4 ms·

Blind guy here with some thoughts: 1. Even if accessibility is somehow done, it's often for marketing reasons and just for the most visible part. A perfect exa

Blind guy here with some thoughts: 1. Even if accessibility is somehow done, it's often for marketing reasons and just for the most visible part. A perfect example is Netflix. They make special movie description tracks for the blind, but they only do that because of public outrage[0]. Their website in general is usable but it could be way better. The only big company that used to be different was Apple, but then Jobs died and they've gotten much worse. Still the best of the FAANG companies but much worse than before. For example, the accessibility of the coding app for kids is apparently amazing because they can use it to show off, but Xcode is apparently still very, very bad. 2. Accessibility is not just about disability. Denying access to people under a certain age, living in a certain location or even using a certain (non JS) browser is inaccessibility too. This is something the law actively encourages (particularly when age and location come into play). I don't think it should be the developer's job to decide such things. A perfect example here is BBC. They do a really amazing job at the "classic" accessibility, but their geo restrictions are horrendous. 3. If you really can't do the accessibility, fine, but don't actively try to make the job harder for others. Don't be Twitter, don't break your API for special clients for the blind that are much easier to use.[1] Don't be the polish railroad company and don't actively change your API in such a way that the accessibility-focused third party app stops functioning.[2] Don't be Amazon, don't lock screen readers out with all the piracy apps when designing your DRM solution.[3] Not being able to do anything is acceptable. Being dicks is not. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2015/4/14/8413569/netflix-daredevil-audio-descriptions-now-available https://www.theverge.com/2015/4/14/8413569/netflix-daredevil... [1] https://twblue.es https://twblue.es https://twitter.com/euroblind/status/983246388216631296 https://twitter.com/euroblind/status/983246388216631296 [2] https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&sp=nmt4&tl=en&u=https://www.dobreprogramy.pl/Moj-Pociag-nie-dziala-przez-PKP-PLK.-Kto-ma-racje-w-sporze-o-rozklad,News,80382.html&xid=25657,15700023,15700186,15700190,15700248,15700253&usg=ALkJrhgAugslXaeq9NoZtcMTdD2d0CS1VQ https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&... [3] https://github.com/smythp/blind-hackers https://github.com/smythp/blind-hackers

leoc 8y ago
It seems that more public pressure on Apple might make a difference here.
- miki123211 8y ago
  No no no. Public pressure doesn't work that way. If you make public pressure, Apple will fix the few isues the public was outraged about and leave the invisible rest untouched. That's "marketing accessibility". The impressive, very visible and not that useful stuff is usually accessible, the invisible nitty gritty details of some settings dialog burried deep in the application that you suddenly need aren't. Even if it is accessible, this kind of accessibility done because of regulation or marketing can be horrible, see Google Docs. Is it useful? yes. Is it extremely verbose, speaking too much when the user does not need or want it? Yes. Is it completely unlike what blind people are used to? Also yes. I can elaborate more and provide examples if interested.

leoc 8y ago

It seems that more public pressure on Apple might make a difference here.

miki123211 8y ago
No no no. Public pressure doesn't work that way. If you make public pressure, Apple will fix the few isues the public was outraged about and leave the invisible rest untouched. That's "marketing accessibility". The impressive, very visible and not that useful stuff is usually accessible, the invisible nitty gritty details of some settings dialog burried deep in the application that you suddenly need aren't. Even if it is accessible, this kind of accessibility done because of regulation or marketing can be horrible, see Google Docs. Is it useful? yes. Is it extremely verbose, speaking too much when the user does not need or want it? Yes. Is it completely unlike what blind people are used to? Also yes. I can elaborate more and provide examples if interested.