You Heard Me: Your Bracciole is Showin'

During Tales of the Cocktail, some of the good folks over at Yahoo Distillers asked whether the distilling session that Mike, Ian, and I presented had been recorded. It hadn't (note: secure video gear next year), but I said I'd look into something for the people who couldn't make it to New Orleans.

As a first step in that direction for the blog, I made an audio recording of yesterday's post. Big whoop, you say. Yes, and to a certain extent, I concur. But in thinking about what I wanted to post, memories of volunteer work I used to do in Kansas City surfaced.

My friend Mary Lynne Dolembo has been executive director of the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired for almost as long as I can remember. While I lived in KC, I volunteered sporadically over the years, working with kids whose visual impairments might range from extraordinary sensitivity to sunlight to perhaps a complete lack of eyes.

The lessons I learned there about adapting design and content for audiences other than able-bodied, six-foot tall men have informed the way I've designed museum exhibits, structured talks, and even how I write so that, if my essays were read aloud, I hope the stuff would be at least engaging if not actually illuminating. They've made me focus on issues such as font shape and size, signage placement, color contrast, tactile experiences—hell, even pinch hazards.

Most of you aren't going to endure much tactile experiences with me, much less pinch hazards, but some audio might be a little more engaging, especially for those who have trouble reading the written word.

And we'll get back to more distilling stuff before long. But for now, click on the link to try out an on-the-fly audio of yesterday's post Yo, Coombs, Your Bracciole is Showin'.

If you like it, I'll do some more. If you don't like it...I'll probably do some more.

.