[Accessible] Content is King

in 1996, Bill Gates used the phrase 'Content is King' is an essay he wrote for Microsoft. I'm not sure even Bill Gates could have predicted the reality that we are living in today. The amount of time people spend online has exploded in recent years, particularly during the pandemic. Everything from buying a house to seeing your doctor can be done with a decent laptop and good internet.

The sheer amount of content online that is competing for your attention is staggering. So, how do you make your content stand out? How do you ensure that you are reaching the widest audience?

Here's something that every Digital Accessibility Producer knows: making your content accessible has benefits far beyond legislative compliance and good PR.

Video content: Video is the vehicle of choice for many content creators. A well done, well edited video with a strong message is what producers strive for. But what if you are unintentionally excluding people from interacting with that message?

Podcasts: The podcasting industry in Canada has seen an explosion in growth in recent years. According to ThePodcastExchange.ca, approximately 30% of Canadians enjoy podcasts on a monthly basis. More importantly for content producers, the bulk of those listeners are in the highly coveted 18-34 age demographic. Better still, those listening to podcasts tend to be highly educated and affluent. What if podcasts producers understood that by not providing a text transcript for their podcasts, they are leaving an entire segment of the population behind?

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