In Roman times, delivery referred to the physical aspects of a performance, speech, etc. It was the hand gestures, tone of voice, body movements, and more, used when presenting information. It was lost when written presentations became more commonplace, as many did not connect delivery with written information.
The topic of access and accessibility probably looked very different in Roman times. There may have been limited access to information about a presentation to those who lived in certain areas. As for accessibility, there were much less accommodations for those with disabilities. Porter uses the term “teche” to describe the similarity between delivery in Roman times and now. There is a distinction between mechanical writing and technical writing that is distinguished in this similarity. “Teche” is not merely knowing the steps to create something and repeating it, rather, it requires critical thinking about the purpose of that thing. For example, it is not enough to know general rules about writing an essay; you must have a goal and an audience in mind. In terms of accessibility, this means knowing the possible disabilities or inhibitors your audience might have and working to accommodate that. If you simply follow a set of rules, you may completely disregard a whole section of your audience, especially considering the lack of disability representation we see today.
I don’t think I’ve ever had to consider access and accessibility in my works so far. I mostly write for classes in which I simply turn the assignment into the professor however they want. There have, however, been a couple of times where I have created a video for TikTok and added subtitles. It’s not like I have a large following, but I see many other people doing it, so I did it as well.
When have you had to consider access and accessibility in your works, if ever? What are some examples of things (apps, products, etc.) you think fail to consider them?
Intro to Digital Texts and Media 