Conversations around web accessibility

Welcome

You can find a fair bit of information about the "how" of web accessibility. But not so much about the people who make up the "accessibility community", those of us who are at the coal face. As I've been wanting to talk to a whole bunch of people about that, I figured making podcasts and sharing the conversations with you was a good idea.

A11y Rules Podcast

The A11y Rules Podcast is a series of interviews with people involved in one way or another with web accessibility. Typically, they are 1-hour interviews split up into 2 half-hour episodes

A11y Rules Sound Bites

The A11y Rules Sound bites are short segments, from 5 to 10 minutes, intended for people with disabilities to talk about the barriers they encounter on the web

Note: The podcasts are "living" on Patreon, but are and will always be free for everyone to listen to.

Who am I?

My name is Nicolas Steenhout. I've been involved with web accessibility for over twenty years in one way or another. Over that time, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people from different backgrounds. I spoke with a few of them about how they became involved, and what makes them tick. I've been curious to hear more about who are these wonderful people involved with accessibility, whether they are accessibility advocates and champions or developers. I'm also always curious to know more about what barriers real people with real disabilities face on the web, and how they handle those barriers.

Goals

To improve the podcasts and to expand the offerings.

Improve

At the moment, the materials I have to make the podcast are functional. But that's about it. I record in my home office with a basic headset and built-in microphone. All the mixing is done with free audio-editing software. It works. But I know I can do better.

Expand

I'm ambitious, and there are many ways in which I could make the podcasts bigger and better. Here are some ways I hope to expand:

• Produce more, and longer, podcasts every month
• Reach out to bigger names
• Commission original music
• Look into ways to expand the reach of the podcast - greater audience.
• Make the podcast self-sustainable

A weekly show takes a lot of effort. There's writing, recording, post-production, editing, transcribing and even a myriad of other little things. I plan to release a podcast every week (or even more often if possible), but I need a little help. If everyone who listened to my podcasts pledged $1 per podcast (or $4 a month) I would be able to improve and expand!

RSS feed

You can access the RSS feed for the podcast by becoming a patron with the tipjar level ($1/month). A dedicated website for the podcast will be available in early 2018.

Why Patreon?

Patreon provides you the opportunity to support my podcasts while allowing me to return the favor in the form of "rewards".

So I have to pay to hear the podcasts?

No, of course not! The podcasts are and will remain free to listen. Think of Patreon like a tip jar. If you like what I do and want to help out, you can become a Patron.

How does Patreon work?

• Patreon allows people who love what I do to support my creations by making a monthly pledge.
• You pledge as little or as much as you like (imagine 2000 people pledging $1 each...it adds up)!
• You are charged when you pledge and then ongoing at the beginning of each month.
• You can cancel your pledge or change your pledge amount at any time.

Should I pledge loads and loads of money?

Yes please! If you donate any of the amounts in the reward boxes, you will also receive lovely gifts