Podcast platforms sued + the Black experience in design (SBLTN Lab Notes 024)
Podcast inaccessibility for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and a book on identity, reflection & expression of 70 creators across the Black diaspora
IN THE MARGINS
I usually write like I talk. Slang, sound effects, cursing, etc. With 2 university degrees, one in philosophy, I certainly have the ability to write in an academic style but I choose not to (for a variety of reasons). Half the time I just straight up don’t want to put in the effort to filter myself. As I continue navigating being a business owner, there are just some hoops I’m no longer willing to jump through. That includes watering down myself or presenting as anything other than what I am. How I start a client engagement sets the expectation for the rest of the relationship and I’d rather not be faking the funk for weeks on end. So, WYSIWYG isn’t just for website editors - it’s for me too. I am how I am and if you don’t rock with that, cool, but then I’m not for you and that’s okay.
The problem is that how I talk isn’t always deemed “acceptable” by Corporate America’s standards. A problem that I used to really struggle with, especially since in grade school BIPOC kids said I sounded “white” and white kids said I talk “Black” or with an accent (shout-out to my biracial/multi-ethnic peeps!). We could spin off into the validity of AAVE/AAE* but I’m trying not to rage today haha Lesson of the day: show up as you are.
*African American Vernacular English / African American English
ACCESSIBILITY
Podcast Platforms Get Sued for Inaccessibility
We’ll be talking about the accessibility of entertainment media for the next few editions. Today: podcasts. How much I engage with a podcast episode depends on the content. If it’s just 2 people chatting, I’ll passively listen while out on a walk or cleaning. If it’s more educational or informative, I’ll actively listen and not multi-task because I’m usually jotting down notes. As a Hard of Hearing person, listening to the latter type of episodes usually goes 1 of 3 ways:
I listen but end up having to replay parts over and over until I understand what is said
I dig around in the shownotes hoping there’s a transcript posted online that I can follow (and if it doesn’t have timestamps or speaker tags, that’s a whole other battle)
I have it playing but then I open Google Live Transcribe to create makeshift captions so I can see the words at the same time the audio is playing
Podcasting as a medium isn’t very accessible for the d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing, even though it’s becoming more popular and major platforms have the financial resources to put toward improving the experience. Thanks to The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), that could be changing. Both organizations filed a lawsuit against three major providers of podcasts (SiriusXM, Stitcher, and Pandora) to end their exclusion of deaf and hard of hearing Americans. The failure to provide equal access violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as state and local laws. So while y’all are yelling at Spotify for supporting hosts spreading misinformation, also get on them about their lack of accessibility 👍🏽
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
“The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Reflection & Expression”
If the content of this book is as dope as it’s layout design*, I’m SO excited! I initially wanted to read it because a client, Sloan Leo of FLOX Studio, has written a chapter but after looking at the FIRE topics in the table of contents, I’m even more stoked.
Excluded from traditional design history and education that heavily favors European modernist influences, the work and experiences of Black designers have been systematically overlooked in the profession for decades.
However, given the national focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the aftermath of the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, educators, practitioners, and students now have the opportunity—as well as the social and political momentum—to make long-term, systemic changes in design education, research, and practice, reclaiming the contributions of Black designers in the process.
“The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Reflection & Expression” presents writings by 70 designers, artists, curators, educators, students, and researchers who represent a cross-section of Black diasporic identities and multi-disciplinary practices.
The chapters spotlight teaching practices, offer critiques of design methods, speculative futuring, sustainable design methods, healing practices, and designing for Black Joy. They also cover multi-community design, biophilia as a Black reparative practice, the history of African fractals, and the intersections of race, gender, ability, and sexuality as it informs their teaching, scholarship and professional work.
(Also available on Amazon but y’know… It’s Amazon…)
*Cover & layout design by renald Louissaint
ART & DESIGN
The Corporate States of America
“The Corporate States of America” is a U.S.-based graphic design project that found the most recognizable brands headquartered in each state and created a state identity from them.
❓ QUESTION: Which one was your fave?
Signing off from the Starship SBLTN,
Laneen (Pronouns: she/they)
🎧 Listening: “Robin Hood” by Raja Kumari
📖 Reading: Physics meets melanin in "The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred" by Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
💬 Quote: "Good advice at the wrong time is bad advice" - James Clear