Post #442174

2026-02-27 15:18 UTC

I believe that the #accessibility of everyday tech for #screenReader users is on a slow but consistent decline. Operating systems, browsers, messaging apps, email clients, even command line tools. These things are not being replaced with more #accessible alternatives, but nor does the investment exist to stop the rot within the current options. This in itself is concerning, particularly as it mirrors tech trends more broadly. But what I worry about quite a bit is what it does for user expectations. What happens when generations of people grow up with inefficient keyboard access models, faux desktop apps, and a thousand tiny papercuts here and there? When the new baseline is worse than it was before, it takes that bit more effort to imagine and advocate for best rather than just better.

Replies (11)

@jscholes@dragonscave.space 2026-02-27 19:25

If you're wondering what sort of #accessibility issues I mean when I say "papercuts," here are some examples: First-letter navigation not working in commonly used parts of the Windows 11 UI, like "open with" dialogs and the system tray. NVDA's browse mode suddenly becoming inactive and inoperable when transitioning between webpages. Multi-line textareas being reported as "blank" in Chrome and Chromium-based apps. Focus moving to the message list instead of the next or previous email when deleting content in Thunderbird. These are things that can and should be fixed. But if or when they are, it'll be easy to write up another list of small, non-blocking issues that but nevertheless contribute to a frustrating, unproductive experience.

Open ##3240359
@cub80_appleby@mastodon.stickbear.me 2026-02-27 15:24

@jscholes@dragonscave.space It's obvious that things are going backwards instead of forwards!

Open ##3240360
@Aryan@dragonscave.space 2026-02-27 15:28

@jscholes@dragonscave.space Its only going to go downhil, Because their is no one to speek up. Most of the people just live with this shit. And even if people do speek, who the fuck cares? sea what'sapp for example.

Open ##3240361
@KaraLG84@dragonscave.space 2026-02-27 16:07

@jscholes@dragonscave.space Well said.

Open ##3240362
@menelion@dragonscave.space 2026-02-27 16:11

@jscholes@dragonscave.space Exactly, and the "go linux now!!" and "ditch GAFAM!!" hysteria contributes to it wildly, as most open-source solutions are a huge #Accessibility disaster.

Open ##3240363
@pixelate@tweesecake.social 2026-02-27 16:47

@jscholes@dragonscave.space @menelion@dragonscave.space This is probably one of the reasons I've seen many young blind adults not even want to touch a computer, and do everything from their phones. Because if worst comes to worst, they can use VO screen recognition, or tap around, or sighted help, and sighted people *know* phones. It's really sad, because now they are locked in. They don't *want* to make new or different tech because their phones, iPhones, obviously don't allow app creation on the phone, and then running that app and such. It could be better on Android with Termux, but blind people are comfortably numb to Android, because it's different and open, and what if they break something or what if it's not accessible enough for them, all that. So Apple it is. I hope they know just how much blind society relies on them.

Open ##3240364
@Tamasg@mindly.social 2026-02-27 18:30

@ZBennoui@dragonscave.space @jscholes@dragonscave.space I'm with you on this 100%. Problem is that combined with the false sense of software scarcity (as I boosted a post on this yesterday) and AI coding means the quality will not go up, but go down. Sure, coders can imagine and build out a million things, but attention to detail will be lacking, and it's possible that newer frameworks just don't implement accessibility APIs well or at all because an AI forgot. That pain and bottleneck will be real, and relying on AI alone to get things done is great that it exists but never gets you a consistent metric for measuring because it will go through the flow differently each time. All this to say, I don't see an easy way out of what we've dug ourselves into, well, the industry has.

Open ##3240379
@StefenHudson@mastodon.social 2026-02-27 20:45

@jscholes@dragonscave.space And then when things finally get to a decent state after years of advocacy, they're dropped in favor of something with even worse accessibility and the cycle begins again. It's like people never learn because they're so focused on chasing the newest shiny thing.

Open ##3240394
@jstark@tweesecake.social 2026-02-27 22:09

@kaveinthran@disabled.social @jscholes@dragonscave.space agree with you and your perspective and worry about the same

Open ##3240395
@ZBennoui@dragonscave.space 2026-02-27 22:13

@jscholes@dragonscave.space Yeah I worry about this as well, especially with the rapid proliferation of AI vibecoding. It's already affecting me, I don't tend to try new software as much anymore because I automatically expect that it won't be accessible, and then I'm surprised when I turn out to be wrong.

Open ##3240396
@prism@infosec.exchange 2026-02-28 22:01

@jscholes@dragonscave.space We have a "just in time" supply chain model for software development.

Open ##3240397