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Byte size interview No 10: Michael Hughes
- 23 Sep 07, 09:14 PM
Michael Hughes is a Broadcast Producer for , Europe's first radio station dedicated to the blind and partially sighted community. He is 33, and lost his sight in 1998. Michael uses JAWS screen reader to access the internet. In his spare time, he performs stand-up comedy, writes scripts and produces short films.
Q: What are some of your favourite websites?
I’m a bit of a current affairs junkie, so I visit all the time because it is easy to navigate and get around – especially compared to some newspaper websites, like The Sun. I really like ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Ouch! and podcast. I also like the website.
Q: What are some of your least favourite websites?
I’ve wanted to get involved with social networking, but I’ve found it impossible to register with any of the major players because of the verification images used on the sign up pages. I also find entering passwords to access my online bank accounts more frustrating than it should be. I shy away from content contained in PDFs as well. In the past, I’ve had to print PDF documents and use a scanner to convert them into a format JAWS can read.
Q: What was the last thing you bought online?
I bought a scanner from PC World. But it took me about half an hour to complete the purchase, and in the end I could only finish it with the help of a sighted person.
Q: If the web was taken away from me today I would…
Commit suicide! The internet is a fantastic tool, and gives me a lot of independence. It can also help bring people together from all over the world, which gives people from the disability world a sense of community. Insight Radio has listeners from all over Europe and America, as well as the UK.
Q: What's the most adventurous thing you've done on the web recently?
I’ve been trying out recently, with mixed results. I’ve found I could get some videos to play but not others, and finding videos can be very time consuming. I made a short film recently called ‘Haggis Hunt’ that I ultimately want to upload. I’ve not tried to do that yet though!
Q: What is your favourite blog?
I’ve only just started reading blogs, so I don’t really have any favourites yet. I find that they are generally quite accessible, being text based, and I’m thinking of maybe starting one myself.
Q: Have you ever heard of Last FM?
I don’t really use the internet for music. I’ve tried iTunes before, and found it really difficult to use, which put me off a bit. If Last FM is fairly accessible, I’d certainly be tempted to try it.
Q: Do you have a favourite gadget?
I’ve got a talking alarm clock that I couldn’t live without. I’ve also got a little gadget that helps me check the colour of things, so I can find matching socks and things like that. I recently tried it out with a multi-pack of crisps but unfortunately still ended up with pickled onion flavour ones!
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