Forecast for Mac, A Podcast Organizer

Podcasting has become one of the most popular ways of conveying information; however, podcasts can become quite large in size and length. To help with this issue, Marco Arment came up with the app Forecast for macOS to add organizational features to podcast files. Here’s how it works.

Forecast Features

Forecast lets the user add organizational makers or chapters to a podcast file. This literally takes an audio file and adds chapter makers, which make the file compatible with podcast apps.  A chapter can contain a title, description, hyperlink, and a photo that a podcast player can view. Forecast will also convert your file to mp3 once your chapters are added.

Forecast Accessibility

Forecast, while in beta, has some clear accessibility issues. We have noticed that the app’s text fields are not labeled for VoiceOver, and VoiceOver does not read column titles as you move through the table. It has also been brought to our attention that the text fields in the table are not accessible when you add a chapter. One must know that the first text field is the chapter start time, the second text box is the duration, and  the checkbox is for including the chapter in the chapter list.  The table also includes text boxes for chapter title, description, hyperlink, and image.

Conclusion

Forecast is a valuable asset for podcasters because it allows podcasters to add chapters to their files so viewers can pick areas of interest to listen to. While this app is accessible to VoiceOver users, it definitely has issues that make it less accessible and appealing than other apps.

To download Forecast, head to the Forecast website

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