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Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2017 - 07 - 28 - ID#6q4msf
6
Long shot, but I'm looking for any blind folks who work in terrestrial radio (self.Blind)
submitted by Prefect316
Hi all. I'm 100% blind. In college I did a lot on our college radio station, even serving as the station's imaging director. The only difficulty I had at the station was, you guessed it, using the radio station's software to see upcoming songs, cue sweepers and other elements, etc. I got around this by loading sweepers onto a CD and memorizing all the buttons on our analog board. Yup, fun times.

Radio is the one thing I really want to do, but I find myself incredibly frustrated that it's so hard to break in, especially when you're totally blind because so many audio boards at radio stations are touch screen and thereby unusable. Worse still is most radio people break in as board opps, which is, again, not doable if you're blind.

I'm just wondering if there are any blind radio professionals out there who I might be able to speak with and kind of pick their brain on how you adapted your station's workflow? Long shot, but this is the one thing I can see myself not only doing well but actually enjoying, and I feel incredibly slighted that I can't.

Thanks in advance for any help.
tangozebra 6 points 6y ago
Have you heard of a Youtuber named Tommy Edison? He worked as a traffic reporter for a radio station in Connecticut. He does videos on the blind experience. I think he would probably talk with you. The link below shows him preparing for his morning, and working in the studio at the station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZlQ8YHBK3c
Amonwilde 2 points 6y ago
So annoying, since it seems like it's perfect for a blind person if the software just worked. I hope someone in the biz reaches out to you, but have you tried podcasting? If you can get a bit of a following you could leverage that into a job in traditional radio. My other recommendation would be to research the most popular radio software and see if they have APIs. If they do, you can pay someone to make a hacky but accessible control panel for you. If they don't have APIs and they're proprietary (not open source), then your only option would be to reach out to the company and ask them about accessibility or sue them.
Prefect316 [OP] 1 points 6y ago
I'm definitely in the middle of getting a podcast together. That's definitely the career route I'm exploring right now.
In regards to your other suggestion, how would I be able to get an alternative control panel together? Would I have to work with some kind of assistive tech consultant to do this? I'm very inexperienced with this sort of thing and any info helps.
Amonwilde 1 points 6y ago
Hey, I just sent you a PM, but the upshot is I did some research and there are blind jocks and accessible radio software. Found someone who might be willing to talk with you and sent you their number. Good luck!
Myntrith 2 points 6y ago
If i wasn't unemployed, I would gild you for this. I'm sighted, but I subscribed to this because my mom is blind, and I'm always looking for ways to help her out. It warms my heart like you wouldn't believe to see people helping each other like this.
vwlsmssng 1 points 6y ago
You may be interest in hearing about a 100% blind since birth UK radio broadcaster called Peter White.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_White_(broadcaster)

http://www.peter-white.co.uk/

Search for "Peter White BBC Radio 4" for more info
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