Skip to main content


Have I mentioned how much I truly love Akkoma? I heard back from the developer, and she is going to try to do something about the accessibility issues! She's even putting them officially in the list of things to be worked on! Would I recommend this platform to the blind? Absolutely! We are finally getting a place where we belong and where we're respected! For the record, I am dandylover1@blob.cat, but as with other Fediverse platforms, there are many instances. The actual discussion can be found below, if anyone else wants to contribute either experiences or coding knowledge.

meta.akkoma.dev/t/minor-featur…

#Accessibility #Akkoma #Android #blind #Blob.cat #coding #IOS #JAWS #NVDA #Mac #Talkback #Voiceover #WCAG #WebsiteDevelopment #Windows



First, they shut down the Basic HTML site, forcing many of us to switch to clients such as Thunderbird. Now, they're using qr codes which are not only inaccessible to the blind but also to those who don't use smartphones! This is ridiculous! Yes, they do still have the option to click whether it's you trying to sign in or not (which still requires a smartphone and a carrier, which they claim to be concerned about), but how long before they remove that, too?

pcmag.com/news/google-is-repla…

#accessibility #Android #authentication #blind #Google #GMail #IOS #Narrator #NVDA #sms #Talkback #technology #Voiceover #Windows

in reply to Georgiana Brummell

er...
didn't an SMS require a phone, too?
QR codes are perfectly usable by the blind.
I agree that a text message works on a dumb phone, but if you're blind the accessibility of those is generally poorer anyway.
As a balance of security, SMS spooffing and whatnot is a real risk.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

@quanin That link is heavily truncated on my end. However, if all else fails with the authentication system, they will likely still support the Google Authenticator app, which is using an open standard that other authentication apps and password managers also support. I'd say we have a lot of restructuring to go until we're completely locked out. I can see the QR codes being convenient for some people, even blind people who are comfortable aiming a camera and are using a computer with a screen. The only thing I'll say is that we definitely need the option of specifying whether we want to use that method or not.




To my blind friends. I own a Samsung Galaxy A15, and I use it almost exclusively with an iClever BK03 keyboard. Will these issues affect me when the phone is updated? If so, can I prevent the update until they are resolved?

accessibleandroid.com/samsung-…

#accessibility #Android #blind #Samsung #Talkback #technology

reshared this



in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Ironically, you've connected to me first. My channel has only got two topics. The primary topic is a certain kind of 3-D virtual worlds, the secondary topic is the Fediverse beyond Mastodon, although this may include accessibility topics. Since this is not my personal, all-round channel, I don't post about anything else.

I'm working on a series of posts that will touch male fashion. But they'll touch male fashion in the above-mentioned virtual worlds, I'll post them on a dedicated (streams) channel, and this Hubzilla channel will only forward them. Also, expect each one to have both a summary and a spoiler tag for those who are easily triggered by even the slightest eye contact.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta

in reply to Jupiter Rowland

@Jupiter Rowland I'm actually interested in the Fediverse beyond Mastodon. That's not what I meant by constantly posting about technology. I would also love to experience a virtual world, but I don't know of any that are accessible. That said, many other games are, both text-based and audio, and now, some mainstream ones as well.




While I do 99% of everything using Windows, I decided to try Raccoon for Friendica for Android, since I was curious about it. I was able to go through the settings, though a few things just said "unlabelled". However, this is one of those apps that won't accept input from a real keyboard. So I couldn't even sign in! It had an instance as an example, but Talkback read it as actual text in the edit field, and when I tried to write my own instance, nothing happened. I also couldn't delete their example. So right now, Raccoon fails in accessibility. However, it is relatively new, so perhaps, this will change in the near future.

#accessibility #blind #Android #clients #Friendica #Raccoon #RaccoonForFriendica #Talkback





Linda Duval doesn't like this.

in reply to Linda Duval

@lindaduval @lindaduval My sincere apologies. I always try to be gentle with non-native speakers. I must say, other than that tiny mistake, you write so well that I would never have guessed that English wasn't your first language! I am equal whether I subscribe to all of that or not. I don't need to be radical or to change the language in order to love myself, or to strive for the best, or to demand to be treated equally. I simply need to be, and I am.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Your preferences are yours and you choose what you prefer. However, we live in a society where it is important to be aware where language can be detrimental to women.

The difference can be simply felt in how much you get paid compared to a man in the same role. Please search "gender pay gap" and you will find that in the legal industry, for example, men can earn as much as 59% more than a woman in the same role.



This is ridiculous. I can't even find where I am with a phone using Pachli. It's absolutely nothing like TweeseCake. I can read posts and respond to them, but I have to keep scrolling and can't immediately go to the top or bottom of a list. So if I haven't used this since October 2024, I have to arrow to the posts from the present, which means literally thousands upon thousands of keystrokes. Even when I go to notifications, I'm not sure if I'm reading current things or older ones. I'm sure Tusky is the same, since Pachli is based on it. I can try racoon, but I'm guessing it won't have great keyboard support either. Not everyone wants to use a touchscreen! Fortunately, from what I know, the makers of Pachli really do care about accessibility, so perhaps, something can be done to increas the number of keyboard shortcuts.

#accessibility #Android #blind #Pachli #Talkback #TweeseCake #Windows

in reply to Pachli

@Pachli I sincerely thank you for such a prompt response! But can this be done from the keyboard? If so, how?
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

I haven't tried it, but if your device supports Talkback then support.google.com/accessibili… lists the keyboard shortcuts for navigating around the screen.

I have just tried with Talkback gesture navigation and that lets me navigate to the menu, open it, and choose "Load newest posts", so I expect the keyboard shortcuts to do the same thing should work.



TechnologyAdm reshared this.



TechnologyAdm reshared this.



As someone who is totally blind, the Fediverse is the only place where I have ever been able to follow people such as photographers, artists, or even those who post pictures of their cats or the food they ate. The reason is that most of them use alt text. They take the time to describe the images that my screen reader can't recognise. Some write the descriptions themselves, and others use tools such as altbot. Some worry that their descriptions aren't good enough, especially when they are new at this. Let me assure you, not only are they good enough, they are extremely appreciated! If the rest of the world thought as you did, it would be a much better place. Don't hesitate to ask if you're unsure of something, but never think that we don't notice your effort.

#appreciation #accessibility #altbot #alttext #blind #blindness #fediverse #gratitude #images #inclusivity #peoplewhocare #pictures #technology



Unknown parent

@Meg I would absolutely love to know how to block specific words and phrases! I have looked all over the Friendica.world site and I couldn't find any way to do this. I also couldn't find anything in TweeseCake itself. @Fedi.Tips Can you please help? Is this possible? I had to unfollow several otherwise wonderful people over this.

#blind #blocking #Friendica #moderation #Tweesecake #TweeseCake





in reply to Georgiana Brummell

this may not be totally useful, but since you posted here you are obviously adept at novel internet things 😊 so I just thought I'd add that I have always found excellent music tutorials of all sorts on #SoulSeek
in reply to Avalon Jazz

@Avalon Jazz Thank you. I sincerely appreciate it. But these are most likely quite modern, so aren't what I am seeking. But they can probably be of great use to others.
Unknown parent

friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Georgiana Brummell
You're very welcome! I'm glad you're enjoying it!


It has just come to my attention that there is only one developer of Friendica. It's a truly wonderful site, with a lot of potential, particularly for those of us coming from Facebook. It allows for extremely long posts, local posting, and you can follow and interact with people from various sites in the Fediverse. But there are a few issues regarding screen reader accessibility, and perhaps some things that I'm not aware of. I have therefore decided to create a Friendica development tag, in order to find people who are willing and able to help resolve these issues.

#accessibility #accessibilitytesting #Android #blind #blindness #Facebook #Fediverse #Friendica #FriendicaDevelopment #html #NVDA #screenreaders #Talkback #websites #Windows

in reply to Nick's world 🌎 👨‍🦯

@Nick's world I use TweeseCake with it and it works very well. The main problems are on the site itself. Even then, it's not truly inaccessible. It's just that it could be better, with normal links instead of menus, and a way to edit posts without resorting to a client. But things do read, and it is possible to make and edit a profile, read and respond to posts, etc. TweeseCake just makes it easier. Pachli for Android also works well, but I prepfer Windows.
in reply to Nick's world 🌎 👨‍🦯

@Nick's world Oh, yes. It works very well! And unlike TWBlue, you can edit posts with it. I'm still not sure why they don't have that feature. They also don't allow long posts, as TweeseCake does, but if they're primarily built for Mastodon, that, at least, makes sense. They do allow you to see favourites, though, which TweeseCake seems to have a problem doing. They'll be displayed and then turn to numbers (1 of 250, for instance), and then disappear.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

I am not sure how much Friendica has diverged from Hubzilla, Streams, or Forte, but they are all from the same family tree. They all come from Mist Park and Friendika (the MIT licensed version of Friendika before it was renamed Friendica and switched to AGPL).

There are some opportunities for collaboration, but the biggest obstacle is incompatible licenses. Hubzilla is MIT licensed and Friendica is AGPL. That means that Friendica can use code from Hubzilla, but Hubzilla can never use any code from Friendica. The exception being addons, themes, and widgets, that can be any license.



reshared this



If I truly need to research something and ensure that the answers are accurate, I do so on my own. But for many things, I use Perplexity. It has helped me in numerous situations, from simple things to writing code to help me use Supermium more efficiently. But I do have a few questions.

  1. Why isn't it possible to delete conversations from the website? It forces me to use my phone.
  2. Why, when I try to search my threads for keywords that I know were used, it never finds them? I do this on the site.
  3. Finally, why is their Android app so inaccessible? I can do basic things, such as delete threads, with it, but I certainly couldn't replace the website with it.

#accessibility #Android #ai #artificialintelligence #NVDA #Perplexity #searching #Talkback #Windows



I can't believe I didn't post this earlier! Anyway, here is a Dreamwidth entry of mine containing all sorts of links related to dandyism, including an entire section on Beau Brummell. As you can tell, this is another one of my great passions.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/181…

In case you missed it, this one is devoted to fashion itself.

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…

#antiquemensware #BeauBrummell #books #British #clothing #dandies #dandyism #dandyism.net #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #fashion #history #mensware #Regency #suits #Victorian







in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Update. I can read my posts (and some others) on the Local page and option of both Semaphore and TWBlue. However, I cannot reply on Semaphore. It shows a reply button, but when I press it, there is no edit box for me to type into. I also can't edit my posts there, but I already knew that. It's one of the things that Enafore was supposed to have fixed.
Unknown parent

@Robert Kingett I'm a very happy Friendica user and I use Tweesecake which works well with it. Do you mean that a client should be on a Friendica instance? If so, I agree.


It seems that I am unable to edit posts on the main Friendica page. No matter what I do, the edit link, or whatever it is, does nothing. Fortunately, I am able to do so on Pachli. However, there is no keyboard shortcut available for this, which forces me to use the touchscreen. Likewise, there are no hotkeys to easily navigate posts etc. I wouldn't mind it if I could easily navigate my timeline, etc, as I can on the website, by using headings and so on. But at least, I can now edit my posts with something other than Tweesecake..

#Accesssibility, #Android, #blind #Friendica, #keyboard #keyboardaccessibility #navigation #NVDA #Pachli #posting, #Talkback #Tweesecake



Does anyone know what is going on with Tweesecake? It worked well until today. Now, when I start it, it shows the welcome screen and says "config", but when I try to use the arrows to select my Friendica profile, the whole program disappears. Then, when I try to restart it, I have to go to the Task Manager and end the task tree, or it will tell me that it's still running, even though I don't see it when I alt+tab through my open programs. For the first time in my life, I have to say that a phone application is better than a Windows client or even website, as I have full access to everything on Friendica with Pachli and not on Tweesecake, Semafore, or Phanpy. Obviously, I can edit things, from posts to my profile on the Friendica site, but it's not as intuitive as it could be and has strange menus and such, instead of normal links.
That is why I was seeking a simpler alternative.
#accessibility #Android #blind #Friendica #Mastodon ##Pachli Tweesecake #Windows
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Yay! This is much better!

"I'd use blue but right now it doesn't support edits to my knowledge, which is a dealbreaker. Cake and Enafore are the only accessible Windows clients I know of that do. Enafore is pinafore which merged in all the accessibility fixes of Semaphore and is more compatible with Glitch, which is what places like the cave have switched to anyway. So unless Semaphore starts to have a major uptick in development it should be regarded as superseded by Enafore."

Taken from

fosstodon.org/@NVAccess/112002…

in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Okay. So how am I supposed to edit thing? I thought it would be decent, with a normal edit link or button. But of course, no one thinks with common sense these days! I tried the menu and selected "more" and "edit" but it did nothing! I tried looking for an edit box and found nothing. Then, I selected the checkbox and still nothing. But of course, it had a delete button. I guess it was too difficult to make an edit one, too.


Those who love antique fashions will enjoy this. It is a compilation of links related to Regency and Edwardian mensware. If you have any to add or wish to make any suggestions, please do so.

How Fashionable!

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…

dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…

#antiquemensware #clothing #dapper #Edwardian #fashion #history #Regency #suits