Quick tip regarding alt text: You don't have to start it off with "An image of...", "The image depicts..." or things like that. You can just say "A person on a diving board", "A bowl of fruit", or whatever the image does, in fact, depict.
(Note that specifying photo, cartoon, painting, etc., is different. That gives useful information! "A photo of a cat" is different from "a painting of a cat".)
It's nearly impossible to meet #WCAG #accessibility requirements for hyperlink text contrast when using a white background and nearly black text. If the contrast is good for the background, it is bad for the text and vice versa. If you want to spend some time pulling out your hair:
https://contrast-triangle.com/
I have found a few combos that work, but they (mostly) don't go with our other colors. 
I debated whether to post this because there's a little gun and hunting talk that might be problematic for some.
However, I think the information on the different accessories, like crutch holders, that they're using is worth posting. This is definitely not for every disabled person - I estimate this quad probably ran $17K.
This model comes standard without pedals, but can be pedaled as an option.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw_il0aihes #Recumbent #Quadricycle #Accessibility
So I'm pretty embarrassed not to have realised until now that my latest slides, despite being based on the web, were still inaccessible. And what am I bloody giving talks about? ACCESSIBILITY 
ANYWAY. Please find my latest Whimsica11y slides here, two very similar-but-different versions from State of the Browser and WeAreDevelopers Accessibility & AI Day - along with links to accessible versions:
...it's never too late to fix mistakes.
Thank you!
Or just use you AI locally 
I completely understand the concerns about relying too heavily on AI, especially cloud-based, centralized models like ChatGPT. The issues of privacy, energy consumption, and the potential for misuse are very real and valid. However, I believe there's a middle ground that allows us to benefit from the advantages of AI without compromising our values or autonomy.
Instead of rejecting AI outright, we can opt for open-source models that run on local hardware. I've been using local language models (LLMs) on my own hardware. This approach offers several benefits:
- Privacy - By running models locally, we can ensure that our data stays within our control and isn't sent to third-party servers.
- Transparency - Open-source models allow us to understand how the AI works, making it easier to identify and correct biases or errors.
- Customization - Local models can be tailored to our specific needs, whether it's for accessibility, learning, or creative projects.
- Energy Efficiency - Local processing can be more energy-efficient than relying on large, centralized data centers.
- Empowerment - Using AI as a tool to augment our own abilities, rather than replacing them, can help us learn and grow. It's about leveraging technology to enhance our human potential, not diminish it.
For example, I use local LLMs for tasks like proofreading, transcribing audio, and even generating image descriptions. Instead of ChatGPT and Grok, I utilize Jan.ai with Mistral, Llama, OpenCoder, Qwen3, R1, WhisperAI, and Piper. These tools help me be more productive and creative, but they don't replace my own thinking or decision-making.
It's also crucial to advocate for policies and practices that ensure AI is used ethically and responsibly. This includes pushing back against government overreach and corporate misuse, as well as supporting initiatives that promote open-source and accessible technologies.
In conclusion, while it's important to be critical of AI and its potential downsides, I believe that a balanced, thoughtful approach can allow us to harness its benefits without sacrificing our values. Let's choose to be informed, engaged, and proactive in shaping the future of AI.
CC: @Catvalente @audubonballroon
@calsnoboarder @craigduncan
The #Zed text editor (https://zed.dev) finally opened early access program for their #Windows builds. I suggest everyone from the #Accessibility dev community to sign up for it, hopefully (maybe!) we will be able to shape its accessibility. Many sighted people from the Apple land praise it for speed and amount of useful functions. I won't quit using #VSCode of course, but why not to have another tool in the box?
While everyone is gleefully grabbing their popcorn buckets to watch toddlers squabble, the Department of Energy is attempting to remove the regulations that require buildings be made accessible to disabled people.
There are only ten days left to submit comments opposing this latest attack on the disabled community.
If you, your family, friends, acquaintances, or hell, even enemies, have any sort of physical disability or may in the future (which means, yes, _everyone_), please take a few minutes to submit comments against this. Templates and instructions are at the bottom of the linked page.
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/06/energy-department-rollback/
(For the record, I don't entirely subscribe to the "planned distractions" conspiracy theories; I tend to lean more towards believing that they're simply burning everything down so fast that there are always horrible things going on _and_ distractions grabbing our attention.)
#alternativeText #imageDescription #blind #accessibility #inclusion
Currently I can't see any alt text on this image.
There are people here who participate in Mastodon with a screen reader. In order to be able to imagine what has been posted, they need an image description as detailed as possible. You enter that when you upload the image. #AltTextMovement
https://supercooldesign.co.uk/blog/how-to-write-good-alt-text
@deborahh @bookstodon Thanks for the great post! I'm loving the excerpt from 'Shroud' by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and I also appreciate the accessibility features you included, such as the ALT text and the dyslexia-friendly font (which I think might be OpenDyslexic). It's really important to make sure that all readers can enjoy your content, and you're doing a great job of that. Keep up the good work! #scifi #aliens #whatToRead #bookstodon #accessibility #accessibilitymatters
In unserem ambitionierten Projekt InclusiveGameLab entwickeln wir weiterhin mit viel Sorgfalt Materialien, die Anfang nächsten Jahres kostenfrei mit der Öffentlichkeit geteilt werden und dazu beitragen sollen, das Thema Barrierefreiheit im Gaming weiter zu stärken – vor allem durch die Weiterbildung von Fachkräften.
Wir würden uns weiterhin sehr über Berichterstattung freuen, damit das Projekt bekannter wird und mit seinem Aufklärungsziel möglichst viele Menschen erreicht. Ob Zeitungs- oder Magazinbeitrag, Radiofeature oder Podcast: Unser Team steht jederzeit gerne für Interviews bereit!
Anbei der Link zur Pressemitteilung der TH Köln, der detaillierte Informationen entnommen werden können: https://www.th-koeln.de/hochschule/mehr-inklusion-durch-gaming_121378.php
Boosts sind sehr willkommen!
This question caught me off guard: “Over the past 5 years, which feature has had the biggest impact on how you write CSS?”
Fucking `display: contents`. Holy shit has that cost me so much time.
Which, for reasons unclear to me, the survey listed as a 2025 feature?
About a month ago, I had the privilege of presenting #FreeBSD at the Institute for the Blind in Milan, during an event held in connection with #GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day). It was a profoundly meaningful experience that deepened my commitment to digital accessibility and the development of assistive technologies.
I'm excited to share that the #Accessibility Handbook, focused on vision-related assistive technologies in FreeBSD, is nearly complete. This task has been made possible thanks to the tireless dedication of FreeBSD community volunteers and the support of the @FreeBSDFoundation for new projects and documentation centered on visual accessibility.
During the April 2025 W3C meeting, Jeroen Hulscher reported that the Dutch Ministry of Interior developed NLdoc to address the widespread issue of inaccessible PDFs across government bodies. It is open source, free to use, integrates with systems like #WordPress, and aims to simplify #accessibility compliance in the public sector. Now available in beta. cc @hdv
Watch ''Dutch government: Applying #WCAG to make millions of documents accessible": https://youtu.be/vDS8L2Es-jw
When you're on the #fediverse, please avoid censoring specific words in your toots/posts (i.e. with numbers or asterisks instead of letters).
Why? Because many of us around here have set up #filters against specific words. We do not want to read posts talking about these words, because these topics trigger us and causes us great discomfort or distress.
If you're censoring words, what you're actually doing is circumvent our filters, and the result will be that we'll be able to see posts that triggers us.
Same goes for pictures. If you're posting screenshots of other people's posts, please ensure you have a short description of what the picture is about (and a content warning when needed). Otherwise, not only is your post not accessible for people with screen readers (or people who chose to hide all media by default), it will also escape our filters.
#accessibility #anxiety
Field notes from the sidelines:
1) Disabled person with technical expert skills opens merge request with #accessibility fixes for #openSource project.
2) Nobody has the skills to review and approve.
3) Yada yada yada feature branch has conflicts with main branch.
4a) Rinse, repeat
4b) The end.
Don’t @ me.
I'm RealZero or "Bryan Greyson".
I'm a self-declared-nerd, #Furry, kinda-Brony, antifascist, socialist(?), leftist vegan working in IT. (are those all checkmarks I need for here?^^)
I'm a big fan of cartoons, animated movies, #videogames and also some #boardgames.
I highly value all my cartoon crushes. 
I'm relationship-anarchist and atheist. (or better: ignostic)
I mostly listen to metal, rock and punk stuff, and in general everything socio-critical and anti-capitalistic.
Supporter of body-positivity, #environmentalism, #sustainability, #accessibility, #OpenSource / #FOSS.
Bite greedy corporations, bite fascists, bite everyone that abuses human and non-human animals.
Warning: talks about nudity, kink and (cartoon) porn (behind warnings)
Profiles, etc.: https://realzero.carrd.co/
#Accessibility challenges include a lack of awareness among content creators and the exclusion of people with disabilities. #AI could either worsen these issues or help solve them, and Matthew Atkinson emphasizes the need for human involvement in verification, the value of transparency, and the importance of recognizing uncertainty.
Watch "AI and Accessibility": https://youtu.be/9ymxRviqaSk
HellCaptcha: Accessibility Theater at Its Worst — fireborn https://fireborn.mataroa.blog/blog/hellcaptcha-accessibility-theater-at-its-worst/ #Accessibility ##Tech #Web #A11y
It has been an incredible two years since NV Access founders Mick Curran & Jamie Teh featured on Australian Story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-05/mick-curran-jamie-teh-changing-lives-of-the-blind-with-nvda/101768788
The impact NVDA has for blind people around the world has only grown & the need is as great now as ever!
You can watch the Audio Description enabled version of Australian Story: https://youtu.be/3i7gkN-1sAI
Regular version: https://youtu.be/jwHbXh3WzSw
