Here is the thing.

I’ve got a friend who works with the blind and partially sighted.  Unaccessible websites drive her (rightfully) potty.

My web design skills are so poor that I’m not sure how accessible this website is for that sort of person, I’m not sure how screen readers and magnifiers cope with the design.

(I would change the design, but I haven’t a clue how to do so in order to make it more accessible).

So I had an idea, one that I don’t think anyone else is doing, and that is to podcast my reading of my posts.

Preferably at the same time I write them, but if I’m writing them at work, then as soon as I get home to where my (new) microphone is.

So if you have trouble reading my site, you can instead listen to me read it out.

So there will be two podcasts, a weekly one where I’ll talk about all different stuff, and this new one where you can get a vanilla audio version of my posts.

The feed for this is http://randomreality.libsyn.com/rss/Audiopost

Obviously I’ll have to fiddle around with it a bit, to get the right settings/file size/format, but hopefully it’ll be a step in the right direction towards making the internet and blogging a bit easier to use for the blind and partially sighted.

Let me know what you think.

I’m often asked why I started blogging – the honest answer is that I saw a technology that was being used by other people to create great stuff, and it looked like a lot of fun.

To be honest ‘it seemed like it would be fun’ would explain a lot of my life-choices, including the whole ambulance ‘thing’.

I’ve been listening to podcasts for quite a while, and thought that it was something I’d like to do.

So I have exactly that.

My first (very rough) podcast is up there for the whole world to hear.

WARNING: This podcast was made with the worlds cheapest microphone – when/if I do another one then I’ll spring for something more expensive.

I have no ‘stings’ (the annoying “This is radio KNEX 107.1 from Montana” with a sound effect over it), I also have no ‘amusing’ sound effects and I’d really like to have a nice copyright free piece of ambient music in the background (which means I need to dig out my old sequencing software at some point).  What I do have is two great music tracks, a bit of me talking (in betwen the ‘umms’ and ‘errs’).

(I’m wondering how much work I’ll have to do on my ‘radio voice’)

My excuse for how it sounds is this – cheap equipment (a bad workman always blames his tools) and also I have no experience in this sort of thing at all.  Still my bloggin improved with practice, so hopefully this will as well.

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You can get the first podcast from randomreality.libsyn.com  the feed, for all those using podcast clients is randomreality.libsyn.com/rss/podcasts

The music is ‘Rodeohead’ by Hard n Phirm, and ‘Introspection’ by Osymyso 

So, what do you think?

You can send your comments to podcast@randomreality.org, or just leave them in the comments box.  I’m looking for podcast safe music, (i.e.creative commons licensed), or places where I can download the same,  ‘radio stings’ and anything else that’ll make the show better.

Rotten eggs can be thrown when you next see me.