Coming up on Mosen at Large 208, it’s in the blind community’s interest to embrace mastodon, tell me your guide dog refusal stories, and Focusrite talks about accessibility of its products

Kia ora Mosen at Largers. Here’s what’s coming up in our next two-hour show that’s got the blind community talking.

This week, Mushroom Fm announced that we’ve gone all in on Mastodon. This was a big call, and I made it because having used it for a few weeks, I believe it is in the interests of the blind community for us all to promote and use this open platform, where everyone’s accessibility needs can be accommodated by a community of interested developers. I’ll expand on this important issue in this week’s show.

Focusrite make audio interfaces, including the Scarlet range, which is the most popular audio interface brand in the world. They also produce the new Vocaster range for podcasters, which I demonstrated in episode 189. While the Vocaster Hub software is accessible, much of the software for controlling other Focusrite products is not. Dan Clarke, who is a senior product designer at Focusrite, joins me to discuss future accessibility plans. I also give you a sneak preview of a significantly upgraded version of Vocaster Hub.

Recently, Bonnie and I had a lively discussion on the show about whether we should give a hotel that gave us a hard time about Bonnie’s guide dog another chance. We’ve come to a decision about that, and Bonnie joins me for a Bonnie Bulletin. I also thought it would be interesting to get your guide dog refusal stories. Many guide dog users have had them. I would love to hear your most infamous stories, and if you have any humorous ones, that would lighten the mood. I’ll share a funny guide dog refusal that I had many years ago.

There’s plenty more on the show as well. If you want to raise something new, you’re very welcome. Please don’t be shy, I’d love to hear from you. What makes Mosen At Large special is the global community we’ve built and all the perspectives we share with each other.

To contribute, send an email with an audio attachment or just written down to Jonathan at MushroomFM.com, or call the listener line, +18646066736, that’s 1-864-60Mosen.

Catch Mosen At Large anywhere you get podcasts. Expect the next episode to drop on Sunday morning New Zealand time.

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Thank you so much for listening and contributing to the show and see you soon for Mosen At Large.