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Re: Podcasting and Accessibility

for

From: Joshue O Connor
Date: Feb 2, 2006 3:30AM



Hi Joseph,

> We can have Apple
>> authenticate our users through iTunes, and deliver lectures that way

I am also not sure how accessible iTunes is at all. I have not heard good reports
(from blind users) though that could always improve in future releases, especially
now that Apple have embedded VoiceOver in their OS, and seem committed to improving the
accessibility of their products.

It would be a shame if they didn't go the extra mile and make such a popular application
as iTunes accessible.

Josh

Joshue O Connor

Web Accessibility Consultant

**Centre for Inclusive Technology (CFIT)* *
National Council for the Blind of Ireland

Website:http://www.cfit.ie
E-Mail: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Tel: +353 1 8821915

Joseph Karr O'Connor wrote:
> Joshue O Connor < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Just as an aside:Are Podcasts themselves really mis-sold(if sold is the
> right term) by the likes of Apple etc? So it can be a new "thing" to
> get excited about.
>
> Joshue,
>
> ROTFL! Our local Apple rep was here the other day extolling the
> magnificent educational benefits of Podcasting. Of course, what he was
> pushing was Apple as the distributor of our content. We can have Apple
> authenticate our users through iTunes, and deliver lectures that way.
>
> When I mentioned the fact that we'd be doing transcripts of the
> lectures, citing a lack of labor, he said "would you stand in the way of
> new technology?" over an issue like that? I WOULD! Unless all of our
> students have access to new course materials, then no students will have
> access to new course materials.
>
> There's no way to display a SMIL layer on an MP3 player. If targeting a
> video capable iPod you could deliver open captioned video, but that
> wouldn't be an audio stream per se and only a very small minority of
> users have video iPods.
>
> No, you'd have to make a transcript available in text and stream it in a
> SMIL layer. At the very least, you'd have to make a transcript
> available. That way users could access the transcripts via screen
> reader. But lectures are not always just the instructor speaking, there
> are questions from the students, and interchanges between instructor and
> student. This would make for complicated transcripts = labor.
>
> I told the Apple rep that I need a software solution for transcriptions.
> Of course, that solution is still a few years away.
>
> Then there is recording the lectures. You'd need sound support with
> audience mics and a body mic for the lecturer or it'll be awful audio.
>
> My initial foray into Podcasting will be to make selected lectures
> available to the public, not making them part of course work, and
> providing transcripts of those lectures. I'll select notable lecturers
> on various topics I feel the public would like to experience. This is a
> good way to open up our process to the public while making the lectures
> available to all users.
>