#screenreaders — Public Fediverse posts

@freedomscientific Wow that's a very impressive wall of bullshit, corporate jargon, and meaningless platitudes. Tldr should just be "we're going full techbro yo and definitely logging and selling everything you do to our ad partners."

#Accessibility, #Enshittification, #JAWS, #NVDA, #ScreenReaders, #Technology

@freedomscientific Wow that's a very impressive wall of bullshit, corporate jargon, and meaningless platitudes. Tldr should just be "we're going full techbro yo and definitely logging and selling everything you do to our ad partners."

#Accessibility, #Enshittification, #JAWS, #NVDA, #ScreenReaders, #Technology

@freedomscientific Wow that's a very impressive wall of bullshit, corporate jargon, and meaningless platitudes. Tldr should just be "we're going full techbro yo and definitely logging and selling everything you do to our ad partners."

#Accessibility, #Enshittification, #JAWS, #NVDA, #ScreenReaders, #Technology

@freedomscientific Wow that's a very impressive wall of bullshit, corporate jargon, and meaningless platitudes. Tldr should just be "we're going full techbro yo and definitely logging and selling everything you do to our ad partners."

#Accessibility, #Enshittification, #JAWS, #NVDA, #ScreenReaders, #Technology

@freedomscientific Wow that's a very impressive wall of bullshit, corporate jargon, and meaningless platitudes. Tldr should just be "we're going full techbro yo and definitely logging and selling everything you do to our ad partners."

#Accessibility, #Enshittification, #JAWS, #NVDA, #ScreenReaders, #Technology

Ok it has been a bit since I did this, and i definitely worded the last one wrong. I'm looking for my fellow #NVDA users to suggest Add-On that are not in the store.I'm on 2026.1, and already use Add-On Documentation, #Braille Extender, Resource Monitor, and VLC.

#Accessibility, #Blind, #ScreenReaders, @main @mastoblind

Ok it has been a bit since I did this, and i definitely worded the last one wrong. I'm looking for my fellow #NVDA users to suggest Add-On that are not in the store.I'm on 2026.1, and already use Add-On Documentation, #Braille Extender, Resource Monitor, and VLC.

#Accessibility, #Blind, #ScreenReaders, @main @mastoblind

Ok it has been a bit since I did this, and i definitely worded the last one wrong. I'm looking for my fellow #NVDA users to suggest Add-On that are not in the store.I'm on 2026.1, and already use Add-On Documentation, #Braille Extender, Resource Monitor, and VLC.

#Accessibility, #Blind, #ScreenReaders, @main @mastoblind

Ok it has been a bit since I did this, and i definitely worded the last one wrong. I'm looking for my fellow #NVDA users to suggest Add-On that are not in the store.I'm on 2026.1, and already use Add-On Documentation, #Braille Extender, Resource Monitor, and VLC.

#Accessibility, #Blind, #ScreenReaders, @main @mastoblind

Ok it has been a bit since I did this, and i definitely worded the last one wrong. I'm looking for my fellow #NVDA users to suggest Add-On that are not in the store.I'm on 2026.1, and already use Add-On Documentation, #Braille Extender, Resource Monitor, and VLC.

#Accessibility, #Blind, #ScreenReaders, @main @mastoblind

Question for my fellow fedi blind folk: Is it worth buying an annual sub for JAWS in 2026, or should I stick with NVDA 2026.1? Depending on the cost for a sub in the US, I may actually be able to afford it. #A11Y #Accessibility #Blind #ScreenReaders #JAWS #NVDA #Poll

Warms my soul to see NVDA Coach gain some traction in India. This beautiful country is home to the largest population of blind and visually impaired people by nation population, and having a free resource to help push people towards their employment goals is a win-win! Check out this fun YouTube short recorded by a community member walking through the basics. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0KtsuOs2Lqg #Accessibility #NVDACoach #AssistiveTechnology #ScreenReaders #Windows #Tech #Education #Training

Hello fedi,

I am still interested in trying to make tables in geminispace that are accessible to blind users.

The trouble is that gemini's native markup format, gemtext, does not have tables.

Gemtext does have preformatted text blocks, so I tried making tables by manually lining up text.

Header    Also a header
Thing     A thing
Another   thing

So excited to travel to South America this summer to tour around Peru, Bolivia, and Argintina to talk with blind and visually impaired professionals to help bring more qualitative training for their communities. NVDA Coach has sparked a significant interest for underserved and rural areas, and the icing on the cake, is, networking and meeting with these amazing folks in their towns. #AssistiveTechnology #SpanishCulture #ScreenReaders #Love #Travel

NVDA is the most used screen reader around the world right now, and training for students is just not as popular as it should be. NVDA Coach was designed from the ground up to fill that gap for newly blind adults and kids around the globe to have free resources at their finger tips. More time learning and preparing for their future, and less time spent on the frustrations of affording tools.... www.tonygebhard.me/nvdacoach
#Training #Technology #AssistiveTechnology #ScreenReaders #GlobalAccess #Education #Blindness

@reiver

The only thing that I would bring in regarding emoji use in display names is #a11y issues if there are a lot of them. I'd say recommended practice should be to have 1 and max. 2 emoji in the name, so #screenreaders don't have read a long shebang you sometimes see on 'funny' display names.

But perhaps someone better versed in #accessibility issues for the visually impaired can chime in on this #ActivityPub #FEP (and perhaps other FEP's too), if this is a real issue. A "fediverse accessibility best-practices" may exist as well (somewhere).

#SX #SocialCoding #AskFedi

Making Emojis and Icons Screen Reader Accessible, by @popetech.bsky.social:

https://blog.pope.tech/2026/04/01/making-emojis-and-icons-screen-reader-accessible/

#emoji #icons #images #accessibility #screenreaders #html

Screen Readers Are Not Testing Tools, by @yatil:

https://yatil.net/blog/screen-readers-are-not-testing-tools

#accessibility #testing #screenreaders

Bug fixes coming for NVDA Coach V1.5.2 + spanish localization support for Spanish native speakers. Adding a profile button to primary dialog window for easier access to customize the module before exporting certificate of completion, looking to add German, French, and other languages as progress is made. Major thanks to the Russian and Turkish community for lending a volunteering hand to the project. www.tonygebhard.me/nvdacoach #AssistiveTechnology #NVDA #ScreenReaders #Accessibility #Training #Education #GlobalAccess

Is tere way to make Evolution Email's composer to use an external text editor? I can just copy and paste from gedit, if not. #GNU #GUI #Linux #accessibility #ScreenReader #ScreenReaders

@matuzo It took me a minute to understand your post, because I thought it said you were in "Amsterdam and Hungary" 😂 #ScreenReaders

In 2024, GMail discontinued their Basic HTML layout. Why? I have no idea. They were probably using the same lack of logic that Youtube used in 2017, when they shut down their mobile site, and that Facebook used in 2024, when they shut down their Basic Mobile site. After all, why keep something that's easy, uncluttered, and that actually works, both with and without screen readers? I absolutely hated GMail's Standard site, and switched to Thunderbird 102 (I still prefer that version) because of it, though I hadn't used an e-mail client since 2006. After being forced to use their main site to fix something the other day, I began looking for another e-mail provider with a basic/plain html version. I found it in Yahoo Mail! I had actually signed up for an account with them in 2023 but never really used it. Tonight, I reactivated my account and tried it. It's wonderful! Note: Basic Yahoo Mail is not the same as Old Yahoo. I had to switch to Old and then go to Basic from there. However, you may be able to access it by going here.

https://mail.yahoo.com/b/

PS. I know that some other blind people use regular GMail, but quite honestly, I don't care. I shouldn't have to learn a whole new set of commands just to access my e-mail and have to deal with a million features that I don't need. One of my mottos is don't fix what's not broken. Oh, and to my Windows XP and 7 friends, Basic Yahoo Mail works there, too.

#accessibility #BasicHTML #blind #e-mail #GMail #NVDA #ScreenReaders #technology #Windows7 #WindowsXP #Yahoo

#Development #Pitfalls
Screen readers are not testing tools · They only show the symptoms of bad code https://ilo.im/16byjs

_____
#Testing #ScreenReaders #Accessibility #WCAG #Content #Design #WebDesign #WebDev #Frontend #HTML

Hey- am asking for @blindmouse88 we are both curious now. can you use a guitar as a midi controller? how do you do it in a way that is #Accessible to #blind folks? I did google but the software recommended is not accessible with #screenreaders. We are looking for something that will interface with #Garageband for #mac. Thanks in advance. #tech #question

I was helping an open-source app become more #accessible yesterday and we ran into the problem that it looks like #screenReader Orca has a bit of a tendency to crash when exposed to webkitGTK applications. I've not done Desktop #linux for a long time and have no idea what the workarounds for this would be, does anyone know anyone who might know what's happening here? Do we need to set a random environment variable somewhere or update a specific package so this person can do basic screen reader testing on their app? #tech #openSource #screenReaders #linux #GTK #webdev

Quick Tip: Don’t Use “<abbr>”, by @nattarnoff.bsky.social:

https://tarnoff.info/2026/03/20/quick-tip-dont-use-abbr/

#html #tipsandtricks #screenreaders #support #accessibility

#Development #Guides
The screen reader stutter · Why your content repeats itself and how to fix it https://ilo.im/16bkoe

_____
#Images #Content #Accessibility #WCAG #ScreenReaders #NVDA #WebDev #Frontend #HTML #ARIA

Is there a bunch of unrendered html source in the QT user interface? I'm running KDE Plasma, and hear abunch of what sounds like source code from orca. I've also noticed this on some controls in the Calamares installer. #GNU #Linux #QT #KDE #GUI #accessibility #ScreenReaders

People of the #Fediverse!

Please use #CamelCase for hashtags.

You are actively hindering the inclusion of people using #ScreenReaders. Without #CamelCase, these tools produce only rubbish for them.

Thank you for being one of the good ones.

I will boost this post from time to time, because it's necessary unfortunately.

#ComputerPlay #GNU #Linux #today I'm downloading the latest KDE OS immutable thingie. I played, a bit, with KDE Plsma, using a Fedora Live system, version 44. Orca #ScreenReaders #Accessibility was extremely lagged. I could type way ahead.

Not only did I just find a Mastodon client that works on Windows 7, but it is even designed specifically to work with screen readers! It will be very interesting to see what new features are added in the future, but for now, I should be able to at least read, reply to, and boost posts, and to write my own.

https://github.com/G4p-Studios/Thrive

#accessibility #blind #computers #Fediverse #JAWS #Mastodon #NVDA #programming #ScreenReaders #technology #Windows7

Today, I was forced to use the GMail website to fix a problem I was having with messages. I don't care what people say. It's absolutely atrocious and headache-inducing. It's also overly and needlessly complicated, and yes, that includes all the little shortcuts, turning NVDA browse mode off, etc. I switched to Thunderbird 102 when they shut down the Basic HTML site. But today, I thought of something very interesting. Third party clients can access GMail. Why couldn't someone recreate the Basic HTML site, either as a site that retrieves e-mail or as a web application? Apparently, someone already made a concept demonstration of it.

https://github.com/tumaranja/my-basic-html-gmail

I've also heard that screenshots have been taken of the original pages. If someone could do this, it would be wonderful for the blind community. Yes, Thunderbird works, but sometimes, it's simpler and quicker to just use the site. What I don't know, though, is if setting could be changed that way. I imagine that searching for messages would still work.

Now, if only someone could bring back the Mobile Youtube site from 2017! That was also wonderful and useful, unlike the modern mess!

#accessibility #blind #coding #computers #E-Mail #GMail #HTML #Narrator #NVDA #programming #ScreenReaders #technology #WebApplications #Youtube

MYSTERY IN BLUE

A TRAVEL TROUBLES NOTES STORY

THE ECHO OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Book III: An Australia Day Mystery

CHAPTER 1: THE TIMEOUT TRAP

It was Australia Day, and the heat was enough to melt the CSS off a stylesheet. The Three Best Friends—Liam, Dax, and Dev—were driving their trusty 4WD up the winding roads of the Blue Mountains. The esky was chockers with lamingtons and snags, and the mood was “she’ll be right”.

“I reckon we camp near the Three Sisters,” Dax said, adjusting his sunglasses. “Great view, high contrast, easy navigation.”

But as they approached Katoomba, the car’s dashboard display flickered. A countdown timer appeared on the GPS screen:
SESSION EXPIRING IN 10 SECONDS.

“Dev, extend the session!” Liam yelled.

Dev reached for the “Continue” button, but the car hit a pothole. His finger slipped.

3… 2… 1…

The GPS went black. The engine sputtered. The car rolled to a halt on the shoulder of the highway.

“It’s the Timeout Trap,” Dev groaned. “The system didn’t give us enough time to interact. It violated the rule: Provide users enough time to read and use content”.

The Genial Fix

“A standard timeout is fine for security,” Liam said, wiping sweat from his brow. “But for a critical task like driving? We need an option to turn off, adjust, or extend the time limit”.

Liam pried open the dashboard panel. He found the physical timer relay. “I’m bypassing the default setting. I’m hard-coding an exception for ‘Real-time Activity’.”

He twisted two wires together. The screen roared back to life, but the map was different. The roads weren’t marked with names; they were marked with code.

“We aren’t in Katoomba anymore,” Dax whispered. “We’re in the Source Code.”

CHAPTER 2: THE RECURSIVE RAVINE

They hiked into the valley, but the path was behaving strangely. Every time they walked 100 meters, they found themselves passing the same gum tree.

“It’s an infinite loop!” Dax cried. “We’re stuck in a recursive function without an exit condition!”

“It’s worse,” Dev said, pointing to a signpost. It spun wildly, the arrows changing direction every second. “The navigation is inconsistent. One minute the ‘Home’ link is on the left, the next it’s in the footer.”

A voice boomed from the canyon walls—a distorted, echoing laugh.

“Welcome to the Echo. Navigation is fluid here. Try to find the breadcrumb trail.”

“Breadcrumbs!” Liam realized. “The Echo is mocking us. We need to create a Site Map to understand the structure of the valley.”

The Physical Site Map

Dax grabbed a stick and began drawing in the red dirt. “If the visual path is broken, we rely on the DOM order.”

He mapped the landmarks like HTML elements: : The Sky (Always visible) : The Valley Floor (Where the content is) : The River (The end of the page)

“The Loop is in the ,” Dev noticed, looking at Dax’s map. “We’ve been walking in a sidebar! We need to Skip to Main Content.”

“Skip Links!” Liam shouted. “Find the anchor!”

They spotted a hidden trail marker labeled #main-content. They jumped over the barrier, breaking the loop and landing on the true path toward the Three Sisters.

CHAPTER 3: THE VOICE OF THE SISTERS

They reached the famous rock formation, but the viewing platform was deserted. A single, massive microphone stood at the edge of the cliff, pointing at the rocks.

“To pass,” the Echo’s voice thundered, “You must speak the Password. But be warned: The Echo listens to all inputs.”

“It’s a Voice Input Control,” Dev said. “But look at the wind. It’s blowing a gale. The background noise is too high.”

Liam stepped up to the mic. “Open Sesame!”

The wind howled. The system responded: “Did you say ‘Open Salami’?”

“No!” Liam yelled. “Cancel! Undo!”

The system processed the command: “Ordering Salami.”

“It’s an Error Prevention nightmare!” Dax panicked. “For inputs that cause legal commitments or financial transactions, we must be able to reversible, checked, or confirmed”.

The Modal Trap

A holographic receipt appeared in the air, blocking their path.
CONFIRM PURCHASE?

There was no “Cancel” button. Only “Yes.”

“It’s a Focus Trap,” Dev said. “I can’t tab away from the ‘Yes’ button. We need to force a keyboard interrupt.”

“Don’t speak,” Liam whispered. “Switch input modalities. The WCAG guidelines say users should be able to switch between input modes (voice, keyboard, mouse) at any time.”

Liam plugged his portable keyboard into the base of the microphone. He typed: ESCAPE.

The receipt vanished. The “Salami” order was cancelled.

“Fair crack of the whip,” Liam muttered. “That was close.”

CHAPTER 4: THE FOG OF #CCCCCC

They descended the Giant Stairway, but a thick fog rolled in. It wasn’t just white; it was a flat, featureless gray.

“I can’t see the steps,” Dax said, freezing in place. “The contrast ratio between the stone and the fog is 1:1. It’s invisible.”

“The Echo has lowered the contrast of the world,” Dev realized. “It’s targeting users with low vision.”

Dax, the designer, pulled out his “High Contrast” visor—a pair of augmented reality goggles he used for testing.

“I’m switching to High Contrast Mode,” Dax announced. “I’m inverting the colors.”

Through the goggles, the gray fog turned black, and the stone steps glowed neon yellow.

“Follow me!” Dax shouted. “I’ve got sufficient contrast!”

The Text-Only Fallback

But then the fog thickened, blocking even the AR signal. Dax stopped. “I’ve lost the visual.”

“Don’t rely on sensory characteristics alone,” Liam recited. “Don’t rely on shape, size, or visual location”.

Liam closed his eyes. He reached out and felt the railing. It had Braille markings etched into the steel.

“The railing has a text alternative!” Liam said. “It says: ‘Step 842. Turn Left.'”

They descended the rest of the stairs by touch, guided by the tactile “Alt-Text” of the mountain.

CHAPTER 5: THE PHANTOM’S SERVER

At the bottom of the valley, they found it. Not a cave, but a bunker. The door was marked with the “Echo” symbol—a sound wave eating its own tail.

“This is where the Australian Day broadcast is coming from,” Dev said. “If we don’t fix the accessibility settings, the Prime Minister’s speech will be broadcast without captions, without Audio Description, and in a font size no one can read.”

They burst inside. The server room was unguarded, but the console was protected by the ultimate barrier.

A CAPTCHA.

But not just any CAPTCHA. It was a grid of 16 images of Australian animals.

“Select all the Quokkas,” the computer sneered.

“They all look like Quokkas!” Liam yelled. “That one might be a Wallaby! Or a small Kangaroo!”

“It’s a cognitive barrier,” Dev said. “It relies on cultural knowledge and visual acuity. It’s inaccessible.”

The Biometric Twist

“We need an alternative,” Dax said. “Look for the audio icon.”

There was none.

“Wait,” Liam said. “This system is old. It’s running on Legacy Code. It probably supports ‘Device Authentication’.”

Liam pulled out his USB key—his “Authorized User” token.

“Not requiring CAPTCHAs for authorized users,” Liam grinned, plugging it in.

The screen flashed green. AUTHENTICATED.

CHAPTER 6: THE FINAL REFACTOR

They had access. Now they had to patch the broadcast before it went live in 5 minutes.

Dev worked on the player. “I’m adding a transcript toggle. I’m ensuring the media player keyboard controls are standard.”

Dax worked on the visuals. “I’m fixing the color palette. No more red-on-green text. I’m boosting the luminance.”

Liam worked on the content. The speech was written in dense, academic English.

“I’m simplifying,” Liam muttered. “Short sentences. Plain Language. Expanding acronyms.”

3… 2… 1…

The “On Air” light turned red.

On screens all across Australia—from the pubs in Sydney to the stations in the Outback—the broadcast appeared.

It was perfect.

The captions were synced.

The Audio Description described the flag waving in the wind.

The text was readable, high-contrast, and clear.

“She’ll be right,” the Prime Minister said on screen.

“She certainly will be,” Liam smiled, collapsing into a beanbag chair in the corner of the bunker.

EPILOGUE: THE NULL ISLAND

The sun was setting over the Blue Mountains, painting the Three Sisters in gold and purple. The Three Best Friends sat on the bunker roof, eating the lamingtons that had miraculously survived the trek.

“We did good,” Dax said. “We made Australia Day accessible.”

“But who built the Echo?” Dev asked, holding up a strange, black microchip he had pulled from the server.

Liam took it. Etched into the silicon were coordinates.

0°N 0°E.

“Zero Zero,” Liam whispered. “That’s Null Island. The place where bad data goes to die.”

“There’s no land there,” Dax said. “It’s just ocean off the coast of Africa.”

“That’s what the maps say,” Dev said, his eyes gleaming with a new mystery. “But the code says otherwise. Someone is building a digital fortress at Null Island. And they just pinged us.”

Liam stood up, dusting the crumbs off his shorts.

“Well,” he grinned. “I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise.”

“Pack your togs,” Dax laughed.

“And your keyboards,” Dev added.

The Three Best Friends looked at the horizon. The Blue Mountains were behind them, but the Ocean of Null was waiting.

MYSTERY IN BLUE

A TRAVEL TROUBLES NOTES STORY

THE ECHO OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Book III: An Australia Day Mystery

CHAPTER 1: THE TIMEOUT TRAP

It was Australia Day, and the heat was enough to melt the CSS off a stylesheet. The Three Best Friends—Liam, Dax, and Dev—were driving their trusty 4WD up the winding roads of the Blue Mountains. The esky was chockers with lamingtons and snags, and the mood was “she’ll be right”.

“I reckon we camp near the Three Sisters,” Dax said, adjusting his sunglasses. “Great view, high contrast, easy navigation.”

But as they approached Katoomba, the car’s dashboard display flickered. A countdown timer appeared on the GPS screen:
SESSION EXPIRING IN 10 SECONDS.

“Dev, extend the session!” Liam yelled.

Dev reached for the “Continue” button, but the car hit a pothole. His finger slipped.

3… 2… 1…

The GPS went black. The engine sputtered. The car rolled to a halt on the shoulder of the highway.

“It’s the Timeout Trap,” Dev groaned. “The system didn’t give us enough time to interact. It violated the rule: Provide users enough time to read and use content”.

The Genial Fix

“A standard timeout is fine for security,” Liam said, wiping sweat from his brow. “But for a critical task like driving? We need an option to turn off, adjust, or extend the time limit”.

Liam pried open the dashboard panel. He found the physical timer relay. “I’m bypassing the default setting. I’m hard-coding an exception for ‘Real-time Activity’.”

He twisted two wires together. The screen roared back to life, but the map was different. The roads weren’t marked with names; they were marked with code.

“We aren’t in Katoomba anymore,” Dax whispered. “We’re in the Source Code.”

CHAPTER 2: THE RECURSIVE RAVINE

They hiked into the valley, but the path was behaving strangely. Every time they walked 100 meters, they found themselves passing the same gum tree.

“It’s an infinite loop!” Dax cried. “We’re stuck in a recursive function without an exit condition!”

“It’s worse,” Dev said, pointing to a signpost. It spun wildly, the arrows changing direction every second. “The navigation is inconsistent. One minute the ‘Home’ link is on the left, the next it’s in the footer.”

A voice boomed from the canyon walls—a distorted, echoing laugh.

“Welcome to the Echo. Navigation is fluid here. Try to find the breadcrumb trail.”

“Breadcrumbs!” Liam realized. “The Echo is mocking us. We need to create a Site Map to understand the structure of the valley.”

The Physical Site Map

Dax grabbed a stick and began drawing in the red dirt. “If the visual path is broken, we rely on the DOM order.”

He mapped the landmarks like HTML elements: : The Sky (Always visible) : The Valley Floor (Where the content is) : The River (The end of the page)

“The Loop is in the ,” Dev noticed, looking at Dax’s map. “We’ve been walking in a sidebar! We need to Skip to Main Content.”

“Skip Links!” Liam shouted. “Find the anchor!”

They spotted a hidden trail marker labeled #main-content. They jumped over the barrier, breaking the loop and landing on the true path toward the Three Sisters.

CHAPTER 3: THE VOICE OF THE SISTERS

They reached the famous rock formation, but the viewing platform was deserted. A single, massive microphone stood at the edge of the cliff, pointing at the rocks.

“To pass,” the Echo’s voice thundered, “You must speak the Password. But be warned: The Echo listens to all inputs.”

“It’s a Voice Input Control,” Dev said. “But look at the wind. It’s blowing a gale. The background noise is too high.”

Liam stepped up to the mic. “Open Sesame!”

The wind howled. The system responded: “Did you say ‘Open Salami’?”

“No!” Liam yelled. “Cancel! Undo!”

The system processed the command: “Ordering Salami.”

“It’s an Error Prevention nightmare!” Dax panicked. “For inputs that cause legal commitments or financial transactions, we must be able to reversible, checked, or confirmed”.

The Modal Trap

A holographic receipt appeared in the air, blocking their path.
CONFIRM PURCHASE?

There was no “Cancel” button. Only “Yes.”

“It’s a Focus Trap,” Dev said. “I can’t tab away from the ‘Yes’ button. We need to force a keyboard interrupt.”

“Don’t speak,” Liam whispered. “Switch input modalities. The WCAG guidelines say users should be able to switch between input modes (voice, keyboard, mouse) at any time.”

Liam plugged his portable keyboard into the base of the microphone. He typed: ESCAPE.

The receipt vanished. The “Salami” order was cancelled.

“Fair crack of the whip,” Liam muttered. “That was close.”

CHAPTER 4: THE FOG OF #CCCCCC

They descended the Giant Stairway, but a thick fog rolled in. It wasn’t just white; it was a flat, featureless gray.

“I can’t see the steps,” Dax said, freezing in place. “The contrast ratio between the stone and the fog is 1:1. It’s invisible.”

“The Echo has lowered the contrast of the world,” Dev realized. “It’s targeting users with low vision.”

Dax, the designer, pulled out his “High Contrast” visor—a pair of augmented reality goggles he used for testing.

“I’m switching to High Contrast Mode,” Dax announced. “I’m inverting the colors.”

Through the goggles, the gray fog turned black, and the stone steps glowed neon yellow.

“Follow me!” Dax shouted. “I’ve got sufficient contrast!”

The Text-Only Fallback

But then the fog thickened, blocking even the AR signal. Dax stopped. “I’ve lost the visual.”

“Don’t rely on sensory characteristics alone,” Liam recited. “Don’t rely on shape, size, or visual location”.

Liam closed his eyes. He reached out and felt the railing. It had Braille markings etched into the steel.

“The railing has a text alternative!” Liam said. “It says: ‘Step 842. Turn Left.'”

They descended the rest of the stairs by touch, guided by the tactile “Alt-Text” of the mountain.

CHAPTER 5: THE PHANTOM’S SERVER

At the bottom of the valley, they found it. Not a cave, but a bunker. The door was marked with the “Echo” symbol—a sound wave eating its own tail.

“This is where the Australian Day broadcast is coming from,” Dev said. “If we don’t fix the accessibility settings, the Prime Minister’s speech will be broadcast without captions, without Audio Description, and in a font size no one can read.”

They burst inside. The server room was unguarded, but the console was protected by the ultimate barrier.

A CAPTCHA.

But not just any CAPTCHA. It was a grid of 16 images of Australian animals.

“Select all the Quokkas,” the computer sneered.

“They all look like Quokkas!” Liam yelled. “That one might be a Wallaby! Or a small Kangaroo!”

“It’s a cognitive barrier,” Dev said. “It relies on cultural knowledge and visual acuity. It’s inaccessible.”

The Biometric Twist

“We need an alternative,” Dax said. “Look for the audio icon.”

There was none.

“Wait,” Liam said. “This system is old. It’s running on Legacy Code. It probably supports ‘Device Authentication’.”

Liam pulled out his USB key—his “Authorized User” token.

“Not requiring CAPTCHAs for authorized users,” Liam grinned, plugging it in.

The screen flashed green. AUTHENTICATED.

CHAPTER 6: THE FINAL REFACTOR

They had access. Now they had to patch the broadcast before it went live in 5 minutes.

Dev worked on the player. “I’m adding a transcript toggle. I’m ensuring the media player keyboard controls are standard.”

Dax worked on the visuals. “I’m fixing the color palette. No more red-on-green text. I’m boosting the luminance.”

Liam worked on the content. The speech was written in dense, academic English.

“I’m simplifying,” Liam muttered. “Short sentences. Plain Language. Expanding acronyms.”

3… 2… 1…

The “On Air” light turned red.

On screens all across Australia—from the pubs in Sydney to the stations in the Outback—the broadcast appeared.

It was perfect.

The captions were synced.

The Audio Description described the flag waving in the wind.

The text was readable, high-contrast, and clear.

“She’ll be right,” the Prime Minister said on screen.

“She certainly will be,” Liam smiled, collapsing into a beanbag chair in the corner of the bunker.

EPILOGUE: THE NULL ISLAND

The sun was setting over the Blue Mountains, painting the Three Sisters in gold and purple. The Three Best Friends sat on the bunker roof, eating the lamingtons that had miraculously survived the trek.

“We did good,” Dax said. “We made Australia Day accessible.”

“But who built the Echo?” Dev asked, holding up a strange, black microchip he had pulled from the server.

Liam took it. Etched into the silicon were coordinates.

0°N 0°E.

“Zero Zero,” Liam whispered. “That’s Null Island. The place where bad data goes to die.”

“There’s no land there,” Dax said. “It’s just ocean off the coast of Africa.”

“That’s what the maps say,” Dev said, his eyes gleaming with a new mystery. “But the code says otherwise. Someone is building a digital fortress at Null Island. And they just pinged us.”

Liam stood up, dusting the crumbs off his shorts.

“Well,” he grinned. “I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise.”

“Pack your togs,” Dax laughed.

“And your keyboards,” Dev added.

The Three Best Friends looked at the horizon. The Blue Mountains were behind them, but the Ocean of Null was waiting.

MYSTERY IN BLUE

A TRAVEL TROUBLES NOTES STORY

THE ECHO OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Book III: An Australia Day Mystery

CHAPTER 1: THE TIMEOUT TRAP

It was Australia Day, and the heat was enough to melt the CSS off a stylesheet. The Three Best Friends—Liam, Dax, and Dev—were driving their trusty 4WD up the winding roads of the Blue Mountains. The esky was chockers with lamingtons and snags, and the mood was “she’ll be right”.

“I reckon we camp near the Three Sisters,” Dax said, adjusting his sunglasses. “Great view, high contrast, easy navigation.”

But as they approached Katoomba, the car’s dashboard display flickered. A countdown timer appeared on the GPS screen:
SESSION EXPIRING IN 10 SECONDS.

“Dev, extend the session!” Liam yelled.

Dev reached for the “Continue” button, but the car hit a pothole. His finger slipped.

3… 2… 1…

The GPS went black. The engine sputtered. The car rolled to a halt on the shoulder of the highway.

“It’s the Timeout Trap,” Dev groaned. “The system didn’t give us enough time to interact. It violated the rule: Provide users enough time to read and use content”.

The Genial Fix

“A standard timeout is fine for security,” Liam said, wiping sweat from his brow. “But for a critical task like driving? We need an option to turn off, adjust, or extend the time limit”.

Liam pried open the dashboard panel. He found the physical timer relay. “I’m bypassing the default setting. I’m hard-coding an exception for ‘Real-time Activity’.”

He twisted two wires together. The screen roared back to life, but the map was different. The roads weren’t marked with names; they were marked with code.

“We aren’t in Katoomba anymore,” Dax whispered. “We’re in the Source Code.”

CHAPTER 2: THE RECURSIVE RAVINE

They hiked into the valley, but the path was behaving strangely. Every time they walked 100 meters, they found themselves passing the same gum tree.

“It’s an infinite loop!” Dax cried. “We’re stuck in a recursive function without an exit condition!”

“It’s worse,” Dev said, pointing to a signpost. It spun wildly, the arrows changing direction every second. “The navigation is inconsistent. One minute the ‘Home’ link is on the left, the next it’s in the footer.”

A voice boomed from the canyon walls—a distorted, echoing laugh.

“Welcome to the Echo. Navigation is fluid here. Try to find the breadcrumb trail.”

“Breadcrumbs!” Liam realized. “The Echo is mocking us. We need to create a Site Map to understand the structure of the valley.”

The Physical Site Map

Dax grabbed a stick and began drawing in the red dirt. “If the visual path is broken, we rely on the DOM order.”

He mapped the landmarks like HTML elements: : The Sky (Always visible) : The Valley Floor (Where the content is) : The River (The end of the page)

“The Loop is in the ,” Dev noticed, looking at Dax’s map. “We’ve been walking in a sidebar! We need to Skip to Main Content.”

“Skip Links!” Liam shouted. “Find the anchor!”

They spotted a hidden trail marker labeled #main-content. They jumped over the barrier, breaking the loop and landing on the true path toward the Three Sisters.

CHAPTER 3: THE VOICE OF THE SISTERS

They reached the famous rock formation, but the viewing platform was deserted. A single, massive microphone stood at the edge of the cliff, pointing at the rocks.

“To pass,” the Echo’s voice thundered, “You must speak the Password. But be warned: The Echo listens to all inputs.”

“It’s a Voice Input Control,” Dev said. “But look at the wind. It’s blowing a gale. The background noise is too high.”

Liam stepped up to the mic. “Open Sesame!”

The wind howled. The system responded: “Did you say ‘Open Salami’?”

“No!” Liam yelled. “Cancel! Undo!”

The system processed the command: “Ordering Salami.”

“It’s an Error Prevention nightmare!” Dax panicked. “For inputs that cause legal commitments or financial transactions, we must be able to reversible, checked, or confirmed”.

The Modal Trap

A holographic receipt appeared in the air, blocking their path.
CONFIRM PURCHASE?

There was no “Cancel” button. Only “Yes.”

“It’s a Focus Trap,” Dev said. “I can’t tab away from the ‘Yes’ button. We need to force a keyboard interrupt.”

“Don’t speak,” Liam whispered. “Switch input modalities. The WCAG guidelines say users should be able to switch between input modes (voice, keyboard, mouse) at any time.”

Liam plugged his portable keyboard into the base of the microphone. He typed: ESCAPE.

The receipt vanished. The “Salami” order was cancelled.

“Fair crack of the whip,” Liam muttered. “That was close.”

CHAPTER 4: THE FOG OF #CCCCCC

They descended the Giant Stairway, but a thick fog rolled in. It wasn’t just white; it was a flat, featureless gray.

“I can’t see the steps,” Dax said, freezing in place. “The contrast ratio between the stone and the fog is 1:1. It’s invisible.”

“The Echo has lowered the contrast of the world,” Dev realized. “It’s targeting users with low vision.”

Dax, the designer, pulled out his “High Contrast” visor—a pair of augmented reality goggles he used for testing.

“I’m switching to High Contrast Mode,” Dax announced. “I’m inverting the colors.”

Through the goggles, the gray fog turned black, and the stone steps glowed neon yellow.

“Follow me!” Dax shouted. “I’ve got sufficient contrast!”

The Text-Only Fallback

But then the fog thickened, blocking even the AR signal. Dax stopped. “I’ve lost the visual.”

“Don’t rely on sensory characteristics alone,” Liam recited. “Don’t rely on shape, size, or visual location”.

Liam closed his eyes. He reached out and felt the railing. It had Braille markings etched into the steel.

“The railing has a text alternative!” Liam said. “It says: ‘Step 842. Turn Left.'”

They descended the rest of the stairs by touch, guided by the tactile “Alt-Text” of the mountain.

CHAPTER 5: THE PHANTOM’S SERVER

At the bottom of the valley, they found it. Not a cave, but a bunker. The door was marked with the “Echo” symbol—a sound wave eating its own tail.

“This is where the Australian Day broadcast is coming from,” Dev said. “If we don’t fix the accessibility settings, the Prime Minister’s speech will be broadcast without captions, without Audio Description, and in a font size no one can read.”

They burst inside. The server room was unguarded, but the console was protected by the ultimate barrier.

A CAPTCHA.

But not just any CAPTCHA. It was a grid of 16 images of Australian animals.

“Select all the Quokkas,” the computer sneered.

“They all look like Quokkas!” Liam yelled. “That one might be a Wallaby! Or a small Kangaroo!”

“It’s a cognitive barrier,” Dev said. “It relies on cultural knowledge and visual acuity. It’s inaccessible.”

The Biometric Twist

“We need an alternative,” Dax said. “Look for the audio icon.”

There was none.

“Wait,” Liam said. “This system is old. It’s running on Legacy Code. It probably supports ‘Device Authentication’.”

Liam pulled out his USB key—his “Authorized User” token.

“Not requiring CAPTCHAs for authorized users,” Liam grinned, plugging it in.

The screen flashed green. AUTHENTICATED.

CHAPTER 6: THE FINAL REFACTOR

They had access. Now they had to patch the broadcast before it went live in 5 minutes.

Dev worked on the player. “I’m adding a transcript toggle. I’m ensuring the media player keyboard controls are standard.”

Dax worked on the visuals. “I’m fixing the color palette. No more red-on-green text. I’m boosting the luminance.”

Liam worked on the content. The speech was written in dense, academic English.

“I’m simplifying,” Liam muttered. “Short sentences. Plain Language. Expanding acronyms.”

3… 2… 1…

The “On Air” light turned red.

On screens all across Australia—from the pubs in Sydney to the stations in the Outback—the broadcast appeared.

It was perfect.

The captions were synced.

The Audio Description described the flag waving in the wind.

The text was readable, high-contrast, and clear.

“She’ll be right,” the Prime Minister said on screen.

“She certainly will be,” Liam smiled, collapsing into a beanbag chair in the corner of the bunker.

EPILOGUE: THE NULL ISLAND

The sun was setting over the Blue Mountains, painting the Three Sisters in gold and purple. The Three Best Friends sat on the bunker roof, eating the lamingtons that had miraculously survived the trek.

“We did good,” Dax said. “We made Australia Day accessible.”

“But who built the Echo?” Dev asked, holding up a strange, black microchip he had pulled from the server.

Liam took it. Etched into the silicon were coordinates.

0°N 0°E.

“Zero Zero,” Liam whispered. “That’s Null Island. The place where bad data goes to die.”

“There’s no land there,” Dax said. “It’s just ocean off the coast of Africa.”

“That’s what the maps say,” Dev said, his eyes gleaming with a new mystery. “But the code says otherwise. Someone is building a digital fortress at Null Island. And they just pinged us.”

Liam stood up, dusting the crumbs off his shorts.

“Well,” he grinned. “I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise.”

“Pack your togs,” Dax laughed.

“And your keyboards,” Dev added.

The Three Best Friends looked at the horizon. The Blue Mountains were behind them, but the Ocean of Null was waiting.

MYSTERY IN BLUE

A TRAVEL TROUBLES NOTES STORY

THE ECHO OF THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Book III: An Australia Day Mystery

CHAPTER 1: THE TIMEOUT TRAP

It was Australia Day, and the heat was enough to melt the CSS off a stylesheet. The Three Best Friends—Liam, Dax, and Dev—were driving their trusty 4WD up the winding roads of the Blue Mountains. The esky was chockers with lamingtons and snags, and the mood was “she’ll be right”.

“I reckon we camp near the Three Sisters,” Dax said, adjusting his sunglasses. “Great view, high contrast, easy navigation.”

But as they approached Katoomba, the car’s dashboard display flickered. A countdown timer appeared on the GPS screen:
SESSION EXPIRING IN 10 SECONDS.

“Dev, extend the session!” Liam yelled.

Dev reached for the “Continue” button, but the car hit a pothole. His finger slipped.

3… 2… 1…

The GPS went black. The engine sputtered. The car rolled to a halt on the shoulder of the highway.

“It’s the Timeout Trap,” Dev groaned. “The system didn’t give us enough time to interact. It violated the rule: Provide users enough time to read and use content”.

The Genial Fix

“A standard timeout is fine for security,” Liam said, wiping sweat from his brow. “But for a critical task like driving? We need an option to turn off, adjust, or extend the time limit”.

Liam pried open the dashboard panel. He found the physical timer relay. “I’m bypassing the default setting. I’m hard-coding an exception for ‘Real-time Activity’.”

He twisted two wires together. The screen roared back to life, but the map was different. The roads weren’t marked with names; they were marked with code.

“We aren’t in Katoomba anymore,” Dax whispered. “We’re in the Source Code.”

CHAPTER 2: THE RECURSIVE RAVINE

They hiked into the valley, but the path was behaving strangely. Every time they walked 100 meters, they found themselves passing the same gum tree.

“It’s an infinite loop!” Dax cried. “We’re stuck in a recursive function without an exit condition!”

“It’s worse,” Dev said, pointing to a signpost. It spun wildly, the arrows changing direction every second. “The navigation is inconsistent. One minute the ‘Home’ link is on the left, the next it’s in the footer.”

A voice boomed from the canyon walls—a distorted, echoing laugh.

“Welcome to the Echo. Navigation is fluid here. Try to find the breadcrumb trail.”

“Breadcrumbs!” Liam realized. “The Echo is mocking us. We need to create a Site Map to understand the structure of the valley.”

The Physical Site Map

Dax grabbed a stick and began drawing in the red dirt. “If the visual path is broken, we rely on the DOM order.”

He mapped the landmarks like HTML elements: : The Sky (Always visible) : The Valley Floor (Where the content is) : The River (The end of the page)

“The Loop is in the ,” Dev noticed, looking at Dax’s map. “We’ve been walking in a sidebar! We need to Skip to Main Content.”

“Skip Links!” Liam shouted. “Find the anchor!”

They spotted a hidden trail marker labeled #main-content. They jumped over the barrier, breaking the loop and landing on the true path toward the Three Sisters.

CHAPTER 3: THE VOICE OF THE SISTERS

They reached the famous rock formation, but the viewing platform was deserted. A single, massive microphone stood at the edge of the cliff, pointing at the rocks.

“To pass,” the Echo’s voice thundered, “You must speak the Password. But be warned: The Echo listens to all inputs.”

“It’s a Voice Input Control,” Dev said. “But look at the wind. It’s blowing a gale. The background noise is too high.”

Liam stepped up to the mic. “Open Sesame!”

The wind howled. The system responded: “Did you say ‘Open Salami’?”

“No!” Liam yelled. “Cancel! Undo!”

The system processed the command: “Ordering Salami.”

“It’s an Error Prevention nightmare!” Dax panicked. “For inputs that cause legal commitments or financial transactions, we must be able to reversible, checked, or confirmed”.

The Modal Trap

A holographic receipt appeared in the air, blocking their path.
CONFIRM PURCHASE?

There was no “Cancel” button. Only “Yes.”

“It’s a Focus Trap,” Dev said. “I can’t tab away from the ‘Yes’ button. We need to force a keyboard interrupt.”

“Don’t speak,” Liam whispered. “Switch input modalities. The WCAG guidelines say users should be able to switch between input modes (voice, keyboard, mouse) at any time.”

Liam plugged his portable keyboard into the base of the microphone. He typed: ESCAPE.

The receipt vanished. The “Salami” order was cancelled.

“Fair crack of the whip,” Liam muttered. “That was close.”

CHAPTER 4: THE FOG OF #CCCCCC

They descended the Giant Stairway, but a thick fog rolled in. It wasn’t just white; it was a flat, featureless gray.

“I can’t see the steps,” Dax said, freezing in place. “The contrast ratio between the stone and the fog is 1:1. It’s invisible.”

“The Echo has lowered the contrast of the world,” Dev realized. “It’s targeting users with low vision.”

Dax, the designer, pulled out his “High Contrast” visor—a pair of augmented reality goggles he used for testing.

“I’m switching to High Contrast Mode,” Dax announced. “I’m inverting the colors.”

Through the goggles, the gray fog turned black, and the stone steps glowed neon yellow.

“Follow me!” Dax shouted. “I’ve got sufficient contrast!”

The Text-Only Fallback

But then the fog thickened, blocking even the AR signal. Dax stopped. “I’ve lost the visual.”

“Don’t rely on sensory characteristics alone,” Liam recited. “Don’t rely on shape, size, or visual location”.

Liam closed his eyes. He reached out and felt the railing. It had Braille markings etched into the steel.

“The railing has a text alternative!” Liam said. “It says: ‘Step 842. Turn Left.'”

They descended the rest of the stairs by touch, guided by the tactile “Alt-Text” of the mountain.

CHAPTER 5: THE PHANTOM’S SERVER

At the bottom of the valley, they found it. Not a cave, but a bunker. The door was marked with the “Echo” symbol—a sound wave eating its own tail.

“This is where the Australian Day broadcast is coming from,” Dev said. “If we don’t fix the accessibility settings, the Prime Minister’s speech will be broadcast without captions, without Audio Description, and in a font size no one can read.”

They burst inside. The server room was unguarded, but the console was protected by the ultimate barrier.

A CAPTCHA.

But not just any CAPTCHA. It was a grid of 16 images of Australian animals.

“Select all the Quokkas,” the computer sneered.

“They all look like Quokkas!” Liam yelled. “That one might be a Wallaby! Or a small Kangaroo!”

“It’s a cognitive barrier,” Dev said. “It relies on cultural knowledge and visual acuity. It’s inaccessible.”

The Biometric Twist

“We need an alternative,” Dax said. “Look for the audio icon.”

There was none.

“Wait,” Liam said. “This system is old. It’s running on Legacy Code. It probably supports ‘Device Authentication’.”

Liam pulled out his USB key—his “Authorized User” token.

“Not requiring CAPTCHAs for authorized users,” Liam grinned, plugging it in.

The screen flashed green. AUTHENTICATED.

CHAPTER 6: THE FINAL REFACTOR

They had access. Now they had to patch the broadcast before it went live in 5 minutes.

Dev worked on the player. “I’m adding a transcript toggle. I’m ensuring the media player keyboard controls are standard.”

Dax worked on the visuals. “I’m fixing the color palette. No more red-on-green text. I’m boosting the luminance.”

Liam worked on the content. The speech was written in dense, academic English.

“I’m simplifying,” Liam muttered. “Short sentences. Plain Language. Expanding acronyms.”

3… 2… 1…

The “On Air” light turned red.

On screens all across Australia—from the pubs in Sydney to the stations in the Outback—the broadcast appeared.

It was perfect.

The captions were synced.

The Audio Description described the flag waving in the wind.

The text was readable, high-contrast, and clear.

“She’ll be right,” the Prime Minister said on screen.

“She certainly will be,” Liam smiled, collapsing into a beanbag chair in the corner of the bunker.

EPILOGUE: THE NULL ISLAND

The sun was setting over the Blue Mountains, painting the Three Sisters in gold and purple. The Three Best Friends sat on the bunker roof, eating the lamingtons that had miraculously survived the trek.

“We did good,” Dax said. “We made Australia Day accessible.”

“But who built the Echo?” Dev asked, holding up a strange, black microchip he had pulled from the server.

Liam took it. Etched into the silicon were coordinates.

0°N 0°E.

“Zero Zero,” Liam whispered. “That’s Null Island. The place where bad data goes to die.”

“There’s no land there,” Dax said. “It’s just ocean off the coast of Africa.”

“That’s what the maps say,” Dev said, his eyes gleaming with a new mystery. “But the code says otherwise. Someone is building a digital fortress at Null Island. And they just pinged us.”

Liam stood up, dusting the crumbs off his shorts.

“Well,” he grinned. “I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise.”

“Pack your togs,” Dax laughed.

“And your keyboards,” Dev added.

The Three Best Friends looked at the horizon. The Blue Mountains were behind them, but the Ocean of Null was waiting.

How is everyone doing this evening? I'm sitting in bed drinking my medical food shake, listening to music, with a few #IncrementalGames idling, and maybe doing a bit of #Python practice on #Codecademy.
I'm not 100% yet, but I feel stronger than I've felt in a while. I don't particularly care for the taste of these shakes, but my mom and I are working on ways to improve them. It's also a relief not having to worry about whether food will stay down or whether I'm getting the nutrients I need.
I'm also still using and enjoying #FastSM for #Mastodon on #Windows. It's been working well for me so far.
Accessibility / tech note for fellow screen reader users:
If you use #NVDA with #MicrosoftEdge (and possibly #GoogleChrome) and have been dealing with freezes or heavy lag, especially when you have multiple tabs or web apps open, check whether you have the BrowserNav add-on installed. I was experiencing some pretty severe freezes, sometimes to the point where NVDA would become unresponsive for minutes. Disabling BrowserNav made a noticeable difference for me right away, including being able to keep more tabs open without issues.
#Accessibility #ScreenReaders #BlindTech #Disability #ChronicIllness #AssistiveTechnology #WebAccessibility
@main @mastoblind

5 Accessibility Checks to Run on Every Component, by @hdv (@zeroheight):

https://zeroheight.com/blog/5-accessibility-checks-to-run-on-every-component/

#accessibility #components #testing #keyboardnavigation #designtokens #microcontent #zooming #screenreaders

A11y Considerations in Math on the Web, by @manuelsanchezdev.com (@matuzo):

https://www.htmhell.dev/adventcalendar/2025/12/

#accessibility #mathml #screenreaders #nvda #voiceover #support

i #love #hashtags. it #absolutely #helps my #post's #visibility to be using #random #hashtags all around which will #never get #checked by anybody with a #soul. it #also makes it so much #easier to #read, and #helps #screenreaders. if #you are #not using a #single #hashtag per #post on the #fediverse, the best #social #media #platform without a built-in #algorithm, you are #missing #out.

#truefactsonly #socialmedia101

#Development #Reminders
The role of the HTML ‘lang’ attribute · A tiny detail can make it or break it for millions https://ilo.im/168yc1

_____
#Language #Content #Accessibility #WCAG #ScreenReaders #Browser #Frameworks #WebDev #Frontend #HTML

#Development #Techniques
Trimming lines of text · Benefits and drawbacks of using CSS ‘line-clamp’ https://ilo.im/1681qc

_____
#Trimming #Ellipsis #Text #Content #Accessibility #ScreenReaders #Browser #WebDev #Frontend #CSS

“aria-label” or “title”? Screen Reader Behaviour Explained, by @a11ycollective:

https://www.a11y-collective.com/blog/aria-label-vs-title/

#html #attributes #accessibility #screenreaders

I know there are many #DOS gamers here and those who simply love #retroComputing and #technology . But are there any serious DOS #programmers here as well? If so, in which language/s do you write? (I want to learn #QuickBasic , but I am at the very beginning, and it's not advanced enough for what I need.) Does anyone here work on the development of #FreeDOS ? Assuming any of the above is true, do any of you know about #accessibility and #ScreenReaders ? I am totally #blind and have loved DOS since I was a teenager. I am now forty-one. I am aware of the many updates to the system over the years, but have been unable to take advantage of them due to the fact that no new or updated #AdaptiveTechnology is being developed for it. Everyone seems to love Linux. I don't. Neither do I like Mac OS. I love Windows XP and 7, but 11 drives me mad. I think we deserve another alternative to all of these, and I also think that DOS can be it if a few things are added to it, including a talking installer, an updated screen reader and good software speech synthesis. For those of you who think DOS only equals dialup modems and floppies, you may wish to read this, or at least skim through it.

http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ak621/DOS/DOS-Fal.html

I cannot figure out how to get real DOS (of any kind) working in VMWare with Com0com and NVDA (my hardware synthesizers are packed away at the moment), so right now, I have Talking DOSBox. Since it already speaks and has various synthesizers available, I would like to know if it would be possible to substitute MS-DOS with FreeDOS 1.4, since I want to try the advanced features, modern programs, etc.

https://freedos.org/download/

The main problem I see is installing it with speech. Perplexity gave me instructions that seemed viable, but upon actually looking in the various directories, I discovered that the reason Talking DOSBox works with the SoundBlaster synthesizer is that it's not pure MS-DOS but the version that comes with Windows for Work Groups. There is another way to access speech, so that NVDA acts as a bns driver, but I'm not sure if this would work, either with MS-DOS or FreeDOS. Can anyone assist me?

#accessibility #blind #computing #DOS #DOSBox #FreeDOS #NVDA #OperatingSystems #ScreenReaders #SpeechSynthesis #technology #VirtualMachines #VMWare #Windows

Foundations: Types of Assistive Technology and Adaptive Strategies, by @TetraLogical:

https://tetralogical.com/blog/2025/07/28/foundations-types-of-assistive-technology-and-adaptive-strategies/

#fundamentals #assistivetech #screenreaders #screenmagnification #keyboardnavigation #tooling #accessibility

Hey #Blind friends using #ScreenReaders like #JFW how on the earth do you now edit your #Amazon.com shopping cart I.E. if you wish to remove an item? I'm in Chrome today and can't figure out how to do it.

Attention, blind Akkoma users! I will be writing to the developer with my concerns about a few problems with accessibility on this platform. Most should be easy to resolve. Please let me know if you find any more, and also state what browser and screen reader you are using. Note: This is in reference to the site itself, not to your client of choice. I will post about that separately. For the record, I use NVDA with Firefox.

1. Many buttons are unlabelled and simply say "button". This is true on the main page as well as when viewing posts and tabs in profiles. Most work once pressed. They just need to be labelled.
2. Searching for people, tags, groups, and posts is inaccessible. I can enter the edit field and write my text, but then, there are two unlabelled buttons next to that. The first simply takes me back to the edit field. The second does nothing. I am assuming this is a submit button that doesn't work via the keyboard.
3. It is impossible to view followers, as well as those whom I follow. I can see the numbers of each but not the people and groups themselves.
4. I cannot read my own profile without editing it. There appears to be no link where I can simply view it, either as myself or anonymously. If I go to my page and am not logged in, however, I can view it. I can also easily edit it when logged in.
5. The page renders very differently in Chrome than in Firefox. In Chrome, I can't see anything but my notifications, so I can't get to my page or the other timelines.

#accessibility #Akkoma #blind #Blob.cat #Chrome #Fediverse #fediverse #Firefox #JAWS #NVDA #html #ScreenReaders #SemanticHtml #Supermium #Windows

I am unable to view or even edit my sent posts in TweeseCake with Blob.cat! I have no idea why. Maybe, it's different enough from Mastodon (the actual network that TweeseCake is meant to work with) that it won't allow me to do it. Sometimes, I honestly have half a mind to just give up all social networking accept Dreamwidth, because it's the only place that is completely accessible. I don't have to beg developers to make things screenreader-friendly, or hope it will work with this client or that website because I can't do x on the main one, or that y feature that worked on one site will be accessible on the next one. It just works. Say what you like about Facebook, but the Basic Mobile site (not app) worked. I hardly had any problem with it. Then, they closed it, and I left because their main site is a nightmare to work with. Now, I'm in the Fediverse, feeling as if I'm using the main Facebook site all over again!

I don't blame the administrators of friendica.world or blob.cat. It's not their fault. They're just working with what they have. Both are wonderful human beings who have been very kind to me. It's not even the fault of the developers of both sites. It makes sense, when you're a small business or a single developer, not to know about things such as accessibility. I just wish more people would learn and/or write things in semantic html or offer some kind of text-only or basic version of their site. I know that Deque University and Geeks4Geeks teach accessibility and teach html with accessibility included, respectively, but I guess other sites and books don't. As for TweeseCake, this is an excellent client for the blind that works well with Friendica and probably even better with Mastodon. But again, it's by a single developer. While changes are coming, people do have lives and other committments, and one person can't be expected to work as quickly as a huge company.

By the way, my Dreamwidth account is here. I must update it slightly, as I have some new entries to post for the month.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org

#accessibility #Akkoma #blind #Facebook #Fediverse #fediverse #Friendica #html #Mastodon #NVDA #ScreenReaders #SemanticHTML #TweeseCake #WCAG #Windows

Yay! I'm on Blob.cat! I am happy to note that almost all of it is accessible, minus one or two minor issues. I have a feeling this is not an instance problem, but an Akkoma problem. Even as a non-programmer, I am also fairly certain that this can be fixed easily. No one needs to rewrite the entire front end, as with Friendica. Basically, in the Profile and Settings, and on the main page, there are some buttons and check boxes that are not labelled properly. The check boxes under Settings, for example, just say "check", without stating if they are checked or unchecked. However, when they are unchecked, there is something labelled simply "button" that appears. There are other buttons for things such as post visibility default, but while they are labelled i.e. "Unlisted", "Public", etc. there is no way to tell which button is checked. In the profile, the Bio section appears blank, even though I filled it out during registration and can read it when I go to my profile without trying to edit it. Finally, on the main page, there are two things labelled simply "button". I think they have something to do with emojis. But that's really it! Everything else is accessible with NVDA, and I love the feature set! I really hope these tiny things can be worked on, because it would make everything truly perfect!

By the way, here is my profile page. I haven't written anything yet, as I was only approved recently.

blob.cat/dandylover1

#accessibility #Akkoma #blind #Blob.Cat #Fediverse #fediverse #Friendica #html #NVDA #ScreenReaders #SemanticHtml #WCAG