@pvagner@fedi.ml
I've read your reply to @WestphalDenn@social.cologne questions about working with #Gnome on #Linux. Thanx for your insights!

What interests me:
Is the #Electron#Desktop#App#Element for #Matrix#Chat accessible for #blind#users? You use it?

#a11y#Acessiblity

Just rebooted and I’m up and running with Fedora Silverblue 40.

(Just tried reinstalling mozilla-openh264 – so videos work in Firefox – but it failed with the same error. Not a big deal, I’m using @Vivaldi as my main browser these days anyway and I guess the Fedora folks will fix this in time.)

More importantly, I wonder if the screen reader has been fixed yet. (Yes, Fedora ships with a broken screen reader.)

#Fedora #fedora40 #Silverblue #upgrade #mozilla #OpenH264 #rpmOstree #error #a11y

Just checked and yes, the screen reader is still broken in Fedora 40. (Cannot be controlled; keyboard shortcuts/modifier key doesn’t work.)

So this is yet another release where the screen reader is broken by default.

It’s amazing to me that this is not a showstopper.

#accessibility #a11y #fedora40 #fedora #linux

Slides from my Notes on synthetic speech talk at #GAconf today:
https://decks.tink.uk/2024.html

And the original blog post from 2021:
https://tink.uk/notes-on-synthetic-speech/

#accessibility #a11y #gaming

Starting with version 3.1.12, #pandoc-generated #EPUBs conform to the EU Accessibility Act. https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-a11y-eaa-mapping/

Relevant metadata fields are listed in the "EPUB metadata" section of the manual: https://pandoc.org/MANUAL#epub-metadata.

#accessibility #A11y

Is there an email marketing tool or technique reason why I'm seeing an increasing number of HTML emails where pretty much all of the informative content is linked images rather than part of the email text?

This is a crime against accessibility.
#a11y #email #ux

Orca the Linux screen reader now has a website!

https://orca.gnome.org/

Thanks to @snwh

And thank you Joannie, @igalia and the community for all the ongoing work and support.

#Linux #GNOME #freedesktop #a11y #accessibility

Here's a neat exploration of the curb cut effect for accessibility in @gnome - using accessibility tools to aid in testing automation! Has pros and cons identified in the article, but interesting nonetheless.

➡️ https://fedoramagazine.org/automation-through-accessibility/

#Fedora #Gnome #accessibility #a11y #Linux #OpenSource

Automation through Accessibility - Fedora Magazine

Using Accessibility as an automation testing tool. Learn about DesktopQE's automation stack to test Desktop Applications.

^{Michal Odehnal (Fedora Project)}

‘When security and accessibility clash: why are banking applications so inaccessible?’
https://www.nicchan.me/blog/when-security-and-accessibility-clash/

I once did a presentation for a bank client explaining all the ways preventing paste disables users.

The response: “But we have to, for security.” No ability to justify beyond that, no consideration of user impact, no offer of supporting data.

Security theater is often used to abrogate #accessibility requirements. #a11y

Microsoft announced their latest round of FOSS fund recipients. We're thrilled to share that @NVAccess are among this quarter's recipients. From: https://github.com/microsoft/foss-fund

"A project of the Microsoft Open Source Programs Office, the FOSS Fund provides up to $10,000 USD in sponsorships to open source projects as selected by Microsoft employees."

Congratulations also to The GNU Compiler Collection, Urllib3, CLAP & MSW.

#OpenSource, #FOSS #Free #Software #NVDA #ScreenReader #Accessibility #A11y

“Socks, lies, and accessibility”
https://janmaarten.com/gaad-2023/

Where @janmaarten shows that just a couple days after #accessiBe’s CEO promised to stop being such a lying liarface it went and used sock puppet Twitter accounts to promote its #overlay.

As I keep saying, past behavior is a predictor of future behavior (side-eyes #AudioEye, #UserWay, #FACILiti).

#a11y #accessibility

Socks, lies, and accessibility

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is around the corner. Looking back at last year, I found some troubling things people in this field should be aware of. Because they're likely to be repeated.

^{Jan Maarten (Jan Maarten – Inclusive designer, privacy advocate, writer)}

...and here we go: #id24 will return this year on 12 September 2024.

The call for presentations is now open https://inclusivedesign24.org/2024/

#a11y #accessibility #inclusiveDesign

Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)

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

^{Inclusive Design 24 (#id24)}

How do screen readers read abbreviations like ppl?

#accessibility #a11y

Hm. I wonder if I can get any fediverse admins onboard to disable all images on their instance on the World Sight Day in October, so that only alt text shows up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Sight_Day

#accessibility #a11y #ImageDescription #AltText #FediAdmins #MastoAdmins

We're #hiring a remote, full-stack #Drupal developer! We build Drupal & WordPress websites for nonprofits, with a content strategy & #a11y focus. We have a 35-hour work week, 5 weeks+ paid time off annually to start, & an intentionally-small, sweet, collaborative team. We are woman- and queer*-owned and led.

Must be US-based b/c we're small don't @ me we are doing our best I assure you.

https://devcollaborative.com/full-stack-drupal-developer

*That's me, I'm the queer co-owner.

Department of Justice just formally set WCAG Version 2.1, Level AA as the technical standard for government sites. https://www.ada.gov/notices/2024/03/08/web-rule/

#accessibility #a11y

Our new Chief Technology Officer, Gerald Hartig, is being interviewed on Vision Australia Radio tonight at 8:10pm AEST (About 1hr 15mins after I post this). You can tune in online at: http://player.listenlive.co/65731/

#NVDA #ScreenReader #Accessibility #Interview #News #A11y

Vision Australia Radio Adelaide

Accessible news, information and entertainment. Vision Australia Radio offers a range of interesting and informative programs that feature readings from the latest newspapers, magazines and books.

^{Vision Australia Radio Adelaide}

Lots of things happening in the AI/LLM space that could have implications for #accessibility

Ferret-UI from Apple:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.05719

ScreenAI from Google
https://research.google/blog/screenai-a-visual-language-model-for-ui-and-visually-situated-language-understanding/

#a11y #ai #LLM

Ferret-UI: Grounded Mobile UI Understanding with Multimodal LLMs

Recent advancements in multimodal large language models (MLLMs) have been noteworthy, yet, these general-domain MLLMs often fall short in their ability to comprehend and interact effectively with user interface (UI) screens.

^arXiv.org

Content warning: Some idle musings about Linux Accessibility with no real scientific basis for my claims I'm just thinking out loud here Click to open/close

Speaking of #overlays, there is yet another one: #WebAbility

I have already made a PR to add it to the Overlay Fact Sheet:
https://github.com/karlgroves/overlayfactsheet/pull/1189

As with other overlays, it makes WCAG/ADA promises, fails to fix stuff, replicates platform features (poorly) in CSS, and introduces WCAG violations just by adding it to a site.

Cool business model.

#accessibility #a11y

Adding WebAbility as an overlay by aardrian · Pull Request #1189 · karlgroves/overlayfactsheet

From Introducing WebAbility.io: Ultimate Web Accessibility Widget for ADA & WCAG Compliance, a press release from Techyweb Solutions INC.: WebAbility.io offers easy, comprehensive solutions for we...

^GitHub

Wait, what? Safari/iOS/VO does not support role="group"?

FFS.

Neither does Chrome/Talkback.

FFS.

This web is a mess!

#a11y

Must be the wrong article 🤔

Have you tested the #Fedora distribution with the #GNOME desktop environment? They work hard to make it fully accessible.

I admit that the default synthesized voices are particularly awful, but they can easily be changed with Pied.

https://pied.mikeasoft.com

#accessibility #a11y

"Blind internet users struggle with error-prone AI aids", reports an article in the Financial Times:
https://www.ft.com/content/3c877c55-b698-43da-a222-8ae183f53078

#FT has a paywall but three articles can be accessed for free if you register.

TLDR is that AI #accessibility widgets over promise and under deliver. Repeatedly.

#AI #GenerativeAI #a11y

New #Android version of #KDEConnect coming soon, with #Accessibility improvements thanks to a review performed by the HAN University of Applied Sciences!

Looks like they have some free resources available for developers to up their #a11y game:

https://ngi.aimsites.nl/resources/

I wonder how accessible all those closed-source KDE Connect knock-offs are 🤔

Accessibility Resources

Let's make the Next Generation Internet: Accessible, Inclusive and Future Proof

^{NGI Zero}

This is an excellent guide to writing in plain English.

https://evolvingweb.com/blog/plain-language-guide-how-write-inclusive-digital-content-2024

"49% of adults in Canada have below high-school literacy levels, and 17% are unable to follow written instructions or read maps."

"Half adults in the U.S. struggle to read a book written for eighth-graders."

If your first instinct is 'why are people ‘dumb’?’ you are elitist and not inclusive. There are plenty of immigrants and others. As web professionals it should be your job to include *everyone*

#a11y

A Plain Language Guide: How to Write Inclusive Digital Content in 2024

Want to make your written content more inclusive, accessible, and engaging? Learn how to use plain language principles with our comprehensive guide.

^{Evolving Web}

#AudioEye has a blog post where its CAO talks about “trust, transparency, collaboration, and innovation.”

Which is code for rebranding its #overlay product without issuing refunds for its prior guarantees.

Anyway, I offer my thoughts in a bit more detail as a comment on the post that got me sued:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html#comment-285608

#accessibility #a11y

#AudioEye Will Get You Sued

Disclaimer: This post and the headline is my opinion. I provide verifiable facts throughout to inform that opinion. I am also not a lawyer, and this post does not constitute legal advice. The content reflects my genuinely held beliefs and opinions.

^{Adrian Roselli}

This piece is worth reading if you’re in tech criticism or infosec/cybersecurity and are being asked for commentary on IoT and smart home devices.

People aren’t foolish for using IoT or for wanting things to be easier in their homes. This tech makes positive and meaningful change for people of all kinds of abilities. It’s valid to worry about the privacy or security issues that IoT is riddled with, but don’t draw a direct line from there to blaming the user - some people have no alternatives that don’t involve giving up independent access to their own homes and lives. Everyone deserves to live in ways that fit their needs.

Instead, join the push to hold manufacturers and providers to account for poor security and privacy practices. Advocate for better, more respectful and accessible default configurations. Help people understand how to anticipate and mitigate the worst of these issues when they’re setting things up, and give them power and agency over their home systems.

We all deserve to have tech that works for us, in all the ways that matters.

#accessibility
#a11y #infosec
#cybersecurity
#iot #smarthome

https://www.theverge.com/24080201/smart-home-accessibility-apple-nest-alexa

How smart home technology made my home more accessible

Using one’s phone or voice to flip a light switch may be convenient since you don’t need to get up. For the author and other disabled people, this makes it accessible.

^{Steven Aquino (The Verge)}

I just updated my screen reader, #NVDA, to version 2024.1.

A few notes of interest:

All add-ons I consider essential work. Remote isn't updated yet but TeleNVDA is.
Unspoken, which I maintain, hasn't been updated but can be force enabled and works. Some time this week I'll issue a new release.
Of the non-essential add-ons that I'd like to have but haven't tried forcing, I'd highlight Instant Translate and Calibre.

I've also made a donation. I encourage others to contribute to NVDA, with code, translations, time or money, if their situation permits. NVDA doesn't update itself. It's not only my favourite screen reader, but it's essential to keep our needs in focus, maintain our independence, and avoid monopoly.

Thanks to NV Access for another release.

#NVDASR #a11y #accessibility