My previous post in German is just a shoutout that the "Do it Blind" group, the people behind the Metabraille keyboard, log their weekly meeting protocols for everyone to see. The posts / logs are in German but if you throw a translation service at it, you may discover what we're up to and what we discover as far as accessible tech is concerned. We also host weekly online meetings you can attend. Although primarily in German, we will be happy about new English-speaking guests. #Accessibility #Blind
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Items tagged with: accessibility
Die "Do It Blind" Gruppe in Metalab, in Rahmen dessen die Metabraille Oskar Brailletastatur entstanden ist, hat angefangen, ihre Mitschrifte für alle zu veröffentlichen. Ihr könnt dort jede Woche lesen, welche Themen wir besprochen haben, was wir so bezüglich barrierefreie Tech finden und was uns rund um diese Themen aufregt. Ihr seit auch herzlich eingeladen, zu unsere wöchentliche online Treffen zu kommen. Ich hoffe, das wird eine interessante Lekture für alle die sich für Technik, Barrierefreiheit für blinde Menschen, Technik und alles dazwischen interessieren. oskars.org/posts/ @oskar_mbr @metalab #Accessibility #Blind
I have an #accessibility question for #screenReader users.
If I use hashtags within flowing text, like #this, does that annoyingly interrupt the narration flow and should I rather list them all at the end?
Or is in-text tagging the preferable alternative to a large wall of hashtags at the end, like this:
Does anyone know where the Monthly key is on my keyboard?
`<div accesskey="monthly" role="radiogroup" aria-label="segmented control" tabindex="0">`
It bothers me quite a lot that in the `ariaNotify` explainer, relating to a more robust mechanism for web apps to fire #screenReader messages, #braille is demoted to a "future consideration". Even there, it's listed under a heading of "Braille and speech markup", as though it doesn't even warrant a devoted section of its own.
Braille being treated with the same priority of speech is long overdue. We're clearly not there yet.
github.com/MicrosoftEdge/MSEdg…
#accessibility
MSEdgeExplainers/Accessibility/AriaNotify/explainer.md at main · MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainers
Home for explainer documents originated by the Microsoft Edge team - MicrosoftEdge/MSEdgeExplainersGitHub
Be part of the #accessibility resistance. Make your digital shit #accessible
etsy.com/uk/listing/1890790262…
If you open @smashingmag, you might (or might not) recognize the name on the latest article. 😁
Apologies in advance, it’s a long read, and there’s not a single line of code. But I’m a little bit proud of this one! ☺️
What you think?! #accessibility
smashingmagazine.com/2025/04/f…
Fostering An Accessibility Culture — Smashing Magazine
While there’s no definitive playbook for building an accessibility culture, Dani shares lessons from his experience in shaping it through habits rather than mandates.Smashing Magazine
For anyone who reads scholarly texts frequently, as I do, footnotes are commonplace. Given a document received in Microsoft Word format, I sought to access the footnotes using several word processors and screen readers. Findings:
Microsoft Word for Windows (Print layout) - the footnotes appear at the bottom of each page and can be reached using ordinary cursor navigation. An option to move from the footnote text to the footnote mark in the body of the document is available in a context menu. However, I couldn't find a command to move from the footnote mark directly to the footnote text.
Microsoft Word for Mac - VoiceOver didn't read the footnote text at all - not good, obviously.
Apple Pages - each footnote mark was treated as a link, so I could navigate directly to the footnote text. However, there was no obvious way to move back from the footnote text to the footnote mark.
Google Docs - I haven't tested recently, but when I last tried it with multiple screen readers under different operating systems, the screen readers ignored the footnote marks in the document entirely, unless the cursor was placed directly on the footnote mark, which is unlikely to happen by accident.
LibreOffice Writer (Linux) - when last I tested, there wasn't a keyboard binding for the command to move to the footnote area. I reported this as a bug. It may have been fixed since then.
Today in #ChatGPT attempting to be helpful with a thing I'm building: "Consider bumping the font size in your CSS so NVDA/VoiceOver don’t make you squint your ears." I, uh, I'm not sure #AI is ready to do #accessibility yet. I mean, I should bump the font size for #a11y reasons...those just aren't the right reasons. I can't wait until we have completely #blind designers building CSS with nothing but AI. Anyway, back to squinting my ears!
“Hacking Accessible Pedestrian Signals is Not a Joke: It’s a Civil Rights Violation” from @LFLegal lflegal.com/2025/04/aps-hack/
Yeah, not only is this bad form it’s also potentially deadly. Lainey does a good job of laying out the history and what went into originally getting these in place. These jerks undermined it all.
Hacking Accessible Pedestrian Signals is Not a Joke: It's a Civil Rights Violation
On April 12, 2025 the top story on the Palo Alto (California) online news site was "Silicon Valley Crosswalk Buttons Apparently Hacked to Imitate Musk, Zuckerberg Voices" It told the story, covered by other media too, of how someone hacked into audi…Law Office of Lainey Feingold
Anyone who is blind, or who has worked with the blind, knows how expensive our technology can be. This couldn't be more true with relation to braille displays. Even the cheapest costs at least $799, and it's already behind the newest in that line, at $899. This is the Orbit Reader 20 and 20+. Now, a student in India wants to change that by creating a display that is truly affordable (under $50)! Please pass this on, so that we can give him greater recognition within the blind community. Even if it costs a bit more than he initially suspected it would, there is no excuse for the $2,000 to $5,000 average price of such technology when cheaper alternatives can be designed! He is determined to bring this to market, so let's help him do it and show our appreciation for his hard work on this life-changing project!
forbes.com/sites/kevinanderton…
#access #ACB #accessibility #affordability #blind #braille #BrailleDisplays #children #education #employment #independence #India #learning #NFB #ocr #parent #reading #science #school #students #teachers #technology #work #writing
#COSMIC is not even out of alpha and there's lots of #accessibility features already available!
There's more work to be done, for sure, but this is a very nice to see!
In-Process is out, featuring a hint on 2025.1 beta timing, details on the updated Basic Training for NVDA training module, our recent server updates, AND what you need to know about reading info in a command prompt. Read now: nvaccess.org/post/in-process-1…
And don't forget to subscribe to get the next edition (AND notification when the beta comes out) via email: eepurl.com/iuVyjo
#NVDA #NVDAsr #ScreenReader #Accessibility #News #Newsletter #Blog
In-Process 11th April 2025
We are getting close to a beta for NVDA 2025.1. We are on track for 2025.1 Beta 1 to be released early next week. Please do subscribe to be notified by email as soon as it is available! In the mean…NV Access
I made that thread from yesterday into a brief post.
“Automated WCAG Testing Is Grrreat!”
adrianroselli.com/2025/04/auto…
Automated WCAG Testing Is Grrreat!
I’m a big fan of using automation in WCAG testing. I use bookmarklets, dev tools, browser features & reporting, and a pile of third-party products from assorted vendors. These save me time and effort, letting me focus on more tricky cases.Adrian Roselli
REMINDER: Your resistance goes faster, harder, and further without the use of ableist language. Fascists won't give a fuck, but a whole lot of folk who have been called 'crazy’, ‘insane’, 'stupid’, ‘idiot’, ‘moron’, and so forth hear you every time you do this, and make themselves a little smaller.
The same goes for body-shaming of any kind. It hurts your allies, not your enemies.
Update your vocabulary.
And check for alt text before you post, or boost.
In case you missed this from a month ago, Lisa Salinger compared the BT Speak from Blazie Technologies @BlazieTech and the Orbit Speak on Tek Talk.
accessibleworld.org/podcast/te…
#BTSpeak #blind #accessibility
accessibleworld.org/podcast/te…
#BTSpeak #blind #accessibility
I'm super excited to have Ben Ritner from KadenceWP joining me live on YouTube tomorrow to talk about building accessible websites with Kadence. Tune in at 3 PM central. #WordPress #a11y #accessibility
Live Accessibility Tips for Kadence with Special Guest Ben Ritner
Join Amber Hinds and special guest Ben Ritner, Sr. Director of Product at StellarWP and the founder of Kadence WP, for a conversation about how to build acce...YouTube
Naive accessibility question: How does your screen reader render emojis? Are they accessible?
Are mastodon extended emojis like 
rendered differently from unicode emojis like 😀?
Chat GPT with video! Here is my experience using it in different situations and how it can possibly help with accessibility for someone who's blind or visually impaired!
Chat GPT Live Video AI (Advanced Voice Mode with VIDEO!) Demonstration & Accessibility
It's finally here- Chat GPT with video! Here is my experience using it in different situations and how it can possibly help with accessibility for someone wh...YouTube
nb. there are no circumstances -- none at all -- ever -- in which it's necessary or helpful to include accessible text for an ARIA button that says "Press Enter or Space to activate".
Screen reader users know how to press buttons. ffs.
What are your favorite "accessibility red flags"?
In other words, when you first access a website, device, service, physical space, etc., what is something that immediately warns you, this won't go well for some disabled people?
I'd love to hear various perspectives, so please boost if you're willing.
I figured I should make this into a poster. A4 size, but can easily be scaled to fit onto Letter size, for you non-standard Americans out there.
Reuse encouraged, public domain!
Are there any other #accessible audio and #music apps for IPhone and IPad besides ableton, garageband, logic and tape it?
#accessible #accessibility #ableton #audio #blind #garageband #logic #music #recording
#accessible #accessibility #ableton #audio #blind #garageband #logic #music #recording
Still relevant today.
“A web of anxiety: accessibility for people with anxiety and panic disorders” #accessibility
tpgi.com/a-web-of-anxiety-acce…
A web of anxiety: accessibility for people with anxiety and panic disorders [Part 1] - TPGi
UI/UX design can contribute to feelings of anxiety and panic. Read how urgency, unpredictability, powerlessness, and sensationalism play a role.David Swallow (TPGi)
What are some good alternative replacements for IOS and Android?
and is there any #accessibility work being done on these?
#accessibility #blind #ios #android
and is there any #accessibility work being done on these?
#accessibility #blind #ios #android
Massachusetts is looking for 4 (four!) IT Accessibility Officers. Boston/hybrid.
a11yjobs.com/jobs/MLyP9-it-acc…
#GetFediHired
#jobs
#A11yJobs
#a11y
#AccessibilityJobs
#accessibility
Apply for the IT Accessibility Officer (Contract-Based) job at The Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services and Security. Join the top accessibility job board today!
Discover top jobs in digital accessibility, including web accessibility, ARIA, WCAG, Section 508, ADA compliance, and more. Join the A11y community with roles on a11yjobs.com.a11yjobs.com
Friday bookmarklet time! This is one I created AGES ago, and use frequently in my testing, but clean forgot to add to the site.
Grouped Fields - visually highlights fields that are programmatically grouped using either fieldset/legend elements or their ARIA counterparts.
a11y-tools.com/bookmarklets/so…
#testing #a11y #accessibility #devtools
While we believe #Accessibility should be a key component of any project from the outset, one of the advantages of open source is that those with the knowledge are able to contribute to projects to help address shortcomings. @wireshark is "The world's most popular #network protocol analyzer", and a fellow #OpenSource project. Do we know any #A11y coders with an interest in #Networking willing to give them a hand with accessibility? See their post here: fosstodon.org/@wireshark@ioc.e… #FOSS
If you want to know how a spoon, ai, Matrix and accessibility are connected, then check out the #btconf talk description by @tink with the title “There Is No Spoon” beyondtellerrand.com/events/du…
#a11y #ai #accessibility #presentation #tellerrand
Léonie Watson is speaking at beyond tellerrand 2025 in Düsseldorf
Léonie is a Director of TetraLogical; Chair of the W3C Board of Directors, and co-Chair of the W3C Web Applications Working Group. Shebeyond tellerrand Events
Kevin Powell has an #accessibility intro video:
“Quick accessibility wins that are easy to implement”
youtu.be/pJ0GPI7BMIs
This isn’t for practitioners; this isn’t new stuff.
This is for folks who are new to it, who learn better with videos, who know his name and will believe him more than us, who want recent examples, etc.
#a11y
Quick accessibility wins that are easy to implement
Accessibility can be a deep topic, but there is a lot of low-hanging fruit that so many people get wrong when there really is no excuse.🔗 Links✅ axe dev too...YouTube
Just had a wild tech support experience with @InnosearchAI , who run an online shopping platform made to be accessible for blind users. I wrote them with an issue I was having using the site with my screen reader, and they wrote back saying let's schedule a Zoom call so you can show us what's happening, and we'll give you $50 in credit on your account. And then that actually happened. The people on the call were very nice, and I sort of just don't know how to react to a tech company actually valuing my feedback as a screen reader user. Like valuing it with money. #blind #accessibility
Dear #Microsoft , your #MSWindows #GUI insists on having window borders measuring 1px wide, which we get to grab to resize the windows. With a mouse that seems easy. Try again using a touch pad when cold and shivering, or tired, or in a dusty machine mill with a trembling floor. Don't even get me started on people suffering central tremors, cerebral palsy, or other physical limitations.
#usability #accessibility
#usability #accessibility
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#Tech #Technology #Discord #Community #TechTalk #Techopolis #Accessibility #Code #Blind #Apple #AI
Join here:
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Let's get 200 by end of April!
#Tech #Technology #Discord #Community #TechTalk #Techopolis #Accessibility #Code #Blind #Apple #AI
Join the Techopolis Discord Server!
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Windows Narrator is adding a speech viewer / log:
blogs.windows.com/windows-insi…
Do not treat it as a proxy for what is actually announced:
adrianroselli.com/2020/08/spee…
Speech Viewer Logs of Lies
The headline is intentional hyperbole, chosen mostly for the sloppy alliteration. When sighted users test with a screen reader it is common to rely on the visual output — checking to see where focus goes, confirming that controls behave, watching the…Adrian Roselli
So I seem to be on a bit of an #AI testing kick. A non-critical product I needed (some replacement filters for an air purifier) was available at the best price from a website I really didn't want to deal with right now. So I put the order in via innosearch.ai. I'm mostly suspicious because the marketing is so polished; I've come to distrust well-marketed products. On the other hand, if innosearch makes it possible for me to spend less money on Amazon, and makes distributing my shopping dollars to other places more practical, it's a net ethical win. If I get entirely the wrong thing, or nothing at all, it won't break me. I'll keep this thread updated with my experiences. #innosearch#accessibility#blind
Here's my update from early this morning. I deleted the #Instacart app, reinstalled it and got through log in just fine then it crashed again. I never heard anything from them on X and when I called I got their voice prompts, chose English, got one long ring and then silence. I have no clue what's going on here. Maybe it’s time to mention the big guns @ACBNational and @nationsblind @AccessOn who all have #Accessibility initiatives. Perhaps they can make more headway than I did. #InstacartAppCrashing
Any suggestions out there on a good way to turn PDFs into an audio file, or at the very least get the text extracted from them? I have a huge number to sort through one time solutions will be a challenge on time. Looking to turn these into audio MP3 files. Any help would be appreciated. #blind #accessibility #tech
Isn't a curious co-incidence, how so many people with disabilities have a working knowledge of web accessibility?
Could it be that this is needed to work around inaccessible web content on a daily basis?
Recent datepicker experience:
1. Control is presented as three separate spin controls, supporting the Up/Down Arrow keys to increment and decrement the value as well as manual typing. But because they're not text inputs, I can't use the Left/Right Arrow keys to review what each separate one contains, only to move between day, month, and year.
2. I tab to year.
3. I press Down Arrow, and the value is set to 2075. I'm unclear how many use cases require the year to be frequently set to 2075, but I can't imagine it's many so this seems like a fairly ridiculous starting point.
4. I press Up Arrow, and the value gets set to 0001. The number of applications for which 0001 is a valid year is likewise vanishingly small.
5. I delete the 0001, at which point my #screenReader reports that the current value is "0". Also not a valid year.
6. Out of curiosity, I inspect the element to see which third-party component is being used to create this mess... only to find that it's a native `<input>` with `type="date"` and this is just how Google Chrome presents it.
A good reminder that #HTML is not always the most #accessible or user-friendly.