Evan Starnes sits down with accessibility consultant, amateur radio operator, and co-founder of Philly Touch Tours, Austin Seraphin. They trace his journey from the Apple IIe and BASIC to Linux and open-source advocacy; revisit the “Eliza” moment that sparked a lifelong love of programming; and dig into why universal design beats retrofits and overlays every time. Austin shares memories of the Braille ’n Speak (and today’s BT Speak), the iPhone’s inflection point for accessible tech, and practical guidance for developers—ship with native controls, respect platform semantics, and test with screen readers. They close with the lasting impact of Philly Touch Tours and where to find Austin’s current consulting work.



Contact Info

Guest — Austin Seraphin: austinseraphin.net

Aftersight (feedback & voicemails): feedback@aftersight.org

| (720) 712-8856

Producer credits: Produced by Jonathan Price for Aftersight. Host: Evan Starnes.



Show Credits

Host: Evan Starnes

Guest: Austin Seraphin

Producer: Jonathan Price

A Production of Aftersight



Chapter Markers

00:00 — Cold open & show intro

00:32 — Guest setup: who is Austin Seraphin

02:37 — Early sparks: Apple IIe, Echo, and BASIC

07:29 — The “LIST” epiphany: Eliza source code moment

09:41 — From Apple IIgs to DOS and the early screen reader era

12:02 — Linux today: Arch, Slint, and accessibility trade-offs

14:24 — Braille ’n Speak to BT Speak: tools that shaped a generation

16:44 — iPhone 3GS and the mainstreaming of mobile accessibility

19:08 — Apps, color identifiers, and learning the new paradigm

21:33 — Teaching kids to code: Swift Playgrounds and beyond

23:55 — Philly Touch Tours: origin story and tactile learning

29:02 — Universal design in practice: chisels, ramps, and patterns

31:37 — Why “accessible from day one” beats retrofits

36:25 — Platforms compared: native controls vs. the web wild west

38:50 — Electron, performance, and the cost of abstraction

41:18 — Accessibility overlays: why quick fixes fail users

42:55 — Consulting reboot and where to find Austin

43:42 — Wrap-up, future episodes, and Aftersight CTAs