Introducing The Outer Circle

Norbert Rum (CPWA) – r/Blind, Alt Text, and the Future of AI

Norbert Rum (CPWA) is the creator of Reddit's r/Blind and an accessibility specialist at AmericanEagle.com. He has over two decades of experience in digital marketing, website development, and customer acquisition strategies. Bringing his insights to the table, Norbert talks to Jessica about key moments in his life that highlighted the importance of accessibility, looking towards the future, and advice for creating an inclusive web today.

Caroline Desrosiers – Scribely – Alt Text, Metadata, and the Power of Words

Caroline Desrosiers, founder of Scribely, talks with Jessica about making content truly inclusive – from alt text that tells the right story to the metadata standards that help it travel. With clients like Sesame Street and features in the New York Times, Caroline brings both warmth and precision to a topic many still get wrong. From AI descriptions to the real cost of exclusion, this episode is about language, leadership, and what it means to be seen.

Ben Tillyer – University of Oxford – Reflections on WCAG, AI, and Inclusion

Ben Tillyer, Head of Digital Accessibility at Oxford, talks with Jessica about WCAG’s limits, the messy ethics of unpaid testing by disabled staff, and whether AI could ever help fix it.  From alt text to overlays to Oxford’s own machine learning research, this episode pulls no punches—and yes, there’s a cat.

Introducing The Outer Circle

Welcome to The Outer Circle—a podcast about digital accessibility: what it is, why it matters, and the people working to make the web a better place for everyone. I’m Jessica Chambers, Accessibility Evangelist at Silktide. In each episode, I sit down with someone in the field to talk about their experiences, insights, and the real-world challenges they face. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, and we’ll see you there soon.