I had the pleasure of watching as 17 kids who attend Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired learn a bit about Swift Playgrounds, the environment Apple created to teach people how to code in the Swift language. Even better, I made a radio story about it for Texas Standard. I’m really proud of it. I’m less proud that I forgot I had a blog, so I didn’t get around to telling you about all this until now. Apropos of that, I’m planning to restart my “all the podcasts” RSS feed, should you want to hear me behind the…
Tag: apple
Update: Now with a dramatic reading, as heard on NosillaCast #606, at about the 30 minute mark. Thanks to Allison for the opportunity to relive high school poetry interp competition. Lots and lots of people have asked if I bought a new MacBook Pro; the one with the dongles and the touch bar. And then, I couldn’t sleep. So I wrote a poem. I Did Not Buy a MacBook Pro When I’m on a podcast show, To talk the tech with friends I know, I cannot share their Apple glow, I did not buy a MacBook Pro. At coffee shops…
My Podcast Smorgasbord
Posted in Pods and Presos
In the course of promoting my book, iOS Access for All, I’ve been invited onto several podcasts. For the most part, these are new opportunities for me, though a few invites came from old friends. I’ll link you to all the shows, but I want to give you reasons to listen to specific ones, since they’re so different. Also, if you just can’t get enough of my yammering, subscribe to the All Shelly, All The Time podcast feed, to hear shows I make, co-host, or visit. Here’s what I did last week: Mac OS Ken: You should know first off…
Less Than or Equal Guest Shot: My Beef with Tech Journalism
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, and Pods and Presos
I was honored to join Aleen Sims on episode #89 of her podcast, Less Than or Equal. It’s a great show, where you will meet a wide range of people, many of whom are not among the usual suspects of podcast guests (present company excepted, I guess.) We talked about the reasons accessibility is often invisible in the mainstream tech world, and why I get grumpy when I read (or don’t read) about accessibility in mainstream tech publications. I did that thing where I talk really fast, so increase the speed of your podcatchnr’s playback (Overcast is great for this)…
My friends at Apple, for I must surely call any organization that has taken so much of my money in exchanged for shiny objects a friend, announced a lot of new shiny objects this week. And so, I podcasted about them on my own show, on a show where I’m a regular, and as a guest on someone else’s show. Minimum show length? 1 hour. That’s the one I produced and edited. You’re welcome! But Siri-ously. Do check them out, of they were fun shows to do: The Parallel, #3 “Everyone Wants an Apple TV,” with Dan Moren and Josh de…
Back in the Saddle: Check Out My New Podcast
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, and Pods and Presos
Lately, I’ve been rediscovering my love of podcasting. For those of you who don’t know, and that includes a surprising number of friends and colleagues, I produced my first podcast in 2004, and continued to make shows on the regular for the better part of the next nine years. I have guested on many podcasts, and was active in the first wave podcasting community; the enthusiasts and semi-pros who congregated at the first few New Media Expo events. Oh yeah. And I ran Blogger & Podcaster Magazine, which sadly folded after a year-and-a-half run. It’s weird to feel I need…
The One iPod Touch Fangirl
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Random Personal Nonsense
This week’s announcement of faster, more colorful versions of the iPod Touch was met with: a) rapture b) sophisticated market analysis c) indifference Actually, the answer is d) scorn. You see, the lowly (that one always hurts) iPod Touch is not perceived as an aperitif for those wishing to sample the iOS menu. Nor is it the logical landing place for someone who prizes small, elegant things. It is also not a cost-effective way to get onto the Internet without all the carpel tunnel. No, dear readers, the iPod Touch kind of makes people crazy. Crazy the way reality TV makes…
Maccessibility Roundtable #85
Posted in Pods and Presos
With WWDC approaching, we share our wish lists for the probable new versions iOS and OS X. Also, watch updates from those who have em. Download Maccessibility Roundtable #85: The Guys Only Name the Big Ones
Apple’s Trust Dividend
Posted in Access and Disability
If I were asked to summarize the attitude of enthusiasts toward Apple Watch accessibility, this would be my pull-quote: “It was kind of weird for awhile, and I’m still not 100 percent sure what to expect, but everything will be awesome!” (By the way, that’s less than 140 characters, leaving plenty of room for breathless hashtags.) The chain of events leading to next week’s delivery of the first Apple Watches has not been without twists and turns. If you were to construct an announcement-to-ship day timeline, you might wonder what Apple was thinking, or perhaps why blind and low-vision people…
Apple Watch Demos, and the Irony of Low-Vision
Posted in Access and Disability, and New Media and Tech
I wrote last week about Apple Watch accessibility, mostly pointing to the first hands-on articles written by VoiceOver users. Many of our questions have now been addressed. VO is part of the watch, and so are some low-vision features, including zoom and grayscale. But during the long few weeks between watch pre-orders and watch unboxings, uncertainty obviously remains. In the larger context, that’s the point of the in-store try-on program, right? You use some combination of wrist, fingers, ears, and eyes to assure yourself that this new gadget is a thing you want, and will actually be able to use.…