and all those images

Speaker:

need to have the alternative text tag that describes the image for

Speaker:

people using a screen reader, but those descriptions are also

Speaker:

indexed by Alexa, Google, Siri, all the

Speaker:

major search engines are indexing those

Speaker:

and the only problem I have when I tell people about that

Speaker:

is they want to stuff keywords into their image descriptions.

Speaker:

So I tell people you have a 150 to a 180

Speaker:

characters depending on the search engine that will actually be indexed. So let's

Speaker:

try to split that in half and have half be the name of your company

Speaker:

and what you do and the other half be what's

Speaker:

actually in the image, and that way you get the best of both

Speaker:

worlds. You can drive traffic, and I am sure

Speaker:

that you probably spent a lot of time, effort, stress, and

Speaker:

maybe even a fair bit of money into creating the images that are on your

Speaker:

website. So why not make sure that everybody

Speaker:

visiting your website can appreciate them? You know,

Speaker:

you were talking about what our page should look like.

Speaker:

Is it best practices or would it be

Speaker:

advisable if somebody has the resources to almost make, like,

Speaker:

a separate page that would be more accessible

Speaker:

friendly versus their main podcast listening page? Just because,

Speaker:

you know, there's there's something about the design and form and function that

Speaker:

people look for when they want to create a website.

Speaker:

But also, you know, what is best for the entire audience so

Speaker:

that everybody can enjoy the content and not get bogged down in, you know,

Speaker:

tons of details and and, you know, tons of these,

Speaker:

accessibility features kinda overloading our circuits with all

Speaker:

the different things that we have on the site. Right. Well,

Speaker:

I personally don't believe that anyone

Speaker:

should be creating a second version of your site. I know that

Speaker:

the larger corporations like, like Audible

Speaker:

and Amazon, I know that they do it, but I often

Speaker:

find that the version they've created specifically for people using

Speaker:

adaptive equipment turned out to be not all that

Speaker:

great and some of that's because they don't have the right

Speaker:

people providing information to the developers on their

Speaker:

team and some of it is just lack of time or

Speaker:

funds or lack of care. I also don't

Speaker:

believe that people should have to install a plug in or a

Speaker:

widget on their website to make it accessible. The truth is, most

Speaker:

things, other than the alt text descriptions and the audio descriptions for

Speaker:

videos and audio files, other than those, everything you

Speaker:

do to improve accessibility is stuff that you should be doing to improve the

Speaker:

user experience of everybody else that visits your website anyway.

Speaker:

Okay. That's that is fair. What

Speaker:

about when it comes to transcripts? How often do you find yourself

Speaker:

using those? I don't personally use them

Speaker:

that much unless there's something in the episode that I plan on using

Speaker:

in a later talk or presentation of some

Speaker:

kind, but they are targeted to me. Transcripts

Speaker:

are great for people that have a hearing disability,

Speaker:

but transcripts and closed captions are one of those things

Speaker:

that have a large benefit to the able-bodied

Speaker:

community. Here's a statistic that I recently found

Speaker:

where people under the age of 35, that

Speaker:

37% of that group will not

Speaker:

watch a video on any platform unless that

Speaker:

video has closed captions. Now, we both know that's

Speaker:

because they're most likely gonna be watching some of those videos when they

Speaker:

shouldn't be watching those videos, and they don't want people

Speaker:

overhearing them. But that's the truth. There's a large part of

Speaker:

the society that is depending on closed captions because it just

Speaker:

fits their lifestyle and the same thing applies with audio

Speaker:

descriptions. I have sighted people who will tell me, you know, Max, if I have

Speaker:

a good audio description during a movie or a TV show, once they discover that

Speaker:

they're there on their TVs, if I have a good audio description, I don't have

Speaker:

to look at the TV. I can go do other stuff. I can follow the

Speaker:

plot and, in some cases, can even follow the plot

Speaker:

better because the narrators will tell about stuff on the

Speaker:

screen that maybe you missed because your focus was not

Speaker:

totally on the screen for that 1 or 2 seconds where

Speaker:

you needed to see something in the corner of the screen or whatever. So,

Speaker:

I would say that those types of things,

Speaker:

they make life easier for a lot of your people who don't have

Speaker:

a disability. Another good example is the text,

Speaker:

size, font, color contrast on your website and on

Speaker:

your on your website pages.

Speaker:

If you take a, if you take

Speaker:

a high contrast color, like say black on white or black on

Speaker:

yellow, and you give the user the opportunity to invert the

Speaker:

text so that you have a white text on black background,

Speaker:

that becomes much more easy to read and to

Speaker:

navigate in very bright or very dark light for

Speaker:

people who don't have a vision issue. That is absolutely

Speaker:

fair. And I do see a lot of folks who are, switching over to dark

Speaker:

mode often when they're at their computer. And so I could see why that would

Speaker:

just be something good for people to think about even if they're not necessarily thinking

Speaker:

about full accessibility, you know, concerns

Speaker:

and whatnot. So what is it like to work with you? If somebody's hearing this

Speaker:

and they're thinking, you know, man, Maxwell's got a great point. There's a lot of

Speaker:

these things that we should be doing, but we just don't know how to. How

Speaker:

do they work with you? What does engagement look like? Well,

Speaker:

it starts with reviewing their current

Speaker:

platform, whether that's a website, an app, or their podcast, and seeing where

Speaker:

they're at now, giving them a

Speaker:

breakdown of where they stand on the issues, and

Speaker:

giving them a prioritized list of what needs to

Speaker:

be done right now, you know, what are what are things that are

Speaker:

basic necessities of accessibility that have to happen,

Speaker:

or what are things that we can work on later. I'm

Speaker:

definitely a big fan of doing this at

Speaker:

the the speed that the website

Speaker:

owners team can handle as far as time and money.

Speaker:

And sometimes what we have to do is we have to say, okay, these things

Speaker:

we can't fix now, but what we can do is we can come

Speaker:

up with workarounds that we can teach to

Speaker:

users who have a disability, and we can make those available either on the

Speaker:

website or put a post a note that if

Speaker:

they if they send us an email or click a button, then we can make

Speaker:

those available to them so they can navigate the accessibility issues

Speaker:

in the short term while the owner works on that.

Speaker:

Then once those are corrected, then we can go

Speaker:

on to something else that needs to be done. We can also reevaluate things that

Speaker:

have been improved to make sure that later additions to the

Speaker:

website haven't compromised the accessibility that we just built.

Speaker:

I firmly believe that accessibility is a progress and not

Speaker:

a perfection, and so it's, it is,

Speaker:

it is one of those things where you're gonna work through it and

Speaker:

hopefully get to the point where you're in the high 90s

Speaker:

percent of accessibility. And thanks to my education,

Speaker:

you understand how adaptive check users will navigate

Speaker:

the Internet, so you'll be able to maintain it and avoid

Speaker:

causing problems to it going going forward. One other thing I

Speaker:

do that most people in this field, I feel

Speaker:

like they're they're dropping the ball for their clients is

Speaker:

the disability community, we love to support businesses that are making

Speaker:

effort to be inclusive, but most business owners, for some

Speaker:

reason, are reluctant to

Speaker:

proclaim, announce, share with the world the

Speaker:

efforts that they're putting in to being inclusive. I don't want I don't

Speaker:

I don't have any idea what their reasons are, but I just know that they

Speaker:

just don't feel right talking about the work they've done or the work they've

Speaker:

had done. So, during the process I'll do

Speaker:

blog posts, social media posts,

Speaker:

we'll do podcast episodes for some clients because it isn't just

Speaker:

about improving the accessibility because, you

Speaker:

know, part of the point is making it accessible because it'll make it

Speaker:

easier for everybody else that will visit your website or your or your products or

Speaker:

services. But a big part of this is improving the

Speaker:

lives of people with disabilities, and it really doesn't

Speaker:

improve their lives if they don't know about it. So

Speaker:

evaluation, advice on correction, reevaluation,

Speaker:

promotion, that's what it looks like to work with Max. And if you would like

Speaker:

to do so, the accessibilityadvantage.com. We are chatting

Speaker:

with Maxwell Ivy, the blind blogger. Max, before we

Speaker:

let you go, I have a couple questions that we like to ask everybody on

Speaker:

the show. And, of course, this first question is basically the main

Speaker:

topic of our entire conversation.

Speaker:

Podcasting space where we

Speaker:

could improve upon? Are there things that you would like to see done

Speaker:

better, whether it's on creation, distribution, marketing, anything like

Speaker:

that? I think it's the same answer I would give if we

Speaker:

were talking about the broadcast media. We need more

Speaker:

people with disabilities in front of cameras and microphones. We need

Speaker:

more attention and more spotlights being placed on

Speaker:

those people because there are lots of

Speaker:

blind, deaf, hearing impaired, paraplegic, quadriplegic,

Speaker:

lots of people with disabilities out there who have podcasts or are in the process

Speaker:

of starting podcasts, but there still

Speaker:

aren't a lot of, what's that expression, faces that look like

Speaker:

mine are out there in the podcasting world.

Speaker:

So I think that would be something that would be an improvement. More

Speaker:

people with disabilities on stages at conferences would help,

Speaker:

but there again, that's part with the event organizers and it's part

Speaker:

with the disabled people because y'all can't say yes to us if

Speaker:

we don't ask, you know? So I would say those would

Speaker:

be the kind of things I would think about and, I just want

Speaker:

to drop in a short little plug here for the for Chris Krivitsas and

Speaker:

his team at FOD Fest Expo including Nick Bad with us because,

Speaker:

they invited me to record a video they will be posting shortly to

Speaker:

help their presenters understand how to create more accessible and

Speaker:

inclusive slides and QR codes. And as part of that, I also

Speaker:

told them about doing audio descriptions. So Podfest in

Speaker:

January, there's a organization that's making the effort

Speaker:

to have their event be inclusive, so I wanna get their name out there if

Speaker:

that's okay. Absolutely. I love Chris. I've

Speaker:

always been a fan of his and the work that he's done, and I've

Speaker:

always enjoyed my times at Podfest Conferences and

Speaker:

actually hoping that I got my chance to go down, this year in January to

Speaker:

go, check out the the latest one that they are working on. So,

Speaker:

always happy to give Chris and his team a shout out. They do some

Speaker:

really, really great work. Alright. This one

Speaker:

is, a little probably gonna be a little bit trickier as well, but is there

Speaker:

any technology that you would like to get your hands on that

Speaker:

would help you with podcasting? Whether it's whether it's

Speaker:

something that exists that, you know, just might be out of your budget or

Speaker:

something maybe that somebody needs to create for you?

Speaker:

I think there are 2 things I wanna get my hands on for different reasons.

Speaker:

The number one thing on my wish list is a digital braille

Speaker:

display and what the way they work is you connect

Speaker:

them with your your desktop or your mobile

Speaker:

devices by bluetooth and they use a series

Speaker:

of magnets and metal pins to simulate

Speaker:

braille characters, and the reason I want one is because

Speaker:

when I record my podcast, I have to memorize all this stuff. I

Speaker:

have to create tricks for myself so that I can remember all

Speaker:

this stuff, But if I had access to a digital braille

Speaker:

display, I would be able to read whatever I needed to read

Speaker:

to refresh my memory on while I'm interviewing or being

Speaker:

interviewed without the screen reader, that computer voice,

Speaker:

getting in the middle of the conversation. So that's like my number one thing,

Speaker:

and then my my second thing would be I

Speaker:

would really like to to find a,

Speaker:

a camera that would allow me to do

Speaker:

better as far as recording events when I'm away from my

Speaker:

house. I've spoken at a couple of

Speaker:

conferences where I don't have videos of great talks because they

Speaker:

weren't recording and it's not really easy for me to set up to

Speaker:

record. So having a mobile ad source for recording

Speaker:

video and or audio would be the second thing on my list.

Speaker:

You know, I'm gonna have a nice chat with you right after this conversation

Speaker:

about just such an idea, so stay tuned for that. Hopefully, we can help you

Speaker:

out on that front. Alright. I like that. I I hope you can. And,

Speaker:

lastly, is there a podcast in your

Speaker:

playlist right now that you are listening to that, you know, no matter what is

Speaker:

happening, when the new episode comes out, episode comes out, you're stopping what you're listening

Speaker:

to or dropping everything to go check it out? It can be more than 1

Speaker:

podcast, too. Okay. The easy one is one called Your Own Pay.

Speaker:

It's done by a good friend of mine named Michael Babcock from Oregon.

Speaker:

He's been in the disability space for probably 35

Speaker:

years or more and the reason I like it is because he's

Speaker:

got all the scoop on all the latest technology

Speaker:

and how that can be used or not be used by people

Speaker:

with disabilities. He's the only guy in my community who is

Speaker:

also an expert on Android as well as iOS when it comes

Speaker:

to accessibility, and so he's continuing to be in my

Speaker:

ear telling me, Max, you know Android's almost there, you need to start thinking about

Speaker:

switching from your iPhone. So, your own pay is one of

Speaker:

them and then, I would say

Speaker:

the, for I can't think of the name of the podcast, but I

Speaker:

always listen to Alex Sethilippo's podcast. Oh,

Speaker:

yes. Alex is from PodMatch,

Speaker:

Success Stories or ah, man, what is

Speaker:

this podcast? You know what? Yeah. I know. It bothers me, and I I deserves

Speaker:

to hear, he deserves the credit for his podcast. And pull

Speaker:

his name up on LinkedIn. It's right there in his profile.

Speaker:

Yeah. Oh, podcasting made simple. There you go. So Alex

Speaker:

Sanfilippo at Podcasts Made Simple. He's he's been a

Speaker:

mentor and a friend, and his podcast always

Speaker:

includes such great guests and they they share stuff that you're like, okay,

Speaker:

this this should be a good interview. And then you listen to it, you're like,

Speaker:

wait a minute. That was so much more than I ever thought I was gonna

Speaker:

get from this particular guest. I mean, he, he just rings them

Speaker:

dry or they, they come in and empty their, their, their brains for

Speaker:

them. I don't know how it works. I just know that, you know, that you

Speaker:

just you just get so much every time you listen to one of his guests.

Speaker:

Yeah. Alex is someone who, is doing a lot of very

Speaker:

interesting things in the space and already chatting with him,

Speaker:

trying to make sure we can get him on the show. So very glad you

Speaker:

brought him up as well as our buddy, Chris Karmitza. So I'm I'm trying to

Speaker:

get him on my show too because I've I've been the accessibility adviser

Speaker:

to PodLottery at PodMatch now for a few years. And,

Speaker:

you know, the, in his case, it's been longer than it probably would have

Speaker:

been because they're continuing to grow and build upon what they

Speaker:

started at, but, the thing about PodMatch is,

Speaker:

I'm really impressed with the, not just the work they've done to make it

Speaker:

accessible, but the the point of their heart as

Speaker:

far as they really want this to be the best thing for

Speaker:

podcasters, including podcasters who just have a disability and people with disabilities

Speaker:

who want to be guests. So, you know, I've been I've been

Speaker:

helping him out for a while now and,

Speaker:

I want him to come on my podcast to talk about accessibility on his

Speaker:

platform. And he's like, Max, check back with me in December.

Speaker:

What? Okay. His, his tag guy is a gentleman

Speaker:

named Jesse, and I don't know Jesse's last name. I'm sorry.

Speaker:

But but I I I spend a lot of time back and forth with Jesse.

Speaker:

I've been trying to get him on my podcast as well to talk about Pod

Speaker:

Match and accessibility. And so far, I'm still in

Speaker:

the, you know, just keep checking back with us, Max. When our schedule's

Speaker:

open, we'll come. You know? So He is he is

Speaker:

a rather busy guy, and the next

Speaker:

chance I get to chat with him, I'll I'll nudge him to, you know, go

Speaker:

on your podcast as well and, you know, make an

Speaker:

appearance there. Once again, we've been chatting with Maxwell Ivy, the

Speaker:

blind blogger, also an accessibility advantage. You can go to the

Speaker:

accessibility advantage .com to check out the great

Speaker:

work that he does. And just, you know, think about

Speaker:

Max. He's out here trying to enjoy content, and he's not trying to

Speaker:

make you pay an arm and a leg, you know, for your content to

Speaker:

be more user friendly. He just wants it so that everybody

Speaker:

can can enjoy it and, you know, share with the rest of the world. So,

Speaker:

Max, thank you so much for taking the time and joining us and for doing

Speaker:

what it is that you do. Well, thank you, Matthew. I appreciate you

Speaker:

making a spot for me on the show and for understanding the value

Speaker:

value or the prevent the potential value of accessibility to your

Speaker:

audience. So thank you for that. Thanks for joining us today

Speaker:

on podcasting tech. There are links to all the hardware and

Speaker:

software that help power our guest content and podcasting

Speaker:

tech available in the show notes and on our website at podcastingtech.com.

Speaker:

You can also subscribe to the show on your favorite platform, connect with us on

Speaker:

social media, and even leave a rating and review while you're there. Thanks,

Speaker:

and we'll see you next time on Podcasting Tech.

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube