These are the things Shelly Brisbin makes and loves
Posted in Access and Disability, and Announcements
It’s fall tech season again. Even before the calendar confirms the season’s change, Apple has given us one of the traditional markers – new hardware and a date on which we’ll all be downloading the new versions of its software. And I’m working on the update to my book, iOS Access for All, like I do each autumn. Anyone who buys the current (iOS 14 edition) from now until the update is released will receive…
Posted in Random Personal Nonsense
Gonna pack up my two-steppin’ shoes And head for the Gulf Coast plain Gonna walk the streets of my own hometown Where everybody knows my name. – Nanci Griffith, “I Wish it would Rain” I typed the above lyric from memory. Admittedly, that recollection has been made sharper during the week since Nanci Griffith passed away. I’ve been listening to her music a lot, and I produced a radio remembrance about her. But I think…
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, and Pods and Presos
I got a phone call a couple of months ago letting my know that my audio documentary, 36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk won a Barbara Jordan Media Award. These honors are presented annually to media professionals and students in recognition of positive and inclusive representations of people with disabilities, here in Texas. There was to be an awards ceremony at Texas A&M, last month, but the pandemic put a…
Posted in Random Personal Nonsense
On some level, it’s true. We are all supposed to be practicing the same measures to keep ourselves safe. But what I learn when I talk to people in those little video squares on my computer is that there are a lot of ways to feel and be right now, and that, well, I haven’t heard exactly the way I feel expressed out there. I don’t have kids. That’s the first thing my work colleagues…
Note: These videos, and lots more, have migrated to YouTube. Subscribe to my Cheryl Wheeler Kitchen Songs playlist to be notified about each new video as it arrives. I’ve maintained a mailing list for fans of singer-songwriter Cheryl Wheeler since 1996! Like a lot of us, Cheryl is at home right now. Since she’s not able to be out doing shows, she’s been recording songs from her kitchen. Well, actually, her wife Cathleen has been…
My first article for MacStories is a doozy. I actually just wrote the word, “doozy.” Moving on! I’ve taken 6,500 or so words to chronicle ten years of iOS accessibility, feature by feature, release by release, in true MacStories style. Who else but Federico and his team would have let me write at such length in a voice that’s all my own? The story is inspired by “36 Seconds that Changed Everything.” Check it out!
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, and Podcasting
I’m thrilled to announce the release of my audio documentary, “36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk.” It’s the story of how accessibility features came to the iPhone in 2009, how that event rocked some people’s world, and how most didn’t even notice. You can listen to the documentary or read a transcript at the web site I made (it looks remarkably like this one, I know, but an accessible theme…
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, and New Media and Tech
I’m excited to announce the release of my audio documentary, “36 Seconds That Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk.” “36 Seconds” tells the story of how the iPhone went from being utterly inaccessible to people with disabilities, to the leading mobile device for people who are blind, have a hearing loss, or experience a motor disability. The story is largely told from the point of view of people who were left out when…
Posted in New Media and Tech, and Random Personal Nonsense
This Web site has been under the weather for awhile. I’ll play the hero and tell you that I wrestled t to the ground, pummeled the mySQL database and made it do my bidding. Then I reassembled these pages from the ashes of mixed metaphor, backed it all up and went on about my business. A consequence of the site’s troubles is that I haven’t done many updates here. I’m making Parallel episodes. I went…
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, New Media and Tech, and Pods and Presos
When it comes to not keeping my blog updated, I’m in good company around the Internet. And yet, I feel badly about it. The iOS 12 edition of my book, iOS Access for All is out in the world. Please go get one. The ePub and Apple Books editions (which are identical, but for the fact that Apple Books takes 30 percent) are on the virtual shelves. The PDF version, of which I’ve spoken lovingly…