Post #510501

2026-03-02 03:36 UTC

As an enthusiast for open source software who is also disabled, I get frustrated at how inaccessible a lot of open source software is. When there are accessibility options, they&#39;re usually bolted-on additions that don&#39;t work very well. Disabled users are forced into ad-hoc compromises that are laborious to install and labyrinthine to operate. The frustration often drives us back to corporate software. OSS is high friction and low benefit for many disabled users. Open source developers would gain a lot from integrating accessible design into their products from the ground up (like TTS! My kingdom for fully integrated neural TTS on my browser and operating system). Accessibility features don&#39;t just help disabled people. More than half of all people using a phone use accessibility features. Do you really want to exclude half your users? Accessibility also requires you to think about things like simplicity of design and ease of access for all your users. It can provide redundancy for errors (for example: alt text can be helpful when an image doesn&#39;t load, captions can provide a backup if their audio drops out, alternate input methods can allow people to continue using an app if they have keyboard or mouse issues). It can improve design (example: clearer instructions, easier to read text, simple consistent navigation). In short: it makes your software better. Making the world more accessible for one group improves access for all: this is a basic principle of universal design. Stop excluding us and start making us the core of what you do — you will be a better developer for it. #opensource #disability #universaldesign #softwaredevelopment

Replies (6)

@fullfathomfive@aus.social 2026-03-02 03:42

I also want to note that tech companies are trying to use us as a meat shield. They're throwing AI into everything under the guise of "accessibility". Meta tried to roll out its smart glasses facial recognition feature to blind people first, to disguise the fact it was mass surveillance. There are so many examples. Give us somewhere else to go. It's more important than ever right now. Accessible open source software is a tool of freedom and resistance. #oss #opensource

Open ##1337860
@menelion@dragonscave.space 2026-03-02 08:06

@fullfathomfive They just don't care. Well, not all, of course, but lots and lots of them. Just don't care. "It's open-source, go and fix yourself, and I'll merge. Maybe." — that's what I read most often.

Open ##1337866
@davidbcohen@twit.social 2026-03-02 08:14

@fullfathomfive @FreakyFwoof In my experience, UI/UX is often weak for everyone in OSS. Projects can be engineering and functional led, with everything else (UI, docs) secondary. It doesn’t surprise me that in such environments accessibility is also weak. One area where market competition and regulatory compliance produce better results, perhaps.

Open ##1337867
@luiscarlosgonzalez@mastodon.social 2026-03-02 15:15

@x0 @fullfathomfive That's what I was asking! Even telling those developers for those fediversal apps like when I told @dansup about their apps like loops, Sup and all if they become accessible for blind people... Let all 100% of open-sourced software be accessible for us blind people! 100% open source, 0% cloced sourced. Down with big brother, down with big brother! @FreakyFwoof

Open ##1337869
@raphaelmorgan@disabled.social 2026-03-02 20:39

@fullfathomfive "More than half of all people using a phone use accessibility features. Do you really want to exclude half your users?" The amount of websites and apps that I have to turn off large text in order to operate is absolutely bonkers to me. I'm 25, my vision is only gonna get worse, and I'm not even vision impaired. I have the same condition that a shitton of people get as they get older, and not everyone can afford the optometrist and reading glasses. The default text is fucking tiny

Open ##1337870
@maerlynofmiria@tweesecake.social 2026-03-12 18:07

@fullfathomfive In this day and age, expecting accessibility is considered, even by some of the blind community, supposedly to be blind entitlement, unfortunately, and developers on the other hand figure we've got our vertual care givers in the form of aira or be My eyes, so they can't be bothered to make their software or websites accessible out of the box. I mean, we're living in a day and age where accessibility is in itself a dirty word and has to be replaced by a cutesy abirevation.

Open ##1337871