This is an archived page from 2021. Find out more
The latest blog from Sounds Profitable with Bryan Barletta includes a long essay by podcaster Caroline Mincks about making your podcast more accessible with transcription and proper formatting, and how that can be profitable in the long run.
Her point is that many deaf and hard of hearing people want to listen to podcasts just like deaf and hard of hearing want to watch television which is why closed captioning was invented.
Bryan was comfortable enough to allow Caroline to examine his podcast Sounds Profitable to look for areas that could be improved for accessibility.
She found these key findings right away which are common in many podcasts and as she points out, these improvements cost money and may not be feasible for independent podcasters.
- Show notes/website that provided no links to transcripts
- No alternative ways to consume the podcast (such as a captioned video)
- A lack of alt text/image descriptions to accommodate screen readers.
Her other point is that this call for accessibility will result in more people listening to your podcast which can and likely will make more money in the long run and sometimes in the short term as well.
Here are her final thoughts:
Though it may seem like more trouble than it’s worth, especially when access doesn’t pay off instantly for you in terms of things like downloads and shares, it is about a steady increase over time. A few new listeners per episode thanks to your commitment to accessibility can become dozens, then hundreds, and so on and so forth. It is absolutely worth investing the time and work - and realistically, it can more than pay off within a relatively short time.