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Mobile Ministry Should Not Neglect Accessabiliy Practices

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

It isn’t often that we can cite the many miracles Jesus and the Apostles did in respect to their efforts to those whom their communities considered disabled or access-restricted. We find it as some of the more sincere and humbling acts of Scrpture when those persons are met and not simply healed, but addressed and considered as part of the greater community, not a layer to be ignored until public relations or peer pressure dictates they need attention (Matthew 5:1-15).

So, how do your mobile ministry practices address those who might be disabled or have restricted access due to physical, psychological, or political disabilities? For example, you built that mobile app for your church’s content, but are you relying on Apple/Google/RIM/Nokia/MS to have accessibility controls so they can navigate to your content, or have you designed high contrast, voice-powered interfaces that are independent of whatever the platform may or may not do?

Regard these words from technokitten in a recent post:

It’s not that big a deal, right? I can still do everything I used to be able to do. I only need glasses for a smidgeon of my time. And it can’t be that big a deal when we’re talking technology? Or so you’d think. My experience with mobile devices and my not-quite-as-good-as-it-used-to-be eyesight is pretty appalling:

  • Going to a website on my phone and being forced to view the mobile version where the font is fixed and is too small (only by 1 or 2pts) to read without my glasses. Why can’t I zoom in or increase the font size?
  • Going to a mobile site where having squinted at the article I’m reading, only to find that I can adjust the font size right at the bottom. That should be at the top, no? There’s little point in struggling to read the page only to find at the bottom, I could have made it a whole lot easier for myself.
  • But neither of those are as bad as the app situation. Oh my word. That is simply horrid and a frustration. And I’m speaking having used apps regularly on Android, Windows Phone 7, Nokia N95 and N8, Android and Palm Pre II. Why can’t I increase a font size in an app? Why does the font have to be so small in the first place?

And this is from a person who is simply speaking of her accessibility needs which tend to happen to us all as we simply age. I know from close relationships just how much even mild disabilities are ignored in computing – and more so when it comes to religious applications and connected services.

Now, you can take the approach that this isn’t your fight. But, you’d have a hard time finding your efforts ministering to much of anyone if you do. Sure, you meet the goals of building something via mobile, but you miss the point of “a love that serves” over simply having a talent (1 Corinithians 12-14).

Or, you can take the approach of getting up to speed on what you can do, even going as far as entering contests such as the Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessabiliy Awards. Its really up to you. The testimony of what you address though will be clear in time (Matthew 25:31-45).

 

Tags: access, accessibility, development, mobile apps, UI, UX
Posted in Communication, Devices and Software | No Comments »

Are You Where They Are?

Friday, March 18th, 2011

In a few recent conversations, it was talked about how there was a need to get up new websites, create billboards, and fill other media channels with content so that people can find avenues to Christ. Unfortunately, these were conversations within the Christian household. So when I asked these people tasked with filling these channels if they were addressing mobile, they not only didn’t have an answer, but pointed it to being a technical issue above all else.

Caarlo Longorio (@caaarlo)from the Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) made an interesting and important observation via Twitter during this year’s SXSW Interactive gathering:

…the walls btw internet/web/mobile/video/whatever are imagined. the tech doesn’t matter, the users do…

You see all of these channels, all of these moments and opportunities, but are you where people are? To a few generations and economic classes, there’s a definite difference towards addressing TV/radio/web/mobile, and in others, that line doesn’t exist at all – its all content. Yes, the method, channels, devices, and everything else except the effect of the communication are seen as the same thing – the end result defines whether the method was successful, not whether the channel was populated with something.

So what happens when a report like the State of the Media 2011 from Pew Internet (@pew_internet) comes forward showing that more people are getting their news from online pipes (“sources”) than newspapers? And if that’s not all, of those using the Internet as their pipe most of them are doing news consumption via mobile devices. If you are in/near some conversations that I’ve been around, you hear things like, “how can we get there,” “what’s are social media strategy,” and “we don’t have the ability to care about those people, we’ll stick with our traditional customers.”

I recall the stories recorded in the Gospel narratives and beyond about Jesus and how his fame spread further than he travelled. And by at least once account, it wasn’t just aware of his fame traveling, but that people wanted him to come along with it. But, that wasn’t his place, he served a specific geographic area and embedded within the lives of others the ability to go to those areas where Jesus’ fame was (and where it would eventually be), and be the proof of redemption that Jesus was sent to be.

That Pew Internet report will be read and instead of asking “how can we teach people in our community how to share the Gospel message,” many ministries and people will go about trying to become or fill yet another channel. They will create mobile sites, language specific websites, close some offices and open others as funding and marketing resources will need to be shifted. And they will be surprised at the results – few people will come to Christ and stay, and others will reject Him because the message was devoid of a person being attached to it. 

Are you where people are? Or, are you just filling a pipe to where you’d hope they’d be?

 

Tags: access, accessibility, Caarlo Longroio, metrics, Pew Internet, Pew Internet and American Life, State of the Media, statistics, WIP, Wireless Industry Partnership
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Does Publishing Change or Do We

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Composed in Evernote, this is a doc that I’ve been working on for a week or so. Hope it comes out nice.

Am sitting is a car at the moment talking about the kiosk project and some of the issues that relate to how the bible publishing industry can move forward. We know for certain that publishing the way that is has been going for the last 50-100 years isn’t going to continue in the face of advancements made digitally. From content distribution to monetization, there are questions to be addressed and none of them will endear easy answers.

Ownership and Access

The common perception of ownership is that of sovereignty and domain. When you purchase a product, you take responsibility of it’s upkeep and any additional service to fix or improve the initially purchased product is done for an additional fee.

Access is the ability to get to content, but not necessarily the ability to change or maintain it. Access usually has additional rules around it such as copying, sharing, and forwarded distribution. In some cases, access might be tied to another service agreement which allows for updates to the content (product) and some kinds of maintenance.

To be blunt, there has never been a model of publishing where we have owned the Bible. Access is granted through agreements we enter into with publishing houses. Distributors may also have a slice of this access pie, but it all ends up in the same equation – you don’t own your biblical material, you are granted access.

Access and Publishing

With that said, the publishing industry would seem to have an excellent heads-up on some of the upcoming trends in this information economy. They have the intent, the content, and the understanding of the marketplace to continue with this model for some time longer. Truly, there are many persons who don’t have access to the Bible or it’s associated materials who would prove to be solid markets for publishing houses to pursue.

Yet, as I look at the world around me, the question about information isn’t ownership, it is access. If I have the access to the source, when I need it, does it make sense to continue to purchase access in silos (books, applications, audio formats)?

The kiosk proposes that someone only needs to know where a central content distribution area is. The internet proposes that you only need to know the website, or at the very least be connected to a person who does have the access and will share it (that link) with you. To a publisher, how does their model of selling success make sense in the light of such changes in the receiving method?

Publishing’s Opportunity to Change

There have been a lot of calls for publishing to change. We’ve gotten into the fray here with our series item The Future of (Biblical) Publishing. And it is true to an extent that publishers are facing the moment of change, thing is, they still hold the cards (content). Therefore, anything that looks like change to them has to ultimately work in their benefit.

Monday Note recently posted an article in a similar scope to MMM’s and came to a similar conclusion:

“Coming back to the subject of this column, the shift from paid-for files to rights for books or digital contents won’t come easily. As a telco exec told me last week: ‘It took centuries to convince people their money was more secure in a bank than under a mattress; convincing them they should trade ownership for access rights will take some time’.”

Publishing’s opportunity to change isn’t just a matter of changing to a digital-enabled economy, but being a literal agent of behavioral change for authors/consumers. But, if I were a publisher, how could I go about changing something that was so embedded into the way we think/use content?

Or, is it us who need to change our viewpoint of what really is the reality of ownership, and modify our perceptions and use to that in light of publishing’s hold on content?

 

Tags: access, accessibility, behavior, censorship, connectivity, copyright, digital media, distribution, innovation, ownership, publishing
Posted in Commentary, Devices and Software, Future Trends | No Comments »

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