Tumblr is one of the best blogging platforms I’ve experienced. I really enjoy the many ways content can be submitted to Tumblr, its easy integration with other services and the dynamic way in which the Tumblr team seems to be working hard to roll out new services on a frequent basis. In deed, Tumblr is a great mix between a “micro blogging” platform such as Twitter and more sophisticated platforms such as WordPress.

Although great in almost all respects, I am disappointed with Tumblr’s lack of response concerning accessibility issues. Specifically, Tumblr has chosen to use an embedded Flash based player for playing audio and video content which although accessible to some, is not accessible to many. Those using the most current versions of screen readers on Windows *may* be able to access the Flash-based buttons, but even that assumes a degree of familiarity with the screen reader that many frankly don’t have. Why Tumblr can’t offer a link to the content in addition to it’s flash player remains a mystery. For those who care, I blogged about this issue in early February, click here to view the earlier post.
As mentioned in the title, I’ll be migrating my Tumblr blog over to Posterous. Although not quite as feature rich, Posterous offers all the services I need and offers them in a way that is accessible both to me as the poster and you as the reader. Posterous offers direct links to media content making it accessible and available regardless of assistive technology or platform. In addition, they offer an Email subscription feature which would allow you, if you’re crazy enough, to subscribe to my posts via Email.

So where is this Posterous blog and what types of things do I blog about anyway? Taking the second first here, I try and blog about things of interest to me. This may include assistive technology related news, links to services or pages I find interesting, links to humorous stories (I think they’re humorous anyway) and my own thoughts on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In short, if you’re looking for a comprehensive blog on assistive technology, this probably isn’t what you want. If, on the other hand, you’re curious about me, what I’m up to, or just have nothing better to do on a rainy Friday night, this might just be the thing. You can find the blog here at http://steveofmaine.posterous.com

As much as I hope you enjoy reading the new blog, I really hope Tumblr decides to allow people to access media content via a standard link, or some other more universally accessible format.

Thanks for reading, hope you’ll continue to do so over on Posterous.