Producing Article 19, a digital accessibility podcast
At digital accessibility consultant Tamman, I worked on the Article 19 podcast as producer, showrunner, and occasional on-mic talent. I was thrilled about this because working on podcasts was a passion of mine, and the experience did not disappoint me. It was thrilling, creative, and engrossing.
The Article 19 podcast shares the lived experiences of people with physical disabilities in the digital space. Episodes I produced shared stories and best practices on multiple digital inclusivity topics. This include blind navigators using echolocation as a navigation tool in urban environments, the role of digital accessibility in Higher Education, the accessibility of phone emojis, and using alt text in online images.
My podcast team included Kristen Witucki, Article 19’s host, who brought a wealth of accessibility experiences as a blind woman. Markus Goldman, whose background is in radio with Philadelphia’s rock station 93.3 WMMR, was our audio engineer and editor.
My responsibilities
My tasks as producer and showrunner were wide-ranging. I was responsible for managing end-to-end podcast production. For pre-production, I was in charge of ideation, writing outlines, booking guests, and scheduling. While recording each episode, I would speak up to ensure we hit the outline’s essential topics and ensure the guests felt comfortable. In the background of each recording, I monitored the audio quality and wrote down show notes to link and include later on. After we wrapped the recording, I oversaw the post-production process of editing, proof-listening, and transcribing each episode so it was ready to go live.
Once we finished an episode, I would post and promote it. I posted the episodes on public podcast RSS feeds (Spotify, Audible, Apple, PodBean, etc.). I then published the episode and the transcript on the Tamman website. Finally, I promoted episodes on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Threads, Instagram, and Twitter / X.
The digital accessibility process
Creating each Article 19 episode is an intensive process, from getting the tone right to finding our guests. The podcast covers digital accessibility, focusing on providing people with physical disabilities equitable access to information. We dedicated ourselves to making our podcast as accessible as possible.
Creating an accessible podcast episode included getting typed transcripts to accompany each episode we recorded. If someone deaf or hard of hearing wants to engage with the podcast, they need a transcript to read the episode. That meant time was required to prepare the transcript and attach a copy on each podcast platform, including the company website. I linked each episode’s show notes at the bottom of that transcript and that episode’s webpage. Finally, each webpage with an Article 19 episode includes multiple clickable timestamps. This way, people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technology can jump to the section they want to listen to. Without timestamps, those people may have no choice but to listen to the entire 60-minute episode each time they return to an episode.
Results
Each podcast episode was a satisfying adventure, and I thoroughly enjoyed each of them. From when I joined the Article 19 podcast, we launched 17 episodes. During my leadership, the podcast download count grew by 55% from 2022 to 2023. In 2022, there were 600+ downloads for the year. In 2023, that increased to 1100+ downloads. In Q1 2024, we amassed 400+ downloads.
Highlighting some of my personal favorite Article 19 episodes!
Book Talk: Mismatch - How Inclusion Shapes Design by Kat Holmes
Holmes’ excellent book deep dives into how the feelings of inclusion and experience of exclusion shapes modern designs. She also describes how includes modern staples such as the iPhone, adjustable car seats, and keyboards were created by accommodating people with disabilities.
Additionally, this episode is one of my most prominent, as Mismatch was my recommendation for a book talk, and I led the discussion!
Echolocation with Daniel Kish and Derrick Twene
In this episode we spoke with Daniel Kish, the President for the World Access for the Blind and Derrick Twene, a Consultant, Coach, mobility trainer, and motivational speaker who retrained himself to navigate the world after losing his sight as an adult.
Kara Gaurlapp on Digital Accessibility in Higher Education Part 2
Gaulrapp, the Senior Website Accessibility Specialist at the University of Pennsylvania, joined us to speak on digital accessibility’s footprint in Higher Education. She shares how each website, professor’s coursework, and student with disabilities have unique digital accessibility circumstances to that require distinct needs to meet.
Skills learned
End-to-end podcast production (ideation, scheduling, recording, post-production, posting, and promotion).
Recording software (Zoom, Audio Audition).
Publishing podcasts on multiple platforms (PodBean, WordPress, Spotify, Apple Podcasts).
Writing content scripts, guest outreach, and rapport building.
Providing an accessible podcast (transcripts, linked show notes, keyboard navigation on website pages, alt text on thumbnails).
Developing a repeatable process to create 30 to 60-minute episodes on a specific subject.
Collaborating with a variety of cross-skilled creatives to produce a larger whole.
Lessons learned
End-to-end podcast production is a beast with many steps. Passion is helpful, and this process requires organization.
As this creative pursuit has an artful heart and a technical process, I found it beneficial to review and adjust that process early and often.
The more episodes that are mid-production, the more emphasis is needed to finish the upcoming episode.
Determining which subject to tackle between passion projects and business-centric ideas is a constant balance. Business needs to win out, and passion must be noticed and indulged.
What I would do differently next time
I would focus on one item at a time. Create it, record it, and get it ready to post. Once it’s ready to go live, move on to the next project.
Dive deeper into the podcast production process, both in my role and in general, to determine how to make the process more efficient.
Invest more time into crafting episode topics I personally am invested in.
