Curious what other screen reader users, disabled tech folks, or desktop-first people are using these days for news discovery.
I’ve been looking at tools like Feedly, NewsBlur, Particle, and similar RSS/AI-assisted readers because I’m trying to reduce how dependent I am on my phone for news and discovery. Right now, Google Discover is honestly the closest thing I’ve found to “surface interesting things before I even know I want to search for them,” but it’s frustratingly mobile-first.
The problem I keep running into is that a lot of RSS advice seems optimized for people who enjoy building and curating feed systems as a hobby. I don’t mind some setup, but I’m not really looking for “an RSS sync backend plus another app plus a bunch of manual curation.” At that point it feels like the workflow itself becomes the job.
I’m specifically interested in tools that work well for:
- screen readers,
- keyboard-first workflows,
- low-sensory/text-first use,
- desktop use rather than mobile-only experiences,
- and actual discovery rather than just syncing feeds I already follow.
I’ve also noticed that something can be “accessible” in theory while still being exhausting in practice. For example:
- unlabeled buttons/links,
- infinite scrolling,
- noisy or visually dense interfaces,
- excessive sound/audio cues,
- heavy curation requirements,
- or workflows that assume lots of executive-function bandwidth.
I tried Inoreader once and ran into a lot of unlabeled controls, which pretty quickly killed it for me. I’m currently looking more seriously at NewsBlur and maybe Feedly, but I’d really love to hear actual experiences from people using these day-to-day with screen readers or other accessibility needs.
Especially interested in:
- whether these tools genuinely reduce effort,
- whether they help with discovery/serendipity,
- and whether anyone has found a setup that partially replaces the “Google Discover on mobile” niche without becoming a giant maintenance project.
Would also love to hear about alternatives I may not know about.
#Accessibility #Blind #ScreenReader #RSS #NewsBlur #Feedly #AI #AssistiveTechnology #DisabledTech #Mastodon #Tech #Neurodivergent #Productivity #Linux #OpenWeb
