Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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What are your favourite apps or websites that do accessibility right ? (self.Blind)
submitted by kayu55
I’m an aspiring user experience designer and I want to know more about accessibility and software.
I want to know which apps you use that aren’t frustrating or take you hours to navigate through. Or what you wish an app did instead to make it easier for you.
I want to know which apps you use that aren’t frustrating or take you hours to navigate through. Or what you wish an app did instead to make it easier for you.
rpglb_caturria 7 points 4y ago
Totally blind screen reader user here.
I do a lot of accessibility testing for my community college.
What a lot of web designers don't realize is that screen readers don't give a hoot in what order your elements appear on screen. You can use CSS to float them this way and that, it doesn't matter. They care about the order they appear in the document object model (the source code). That causes problems when web developers do dynamic element creation and just push a new element into the tree at the bottom. It might visually appear in the intended spot (as a popup menu or whatever) but to us it appears as if it were located at the very bottom of the page.
If you are going to have your page spawn new HTML elements in response to user interaction, make sure you place them somewhere in the DOM that is relevant to what they do. Don't just call $("document").append() or whatever because that creates a poor user experience.
I do a lot of accessibility testing for my community college.
What a lot of web designers don't realize is that screen readers don't give a hoot in what order your elements appear on screen. You can use CSS to float them this way and that, it doesn't matter. They care about the order they appear in the document object model (the source code). That causes problems when web developers do dynamic element creation and just push a new element into the tree at the bottom. It might visually appear in the intended spot (as a popup menu or whatever) but to us it appears as if it were located at the very bottom of the page.
If you are going to have your page spawn new HTML elements in response to user interaction, make sure you place them somewhere in the DOM that is relevant to what they do. Don't just call $("document").append() or whatever because that creates a poor user experience.
kayu55 [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thank you this is super helpful !
rpglb_caturria 4 points 4y ago
Another thing I forgot to add. Be aware that some ways of hiding text from visual users don't necessarily hide them from screen readers. For example, the screen reader doesn't care if you white something out. Neither does it care if you set its size to 0PX, or hide it underneath another control. Hide and show methods in jQuery work, as does the display:none; CSS attribute. I've come across many a web form in which every possible input validation error which could ever be presented to the user was presented to me all at once.
Make sure to hide them using the above methods or don't place them on the page at all if they aren't needed.
Lastly, be familiar with Aria attributes and use them well. They can present extra information to screen readers that isn't presented to sighted users, as well as hide purely decorative elements from blind users.
Oh, and let's not forget this: don't make mouse hovers the only way of interacting with elements on your page. That will block people.
Make sure to hide them using the above methods or don't place them on the page at all if they aren't needed.
Lastly, be familiar with Aria attributes and use them well. They can present extra information to screen readers that isn't presented to sighted users, as well as hide purely decorative elements from blind users.
Oh, and let's not forget this: don't make mouse hovers the only way of interacting with elements on your page. That will block people.
kayu55 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Thank you, this is really useful.
I’m currently working on a case study for making an online shopping app that’s accessible. From what I’ve heard so far I should stay away from floating elements and use a combination of colour and text, since relying on only colour to convey information isn’t helpful for people who are colour blind.
I’m currently working on a case study for making an online shopping app that’s accessible. From what I’ve heard so far I should stay away from floating elements and use a combination of colour and text, since relying on only colour to convey information isn’t helpful for people who are colour blind.
rpglb_caturria 2 points 4y ago
It should be noted that information conveyed only in colour isn't useful to those of us who are totally blind either. I don't think there's anything wrong with using the 'float' style for visual positioning (unless it affects low vision people in a way I don't know) as long as the elements are also positioned correctly inside the Dom tree.
C1an0t 5 points 4y ago
I think adjustable font sizes and dark mode is the main thing for me. I still use the android screen magnifier to read but if the text is too small I usually give up on the app
kayu55 [OP] 3 points 4y ago
This might be a dumb question, but why is dark mode important? I’m seeing it pop up in most of these answers.
C1an0t 3 points 4y ago
I think for me it's about light sensitivity. The harshness of the white light sort of overwhelms my eyes and makes it uncomfortable to read things.
hopesthoughts 2 points 4y ago
I use mostly websites, but do use clients for Twitter and email. Reddit is very easy to navigate because I'm using the old version, and I know how to navigate by buttons. Those are inherently form elements, so you could use that too.
I'm able to use Instacart on the web without any problem. The only problems lately have been payment processing issues on their end. I currently use https://simplerssreader.com for my RSS reader. I would also recommend https://theoldreader.com.
If I'm going to use email via a web interface, I'll usually use a mobile/basic interface. I'm able to bank online successfully, without any problems.
I'm able to use Instacart on the web without any problem. The only problems lately have been payment processing issues on their end. I currently use https://simplerssreader.com for my RSS reader. I would also recommend https://theoldreader.com.
If I'm going to use email via a web interface, I'll usually use a mobile/basic interface. I'm able to bank online successfully, without any problems.
snickersnipe 2 points 4y ago
The reddit is fun app is my favorite. In my experience most websites are almost unreadable with TTS simply because an ad is placed between paragraphs so it won't read anything below the ad,
also having trouble with those unlimited scrolling articles for some reason.
also having trouble with those unlimited scrolling articles for some reason.
kayu55 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
Thank you ! I was wondering how ads interacted with TTS. I guess it’s better to keep ads away from the main content.
hopesthoughts 1 points 4y ago
People who aren't using an ad blocker at this point either have no idea what they're doing, or want to waste way, way, way too much time!!!!
hopesthoughts 1 points 4y ago
You must use an ad blocker! For your sanity and your time. I currently recommend uBlock Origin, which can be downloaded for both Chrome and Firefox. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ If you use Chrome you can find it in the web store. I don't.
Badassmotherfuckerer 1 points 4y ago
Overcast on iOS is a pretty phenomenal podcast client, in terms of it's voiceover usage.
Carnegie89 1 points 4y ago
I haven't found an app or website that does everything right. I use quite a few extensions on Chrome to make sites accessible.
For apps, Reddit, Flamingo, WhatsApp are some of the goods ones. They have adjustable text size and light and dark mode options. Most apps don't adjust the interface when larger text is applied by Android OS.
If you want to discuss specifics, message me.
For apps, Reddit, Flamingo, WhatsApp are some of the goods ones. They have adjustable text size and light and dark mode options. Most apps don't adjust the interface when larger text is applied by Android OS.
If you want to discuss specifics, message me.
iOS_fangirl 2 points 4y ago
For me the apps would be Dystopia for Reddit, and Twitterrific
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