Perhaps I've been too subtle, so let me speak clearly and louder for those in the back: Accessibility matters. 

Many podcasters are operating under the impression that accessibility is optional. It's not. 

Many podcasters operate under the misconception that people who are deaf cannot listen to podcasts, and people who are blind cannot watch videos. Those podcasters are wrong. Very wrong. If that’s you, you don’t have to understand how that’s possible; you just have to accept that it is. And it is.

People with vision loss and hearing loss have access to all sorts of tools and services to allow them to enjoy the same content that fully-sighted and full-hearing people enjoy. But only if you, the podcaster, do your part to include them in the party.

Here’s how you can start plugging many accessibility holes right now.

• Make transcriptions available starting with your next episode. Fully corrected and readable.
• Upload subtitles with every video you post. (Hint: the same transcript will help you that too)
• Use a website accessibility service to scan your existing web pages for glaring accessibility issues and fix them. 
• Use alt-tags when you post images on your social media properties. It’s a handful of extra characters that will soon become second nature.
• If you run or work for a service—either a hosting company or a website-from-RSS company—you need to ensure the pages you generate are accessible.
• If you run a podcast production house, change your services—and yes, pricing and service-delivery timing—so that accessibility is baked-in to your offerings, not sold as an add-on.

Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

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A written-to-be-read article and a full transcript of the audio of this episode can be found at https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/stop-ignoring-your-podcasts-accessibility-issues

Follow @EvoTerra on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come.

Buy him a virtual coffee to show your support at BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra

And if you need a professional in your podcasting corner, please visit Simpler.Media to see how Simpler Media Productions can help you reach your business objectives with podcasting.

Evo Terra produces Podcast Pontifications four times a week to provide ideas and ask questions every working podcaster should be thinking about. 

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