Do you have a passion for Apple products and strong writing skills? If so, we may be able to offer you an exciting and rewarding volunteer opportunity to write original, high-quality content for AppleVis as a member of our small team of regular bloggers.
This is a wonderful opportunity to inform and engage with thousands of readers on the leading website for blind and low vision users of Apple products. Your articles will be read by other end users, app developers, accessibility advocates, Assistive Technology experts, and people working for blind and low vision agencies across the world.
Broadly speaking, the main focus for blog posts is likely to be from one of the following areas:
- News about new or updated products or services that will be of specific interest to the AppleVis community.
- Commentary on the experience of being a blind or low vision user of Apple products, third-party applications or related accessories.
- Raising awareness and promoting good practice in accessible development on the macOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS platforms.
Beyond this, there would be some basic requirements for posts:
- The topic must fall within the scope of those covered by AppleVis.
- The focus of articles should be on providing interesting and timely content that engages and informs the reader. Posts can be either objective presentation of facts (such as news-based) or subjective (such as opinion-based commentary on developments in the area of Apple and accessibility).
- Unless other arrangements have been made, all articles must be original - absolutely no republished posts.
- All posts must be in standard written English with proper grammar and spelling usage. Sloppy and poorly written articles will be declined.
- Information from outside sources must be properly cited (including the provision of a link to the relevant article).
- As a general guideline, posts should typically be 500 – 2,000 words in length.
- Contributors should reply to comments left on their posts.
- Absolutely no promotional content or affiliate links will be allowed within posts. Only source citations and links that enhance the article will be allowed.
- As with any other professional publication, all articles must be reviewed by our editors prior to posting unless other arrangements have been made.
- We reserve the right to edit all submissions for brevity, grammar, and readability.
Our more general guidelines for posting content to AppleVis will also apply.
The following are some recent examples of the nature and standard of content that you would be expected to contribute as a member of our Blog Team:
Summary of the WWDC 2017 Keynote
On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, the Message is a Simple One; Good Design is Accessible Design
A new Braille Display is Coming, with Specialized Features for iOS
Sounds In The Sofa: Learning To Love My AirPods
Yo, Human! The Mystical Screen Reader: Accessing Life with Adaptive Technology
Requirements
- Past experience of writing online content or for a print publication is preferable.
- The ability to produce well-written and high-quality original articles.
- A good knowledge of the topic of any articles that you submit for publication. This does not mean that you must have a knowledge of every possible topic relating to Apple or accessibility, but that you are (or are willing to become) a "topic expert" for any articles you submit.
- The ability to independently identify and research topics that will be of interest to the AppleVis community.
- If writing opinion-based articles, you have the capacity and desire to provoke thought and discussion.
- If writing factual articles, you have the ability to research the topic and check the content of your article for accuracy and completeness.
- As a member of our Blog Team, it is anticipated that you should be able to have at least one article accepted for publication each month.
Important
As AppleVis is a non-commercial website operated by volunteers, membership of the AppleVis Blog Team is an unpaid position and you should expect to receive no financial recompense for your involvement. You will, however, have the opportunity to inform and engage a large and passionate community. As a writer, this would also offer a great opportunity to develop and expand your portfolio.
We are aware that the requirements that we ask for are demanding and not unlike those required for paid writing positions. However, the AppleVis Blog is a powerful and respected voice within the space that we occupy. We want to ensure, therefore, that we recruit people who are able to help us build upon this. Not only is this in the best interests of AppleVis and our community, but it means that those involved will personally draw genuine value from their participation.
Next Steps
If you are interested in becoming a member of the AppleVis Blog Team and have the requirements stated above, please email [CLOSED]. Include the following in your email:
- Let us know a little about yourself.
- Details of your writing experience.
- The specific skills and knowledge that you would bring to the Team.
- Some sample topics that you could be interested in writing about.
Additionally, if you have links to any articles published elsewhere that you could send along as samples, they would be greatly appreciated.
The deadline for applications is Sunday, September 10, 2017.