The age verification cops have come for me on Bluesky because I live in Texas. Sharing vitals with another server on the Internet. Thumbs down.
Remote
Shelly Brisbin
@Shelly@zeppelin.flights
mastodon 4.7.3Public radio journalist (@TexasStandard@mastodon.social) and nerd. I cover #Texas news (government, transportation, disability, tech, arts, music, books). I also write about Apple (@sixcolors@zeppelin.flights) and podcast about classic film (@liontowershield@zeppelin.flights).
Accessibility (#a11y) advocate. Sending memes? Alt text or it didn’t happen.
Contact me securely on Signal: ShellyB.93
1487 Followers
331 Following
41 Posts
Joined February 05, 2023
The Radio News Job:
My #a11y Book:
Podcasting at The Incomparable:
Former tech+ #a11y podcast:
I believe that waffles and bacon for dinner will set you free.
Very uncool #a11y news from Microsoft.
H/T to @jamesthomson@mastodon.social for the link:
My new favorite accessibility setting can be found in the Mona app. “Remove emoji characters from usernames.” ❤️
All career choices are open to us! @mcourcel@allovertheplace.ca
Breakfast thievery
Some news about my book. @iosaccessbook@zeppelin.flights
Sometimes I'm in the kitchen, having a cocktail while listening to a podcast, and I ask Siri things I'm not sure it will be able to answer satisfactorily.
Me: Siri, whats the average livespan of an alligator in captivity?
Siri: The average…. Is 70 years. For medical advice, please consult a physician.
Attending my first NFB convention. Really appreciate y’all coming to my town for the festivities. #NFB28
Replying to
Next, I fixed everyone's Macs – usually they just had one. I was the anti-mansplainer who trained women to get the most from their little beige boxes. I did write HyperCard stacks for a fancy lawyer while wearing a suit and heels, with a Mac Plus slung over my shoulder.
Three iPhone 16 variants live in this house. I guess we’re in for some lawsuit money.
I’ve been very pleased with ‘project separate’, wherein I keep my personal computing life on separate devices from my work life. Then I left my iPhone at home, and I’m grumpy because the phone is the bridge between the two.
I’m vaguely ashamed to admit that I asked Claude a fashion question. Apparently, I'm over the shame enough to admit it here. Answer: acceptable and believable.
I do not have space in my news brain today for an Apple CEO. I have DOJ sctuff to follow!
My friend the AI alligator has me editing Audition session files' XML. Nice alligator!
Boosted by @octothorpe@mastodon.online
We all know about the massive disparity between the number of men’s and women’s voices in podcasting. But can we talk about the absolute emptiness of the “women review audio gear” space on YouTube? Especially when it come to mics? Women’s voices be different, y’all.
It’s sad that I’m so surprised that a command I’ve thought up for Siri actually works.
I’m now reminding myself of a meeting awhile before it happens by saying “Siri, turn on Meeting Time at 11:29.” It activates my camera lights, which reminds me to hop on Zoom, just in time for the 11:30 convo.
Replying to
I wanted to aim higher with my brand-new journalism degree, but most starting-out reporter jobs in those days would have sent me to small towns where you needed a car to do your job. So I pivoted to non-profits, local politics and a newsletter called The MacBulletin. Once I settled in, I learned to make myself indispensable by building databases and managing mailing lists on an IBM AT, and later, the Mac Plus.
Thing I learned today: there is a Google Play Books app for iOS.
I did not want to learn this, but I have.
Time again to take up read-it-later/soeak-it-later workflows. Off to download some new apps.
Fascinating. @codemonkeymike@fosstodon.org
Now, my buddy Claude is organizing lists of transactions into a pretty spreadsheet for the taxes. No, Claude, those Criterion Blu-rays and contributions to public radio are NOT business expenses. But thanks for trying.
Replying to
When I got that first job editing computer magazines – tabloid format newspapers, really – I also set up the company's first email system and helped keep a bunch of Mac Pluses running. And, um, there was some mischief with QuickMail, as a protest against unloved bosses. We were young.
My friend Josh de Lioncourt is facing serious medical issues because of a rare condition called MDS. Josh is blogging about his journey, and the stem cell transplat he needs. Now, there's a GoFundMe to help with increasing medical costs.
I've known Josh for 20 years. He's contributed so much to the Apple #a11y community as a podcaster and a developer. And he's a really good guy, too!
If you can help Josh, please contribute.
I’m cautiously optimistic about accessibility fixes in the Plex streaming app. Submenus read correctly, and the Shuffle button is no longer labeled Sleep. More. If I find it.
Replying to
I had tried to build an iOS app to do this task some time ago, using a different Claude login on a different Mac. Today, Claude referred back to that attempt, suggesting that my Web app was like something I’d already done in iOS. Yeah, but that iOS app was no good so I stopped working on int.
Let’s give the acclaim to those who MADE the shows, not the funder/distributor.
https://appleworld.today/2026/04/two-apple-tv-productions-win-peabody-awards/
Replying to
@dadakopf If you could teleport, you wouldn’t need other instruments to set yourself free,
Another fun #a11y option for mitigating Liquid Glass badness. I’ll try to put this through its paces today and share my thoughts. But the iOS 7.1 (you get a toggle, and you get a toggle…) vibes are strong.
https://osxdaily.com/2026/04/28/use-reduce-bright-effects-ios-26-iphone-ipad-liquid-glass/
Replying to
@mfeir Thanks Michael. I appreciate the recommendations. It’s always been a very friendly group of us publishing iOS accessibility books. 😊 I guess you’re kind of the last man standing now. Best of luck to you as well.
O joy! Claude approves of my choice of vacation bed-and-breakfast. “Good choice.”
My strategic disabling and enabling accounts on my phone to manage clutter is going to get broken badly with iOS 27. If I plan to use Siri AI effectively, I'll need to keep the bin I use for transactions, the work email, the personal email and the podcast forwards all on there, all the time.
Replying to
@Woody@dragonscave.space I always have to remember to reserve a day that week to report and write stuff.