Best kept secret: the IBM accessibility checker, blows other #a11y testing tools out of the water
✅ open source and well maintained
✅ Free and ad free
✅ multiple rulesets
✅ export results to excel

ibm.com/able/toolkit/tools/#de…

I wasn't going to post anything about #linux #a11y today, but some things keep coming up, and I think it's time I took a break from yelling.

So an interlude, then. Lets look at some of the good that's happening.

As always, feedback is welcome, and subscribe via email or rss for more of what I write.

fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/i-w…

#linuxAccessibility #blogging #accessibility #linuxDesktop

Matthias posted an update on the current state of Accessibility in GTK and GNOME on the development blog: blog.gtk.org/2025/05/12/an-acc…

#gtk #gnome #accessibility #a11y

This is worth adding to your accessibility audit toolkit. I found its reports a lot more granular than the ones generated by other tools.

ibm.com/able/toolkit/

#a11y #accessibility

Woohoo! So far, we have 62 people pledging 269 hours towards improving accessibility in WordPress this Thursday for Global Accessibility Awareness Day! 🙌 Join us in spending a day working on accessibility issues in WordPress core, plugins, or on your own website!

equalizedigital.com/gaad2025/ #WordPress #GAAD #GAAD2025 #accessibility #a11y

Global Accessibility Awareness Day Pledge - May 15, 2025

In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, pledge to improve accessibility in WordPress on May 15th. Find out how to get involved.

^{Equalize Digital}

PSA - Sonos is seeking free labor to improve the accessibility of the app for their commercial products,, both in the form of finding accessibility bugs in a production app, and unpaid UX research opportunities.

From an email they just sent to their beta community:

[...]We are putting together a pool of testers to provide ongoing feedback about the quality and comprehensiveness of accessibility features in the Sonos mobile app. Enrolled participants will be asked to use the app as they normally would, but provide us feedback about opportunities to improve our accessibility features via our beta community platform. At points in the future we may also send structured surveys to get more focused feedback on particular components of the app. These surveys will not
be required, but we will greatly benefit from as many testers taking them as possible. This program will rely on the generally available mobile app and does not require you to download beta software. If you're interested in participating please click the link below. Thanks!

#accessibility #sonos #a11y

I Want to Love Linux. It Doesn't Love Me Back

fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/i-w…

Discussions: discu.eu/q/fireborn.mataroa.bl…

#a11y #linux #unix

I Want to Love Linux. It Doesn’t Love Me Back: Post 1 – Built for Control, But Not for People — fireborn

Lack of accessibility for the blind

#a11y, #linux

Wonder what the most screen reader accessible linux distro is in 2025.
Over 5 years ago, I tried Ubuntu mate, but it was hit and miss, and was told at the time, that it would the best.

Thoughts?

#a11y #linux #ubuntu #linuxaccessibility #linuxa11y #blind

fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/i-w…

»Linux “just works”—if you can see.

If you’re blind?
You boot into a live image and get nothing.
No speech. No braille. No login prompt feedback. Maybe Orca starts, maybe not.
Maybe you know the shortcut (Alt+Super+S?) but does that even work in this session type?
Is it Wayland? Is it X11? Is the screen reader bound to a key combo that doesn’t exist on your keyboard?

You open the installer?

“Next. Button. Button. Button. Button.” That’s all Orca says.

Ubuntu MATE 12.04 had a working, labeled, navigable installer.
Ubuntu MATE 24.04? It’s garbage.

No headings. No structure. No sense of where you are. Just unlabeled buttons and blank space.

This isn’t a bug.
This is neglect.«

Thanks for writing this article, @fireborn

#Accessibility #a11y

Is there a coop or collective of disabled people in tech where you can go to hire accessibility experts? I don't want to continue to release software unless I know its accessible, but I can't know that unless I have my software audited by disabled tech experts that know the pitfalls of these things. I don't need free labour either. I am happy to pay for this service.

#a11y #accessbility #disablity #foss

My @TetraLogical colleague @craigabbott has tested the Deque accessibility chatbot and provided his initial impressions

#a11y #AI #accessibility

craigabbott.co.uk/blog/deque-a…

Deque Axe Assistant - First impressions

Testing Deque's axe Assistant for accuracy and ability.

^{Craig Abbott (craigabbott.co.uk)}

If you are blind and you have the spoons, can you let me know if you use the terminal on Linux and if so which one? If you use the terminal, do you use a screenreader plugin or a specific external screenreader on Linux?

I wrote a terminal UI program for kubernetes that has voice assistance and I want to test it with a normal workflow that a disabled user would follow.

Edit: I am also willing to pay! Read further down in this thread!

#a11y #foss #accessbility

“Linux ‘just works’ – if you can see.
…
This isn’t a bug.
This is neglect.”

– @fireborn

fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/i-w…

(And its ableist culture will sooner make you the villain for criticising it rather than acknowledging the failing and fixing the status quo. ar.al/2024/06/23/fedora-has-be… There’s a reason I’m back on Mac after six years on Linux. As a developer, it was impacting my ability to make what I’m building accessible. And I reject the unspoken premise that the source being open is somehow more important than the human right to universal access. Ethical technology requires more than just the “four freedoms” web.archive.org/web/2025041809… This is why inclusivity is a core Small Technology principle. small-tech.org/about/#small-te…)

#accessibility #inclusivity #universalAccess #a11y #linux #FOSS #openSource #freeSoftware #freedom

About

We’re a tiny and independent two-person not-for-profit based in Ireland. We’re working on building the Small Web.

^{Small Technology Foundation}

Join Matt Ater and Jennison Asuncion as they recognize Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) and celebrate the 30th Anniversary of JAWS on May 14 at 4 PM ET.

Register today: tpgi.com/webinar-marking-a-mil…

#Accessibility #DigitalAccessibility #A11y #GlobalAccessibilityAwarenessDay #GAAD #JAWS #Webinar

Webinar, May 14 at 4pm ET: Marking a Milestone: Celebrating 30 Years of JAWS on Global Accessibility Awareness Day - TPGi

Join us for a webinar where Matt Ater and Jennison Asuncion will celebrate the JAWS 30th Anniversary and discuss the significance of GAAD.

^{Matt Ater (TPGi)}

“Do Not Publish Your Designs on the Web with Figma Sites…”
adrianroselli.com/2025/05/do-n…

Figma announced Figma Sites, letting you publish your Figma designs directly to the web like it’s 1997.

#accessibility #a11y

Do Not Publish Your Designs on the Web with Figma Sites…

…Unless you want to fail all the WCAGs, create litigation risk, close off opportunities in Europe, engage in reputational harm, and oh yeah, throw up barriers to your customers and users.

^{Adrian Roselli}

I see #Figma has decided to reincarnate FrontPage, but worse:
figma.com/blog/introducing-fig…

Sample 1, with 269 axe issues:
config.new/

Sample 2, with only 184 axe issues:
practice-type.com/

No mention of #accessibility in the announcement, so I guess none expected?

Anyway, get ahead of this, folks. We’re going back to 1999!

#a11y

Config 2025 Highlights

Catch up on all the new products and features we announced at Config 2025.

^{www.config.new}

[New blog post]

Are CSS Carousels accessible? sarasoueidan.com/blog/css-caro…

In this post, I share some important insights from examining the accessibility of CSS-only carousels that use new features introduced in the #CSS Overflow Module Level 5 spec.

#a11y

Are 'CSS Carousels' accessible?

– The personal website of Sara Soueidan, inclusive design engineer

^{sarasoueidan.com}

Me in 2019:
“A Model for WordPress Accessibility”
adrianroselli.com/2019/05/a-mo…

Mullenweg in 2025:
A plug-in, off-loaded to the community to build and maintain!
therepository.email/canonical-…

#accessibility #a11y

Canonical Plugin Proposal for Accessibility Prompts Concerns from Contributors and Experts - The Repository

WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg has suggested that accessibility improvements could be developed as a canonical plugin to help contributors respond more quickly to the needs of users who rely on assistive technologies.

^{Rae Morey (The Repository)}

Thin Fonts Are a Usability Nightmare—And Finally, Designers Are Waking Up

webdesignerdepot.com/thin-font…

#UIDesign #webdesign #a11y #fonts #usability #accessibility #typography

Thin Fonts Are a Usability Nightmare—And Finally, Designers Are Waking Up

Thin fonts may look sleek, but they’re a usability nightmare—hard to read, inaccessible, and especially frustrating on mobile.

^{Noah Davis (Web Designer Depot)}

More and more I am looking through @Delta Chat apps and resources I believe this should become number one messenger of choice for screen reader users.
The developers are constantly improving its #a11y. It's secure from the start of using.
Additionally the desktop chat has under gone an #accessibility audit and accessibility issues are clearly documented in public.
I am not sure other messenger style app on the planet has such dedicated commitment to accessibility ever.

github.com/deltachat/deltachat…

Issues from Accessibility audit · Issue #4743 · deltachat/deltachat-desktop

We recently got an accessibility quick scan from HAN. They took some time to discuss/test the app with us in a call and gave us a report. treefit and wofwca also made notes during the call, this is...

^GitHub

I was happy to attend #DrupalCamp Ottawa today. Lots of great people I was happy to see.

I also presented about #DrupalCMS & #AI highlighting how it can support better #AltText and & #PlainLanguage

It was also exciting to see so many new people join!

docs.google.com/presentation/d…

#Drupal #A11y

DrupalCamp Ottawa : Boosting Web Accessibility with Drupal CMS and AI

Boosting Web Accessibility with Drupal CMS and AI DrupalCamp Ottawa, May 2, 2025 https://drupalcampottawa.com/en/sessions/schedule Web accessibility is a journey—and with the right tools, Drupal can help you get there faster.

^{Google Docs}

The 2025 edition of Inclusive Design 24 (#id24) will take place on the 25 September 2025.

Got an idea for a talk? Our call for presentations is still open until the end of the month (31 May 2025).

inclusivedesign24.org/2025/

#a11y #accessibility #inclusion #inclusiveDesign

Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)

A free 24-hour online community event on accessibility and inclusion

^{Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)}

As part of our volunteer-driven accessibility initiative in GNOME Calendar, and for the first time in the 10+ years of Calendar's existence, we finally completed and merged the first step needed to have a working calendar app for people who rely on keyboard navigation. This merge request in particular makes the event widgets focusable with navigation keys (arrow left/up/right/down) and activatable with space/enter. This will be available in GNOME 49.

Most of GNOME Calendar's layout and widgets consist of custom widgets and complex calculations, both independently and according to other factors (window size, height and width of each cell, number of events, positioning, etc.), so these widgets need to be minimal to have as little overhead as possible. This means that these widgets also need to have the necessary accessibility features reimplemented or even rethought, including and starting with the event widgets.

We also hope to get other parts of GNOME Calendar accessible before GNOME 49, but I can't promise anything at the moment. We did start working with making the month view accessible: gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-c…

#GNOME #Calendar #GNOMECalendar #GTK4 #GTK #Libadwaita #Accessibility #a11y #Linux

Make the event widget accessible (!559) · Merge requests · GNOME / gnome-calendar · GitLab

This implements button functionality to make it able to focus and activate it. This also sets the appropriate accessibility role and labels/descriptions. Related:

^GitLab

When you’re scripting for a screen reader, then you’re scripting for the browser, with exactly the same level of JavaScript support.

However complications can arise with event handling, because screen readers intercept events and don't always pass them on to the browser, and even then, keyboard actions might fire mouse events.

tpgi.com/event-handling-in-jaw…

#accessibility #a11y #javascript

Event handling in JAWS and NVDA - TPGi

Complications can arise with JavaScript event handling in screen readers, because the virtual cursor intercepts or modifies page events.

^{James Edwards (TPGi)}

Able to Play, a game repository that helps you find games that match your accessibility needs, just launched!

abletoplay.com

For gamedevs/game requests: Here's some info on how to make a game available on there:
help.abletoplay.com/docs/how-c…

It's still a young platform, so please give them lots of feedback to help improve it!

@games

#Games #Gaming #GameDev #AbleToPlay #Accessibility #A11Y

How can I request a game be available on AbleToPlay?

We prioritize games based on both the volume of requests for a particular game, and the order we receive the request in. If you'd like to request a game be made available on AbleToPlay, please let us know on Discord!

^{Arman (AbleToPlay)}