The European Union, 34 countries in all, voted to work towards making the Internet accessible to all. The press release states:
A pan-European drive to use information and communication technologies to help people to overcome economic, social, educational, territorial or disability-related disadvantages was endorsed by ministers of 34 European countries in Riga (Latvia) today. “e-Inclusion” targets include halving the gap in Internet usage by groups at risk of exclusion, boosting broadband coverage in Europe to at least 90%, and making all public web sites accessible by 2010.
As this is a netcast blog, this news inspired some thinking about podcasting and accessibility, namely, does podcasting make the Web a more accessible place? I would like to hear from people that have accessibility issues and listen to podcasts. Please describe your experiences using podcasts.
I wonder, in what ways are podcasts not accessible, and in what ways can we make them more accessible?
In a couple of weeks I will review the Web Axe podcast, a show about Web accessibility issues. It looks interesting, and I am actually surprised that the creator, Dennis Lembree, has been so consistent with creating new programs. Right now he is 37 shows strong. Hey, it’s not too sexy of a topic (important, not sexy)! Hopefully it’s something worth listening to.
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Hi Bill
Peter Batchelor and I recently wrote a small piece on accessible podcasting.
It doesn’t address all the issues (like the accessibility of mobile devices like iPods), but I hope that it answers some of your questions.
Feedback appreciated from you and your readers.
Jonathan O’Donnell