It could very well be, Perplexity had problems a while ago as well. Not sure why or what though. I should finally leave that stupid Discord that pings me about it.
If you saw our recent post on here about Reece, the young boy from Australia who got the ABC to put audio description on "Behind the News", then you'll love this follow up video he made especially about NVDA. It is THE feel-good piece to watch this holiday season!
@jonathan859 The video was made by Reece and his teacher. Yes, the video at the start / end is AI generated, but It's just a little at the start and end and not at all the focus of the video.
Yeah, I did actually watch the entire thing and hmm. Like, the over all message is true, and nice, and yeah for what it is it's fine I guess. I mean I guess I have to consider the age.
@jonathan859 Exactly, he's 11 and good on him. Would I suggest you note down his exact key sequence for how to save a file? No, though as you found, that's not the aim of the video :)
Thanks. Me and my wife both enjoyed the videos of Reece. I have a random question though. What was the Australian voice which appeared in the videos when he was using NVDA? I have never heard that one before.
@jamesodell Thanks James! And great question - I believe Reece is using Microsoft Catherine OneCore voice - in Windows you can add additional "languages" and the voice packs for each contain often two voices - For Engligh, there are a whole range from English US, English UK, English Australia, English Canada and more. We have a post on how to install new voices here: nvaccess.org/post/in-process-1…
⌨️ Don't miss your chance to team up with people and scratch your Matrix itch!
We organize a hackathon on Fri 30 Jan in Brussels right before FOSDEM. Come help us save the Federation from Big Silo that wants to take over the world!
The Big Tech already started rolling out an AI-powered age estimation system. Adults are being marked as minors & are forced to submit IDs before regaining full access to decades-old accounts.
Did YouTube ask you to verify your age with ID or credit card? You're not alone! YouTube AI is increasingly trying to estimate how old you are based on your habits following the global push for age verification.
In Denmark they will launch an AltId. This is an upcomming digital identifier that must be used when buying alcohol in physical stores to verify your age.....for a start.
I've been asked for intrusive age verification on an couple of accounts (youtube, reddit IIRC) which I've had for over 18 years.. i.e. if I'd created them the day I was born, I'd already be an adult. I'm not willing to do this, so I now get less value and visit less often.
It is true that some are trying to utilize age verification to gather more data, but it does not have to be that way. We can have our cake and eat it too. We can have real age verification on the internet and in apps without sacrificing privacy. That is the most important takeaway here. Phreeli is a new phone company that does zero knowledge payment verification. This same technique can be used for age verification as well!
Double-Blind Armadillo is a new privacy-focused system architecture and cryptographic protocol designed around the principle that no single party should be able to connect an individual’s real identity, payments, and phone records.
Cloudflare isn't listed on the linked webpage though? 🧐 I would actually be interested in what alternatives you would have for DDOS protection services.
Using centralized cloud solutions is generally a bad idea. I propose distributed storage and processing solutions, with crypto compensation such as ARWeave.
Never used cloud services, never will. Made me successful. Long initial development time, but very reliable at the end.
Higher decentralized maintence requirements, which might seem not to be optimal from a economic point of view, but it creates opportunities for regional administrative jobs, avoiding outsourcing of labor.
An einem Freitagmorgen einen Crash-Kurs zu HTML-Basics und „nutze ARIA nicht, außer es ist wirklich als letztes Mittel wirklich nötig“ per mastodon geben. Was man halt mal so macht. Nur weil irgendein Wald- und Wiesen-Tool, vermutlich noch von einem Overlay-Hersteller, sagt, überall aria-label draufkippen, ist es nicht automatisch richtig. Seufz.
@LAYERED @svenja Dinge, die du wirklich nur ganz ganz selten brauchst. Kurzform: Alternativtext, der nur von Screen Readern ausgewertet wird, und den man nur für ganz spezifische Dinge braucht. Falls Du das bisher nie gebraucht hast, behalte das bei. Es ist im Grunde ein hack, für den es in den allermeisten Fällen viel bessere Alternativen gibt.
Nach Diktat verreist. Manchmal bin ich in Versuchung dieses PS als Signatur unter meine Mails und Text-Chats zu setzen, wenn nach dem Absenden das Telefon klingelt 🤨
🎉 Congratulations to Linux Vendor Firmware Service (fwupd.org/) (@hughsie) for securing the win in the Security category, sponsored by ControlPlane at the OpenUK Awards 2025! #openukawards #opensource #security
#Pachli Current has a quality of life improvement -- writing a post (either a new thread, or a reply) now creates a new task. In Android "tasks" are the things you switch between on the "Recents" screen you use to swap between apps.
There's a few scenarios where this is helpful.
1. You want to reference multiple posts. You can start writing, open "Recents", then switch back to the timeline, copy text from another post (or its link), and paste it into the post you're writing.
The 1st thing that comes to my mind as I've just have tested this is, would it be possible to seperate the title, so that completely blind users know what is what? I can see it based on the preview, but maybe just something like Pachli Current - Compose post or something.
@jonathan859 Do you mean the title when the "Recents" view is open? I.e., the bit pointed at with the arrow in the attached image?
If yes, then I don't think so. I can't see anything in the documentation that suggests this is possible, and I tested with GMail, and that doesn't give the windows different titles.
If anyone reading this knows different please let me know.
Yeah exactly. No problem, was just an idea in case it was possible, to be able to quicker distinguish which window in the recent view is which. But I think it won't be too big of an issue. Thanks for checking it.
@jonathan859 I take it back, this is possible (for anyone looking for this, `setTaskDescription`). This doesn't change the visible title, but it does change what Talkback reads out.
So, what would be useful to use here?
Depending on the state I thought one of:
- Replying to (name) - Quoting (name) - Writing post
(Talkback automatically puts "Pachli" before each of those)
We are currently planning the route(s) for this trip, so it is the best time to join in – regardless of: - where you would like to start your train journey - whether you’d like to help or just tag along
Lol, been using Gemini as my shopping asistant and it just said, I use *certain item* myself for a year and it works awesome. Ruffly translated from german. But the same meaning... Yup, I'm sure you do. You totaly do. Thanks for this valuable information, you've convinced me. If the all knowing AI uses that item I must have it.
Tool returned to New Zealand last week, performing in the country for the first time since February 2020. At those shows five years ago, Maynard James Keenan was unknowingly sick with COVID-19.
Oh mein Gott! Ich weiß noch, als PHPBB 3 raus kam und es im Standard-Template auf einmal den ersten Heading-Tag gab. Und nicht nur einen, sondern mehrere! Huiiiii wie fortschrittlich das 2010 oder so war! *ironie* Forumsoftware und Barrierefreiheit waren eigentlich fast immer sich abstoßende Konzepte. LOL.
Well, I can say that Discord checkpoint was much more interesting than wrapped, despite Discord checkpoint lagging a bit of accessibility. Spotify wrapped just keeps getting worse somehow.
Solidarität mit einem sehr kleinen Prozentsatz der Bevölkerung. Denkt an Hannah Ahrendt: Empathie ist Teil der Demokratie. Seit gestern haben hier fast 500 Leute unterschrieben. Damit diese Petition aus der Bubble rauskommt, muss sie trenden. Also bitte auf keinen Fall verbreiten. Und auch nicht die richtigen Hashtags ergänzen. Bittedanke #lgbt #lgbtq #trans epetitionen.bundestag.de/petit…
Danm, Discord has a wrapped now? Well, they call it checkpoint. Look at this lol: MESSAGES SENT THIS YEAR You were in the Top 8.53% for messages sent on Discord!
Oh man. Discord is based. If it wasn't so inconsistent about accessibility... Anyway... YOUR FAVORITE GAMES You played 21 games this year. These were your favorites:
#1 RHYTHM DOCTOR 76 SESSIONS #2 BLOODY GOOD TIME 15 SESSIONS #3 MORTAL KOMBAT 1 11 SESSIONS #4 AS DUSK FALLS 7 SESSIONS #5 BITS & BOPS DEMO 6 SESSIONS
@Kaliah Discord checkpoint. On the website it's at the top, a button that just says checkpoint. The buttons to navigate through it are unlabeled but the last one goes forward. Haven't tried on phone but I saw a pop-up in the app too.
Oh never mind that, my settings aren't set right for it and it won't make one because I can't change my settings after the fact. I would've liked it but whatever I guess. Lol.
You do, there's a data personalization thing that you need to have on and it wasn't/isn't on in my settings. And if I turn it on after the fact it still won't make me one.
Just discovered an incredible resource for accessible Bible study: World Bible Plans
As a totally blind, autistic, chronically ill Christian, finding tools that are both spiritually rich and screen‑reader friendly isn't easy. Their EPUB plans (like the World English Bible with David Guzik's commentary) have proper headings for navigation, built-in cross-references, and formatting that makes daily devotions possible without frustration.
I don't know if all their plans are accessible by default, so I suggest mentioning in the “additional requests” box that you're blind and need screen‑reader friendly formatting. That's what I did, and the result was excellent.
Also note that if you choose a Bible version that isn't in the public domain, the plan will only give you a guide showing which verses to read, not the full text.
If you've struggled with inaccessible study tools, this might be a game‑changer.
WBP offers custom-made free bible reading plans with scriptures and commentaries in your language
:
Custom-made specifically for you per your requirements
.
Onward. Along railroad tracks and other urban infrastructure. Moon in everything, slightly dizzy and a bit disconnected. Halting states, afternoon escapism.
I don't know who needs to learn this, but, around the System 7 era of Mac OS (I don't know, mid '90s? Ish?) there was some kind of add on or extension or whatever that enhanced the desktop experience thus:
Whenever you dragged something to the Trash target icon, it would play a little animation of Oscar the Grouch popping up out of the can.
He would sing "I love trash! I love it because it's trash!" and then lickity-split descend back down.
Thank you for not only donating, but being a monthly donor and sharing your story here on Mastodon! All of us on team Thunderbird are so grateful, and will keep doing our best to make email boring but better. 💙 😊
Ah, yes, the time of year where everybody is asking for donations. Surprised that the rescue we got my wife's dog from made no requests of us, this year? The rescue we got my dog from did. Gave to the latter because of the "Giving Tuesday" matching program. I'll have to see if the former is still running under "Giving Tuesday".
I've finally put my money where my mouth is and joined the other #FriendsOfGNOME.
I've been using #GNOME since the #HelixCode/#Ximian days shortly after 1.0 and while I have certainly tried other DEs over time, GNOME remains my go-to desktop project after all of these years. It just vibes with how my brain works and what it likes. It is one of my FLOSS rocks.
The consistency, attention to details, and un-overwhelming/non-stim-triggering design has been a comfort to me all of these years later.
I'm finally, 26ish years on, finally in a place that I can actively, and responsibly, support incredible projects like GNOME.
Supporting the GNOME Foundation directly enables us to take on more initiatives like this, paying community members to deliver impactful work. Help us reach 1,500 #FriendsOfGNOME before the end of the year by donating today: donate.gnome.org
What features or initiatives would YOU like to see the GNOME Foundation take on in the coming year?
Microsoft is making changes to its diversity and inclusion efforts. The annual report is being dropped, alongside employee performance review reporting.
Fascinating story from a software dev Fedi friend, shared with permission to keep it anonymous:
❝A couple of days ago, I had an experience at work that made me understand one of the reasons why the chasm of opinion about LLMs is so deep and wide.
My department mostly does fiddly lowlevel work, [close to hardware]. A few of us don't use LLMs at all, a few use them sparingly, and one member is absolutely all-in. So during one of our morning meetings he suddenly started going off on a deeply disturbing diatribe about how we need to treat the LLMs “like slaves”.❞
❝I said that I *absolutely in no way* want a slave, or a technology that simulates one. I want to do creative work using good tools. I *don't want* the experience of a slaver; in fact, I would go very far to never have that experience, because it is a demeaning and antihuman experience.❞
❝He was completely unable to understand why. He kept arguing that since the LLM isn't an actual conscious person (which is correct), it ought to be treated like a slave, and that the arc of technology is to give everyone access to their own virtual slaves.❞
I agree with the storyteller: the experience of having a slave is abhorrent, simulated or not, and this story is a window into something •deep• about the present moment. Even without having slaves, we are all in danger of having a •slaver mindset•. It’s a disease that’s running rampant now in billionaire-shaped techno-utopian circles.
…and even having written that, it’s still shocking — not surprising, exactly, but shocking — to hear those thoughts expressed so baldly by the colleague in the story above.
@raganwald@social.bau-ha.us @rysiek@mstdn.social @cstross@wandering.shop Guinan said it. This scene still gives me chills every time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T9TUeapBSQ
What writers. What a pair of actors. 🧵
elevator pitch: it’s a small, wide carriage electric train set with a circular track (available in various diameters) designed to make a cozy slow little circuit around the base of your holiday tree until its package of onboard sensors detect an incoming robot vacuum or cat, at which point it moves rapidly to intercept and clamp on its magnetic brakes until the invader has been repelled or has otherwise circumvented the train’s defensive mode.
Six Conservative Justices saw almost every member of the Texas Republican Party bragging about how intentionally racist they were being, and said, "We don't see any racism."
I can't wait to see their COMPLETELY OPPOSITE RULING striking down California's redrawn maps. bbc.com/news/articles/cvg1v21p…
Kurzform: Alternativtext, der nur von Screen Readern ausgewertet wird, und den man nur für ganz spezifische Dinge braucht. Falls Du das bisher nie gebraucht hast, behalte das bei. 
Jonathan
in reply to Borris • • •Andre Louis
in reply to Borris • • •Or another 11111?
Borris
in reply to Andre Louis • • •Jonathan
in reply to Borris • • •Kieran L
in reply to Borris • • •Twinkle Paws the Christmas Elf
in reply to Borris • • •Kyle Smith
in reply to Borris • • •SirMars
in reply to Borris • • •