91福利社

Byte sized interview with Damon Rose

• By Paul Crichton
• 29 Jun 07, 08:32 PM

Damon has been working at the 91福利社 since 1996, first as an Assistant Producer on 91福利社2's From The Edge and Radio 4's In Touch, and then from 2002 as editor of our parent website Ouch! He is also the co-founder of cult website . Damon is visually impaired.

Q: What are your favourite websites?

I love . Ever since I got into the industry, I鈥檝e been obsessed with news about the media. It was very difficult to keep up to date when only print journals were available, like 鈥楤roadcast鈥� because I just couldn鈥檛 get it in a format accessible to me. So it is great to be able to pour over Media Guardian online.

I鈥檓 also spending a lot of time on , the social networking website. It does use CAPTCHAs [which is an image of text or numbers used to reduce spam but is also invisible to screen readers] that can prevent visually impaired people from registering and using some of the features, but the Facebook team were brilliant. I sent them a couple of emails, and they removed the CAPTCHAs from my account. Now I can get on with using it just as it should be.

Q: What is your least favourite website?

I think I would have to say . When I visit it with my screen reader, it just sounds like a jumble and a clutter. I hardly ever follow a link to MySpace. No matter how great you think the content might be, it is rarely worth the effort.

Q: What was the last thing you bought online?

I bought my Dad a couple of DVDs from for Fathers Day. I use Amazon because it is such a trusted name, even if it is a little less accessible these days than it used to be. But I just love the phrases, they keep popping up in weird dreams that I have. Things like, 鈥淲e have recommendations for you鈥� and 鈥渢urn on 1-click ordering鈥濃��

Q: What's the most adventurous thing you've done on the web recently?

I鈥檓 enjoying spending a lot of time on . For a start, there鈥檚 no CAPTCHA blocking registration, which I love them for. But there are lots of exciting concepts in sharing music to explore. It takes a fair bit of learning to use with a screen reader, but I鈥檝e decided to put the effort in because I think it is such a great idea, and a great way to discover new music.

Q: What's your favourite blog?

Ouch!, obviously! Apart from that, currently my favourite blog is , written by Seaneen Molloy. She鈥檚 bi-polar, and the shockingly honest way in which she deals with it on her blog is amazing to read. All power to her for sharing her experiences.

Q: Have you ever heard of Mahalo?

Yes. is the human-edited search engine. It sounds really interesting, but when I went along to try and sign up for it, I was blocked by the dreaded CAPTCHA again. It really is becoming the biggest accessibility barrier on the web at the moment, and we need a better solution. That, or we need to kill all spammers.

Q: Do you have a favourite gadget?

It would have to be my . I can鈥檛 access the menus from the remote control to queue up my favourite programmes, but I can record remotely via the website. Of course, talking menus would be even better 鈥� but it is a solution!

Q: Complete the following sentence, 鈥淚f the web was taken away from me today I would鈥︹��

I would have to ask my friends to go Christmas shopping with me, like the bad old days. It is fantastic to be able to browse for things online. Before, I had no idea just how much choice there was. I often think of myself as being 鈥渃hocolate illiterate鈥� because unlike you lot, I can鈥檛 absorb that there are new chocolate bars in the shop aisles with my eyes.

If you would like to take part in our byte-sized interview series drop us an email.

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