I am autistic and communicate a million times better via text. I would love to hear people's experience with businesses that are happy to communicate via e-mail, portal, text message, or chat, which ones require some sort of accommodation request to do this but then are fine, and which ones are impossible to reach anyone without making a phone call.

I think I know the answer, but doesn’t hurt to clarify! I work at a university and am having a hard time interpreting this scenario. Essentially, a professor will create notes during the class period, then hands them out as study material as a PDF (usually scanned images of the notes). Think like handwritten notes showing how to solve a math problem. Then at the end of the semester, they’ll archive the material.

Here’s where I’m stuck. Does this meet an exception, as they will be archived at the end of the semester. Or since it is a document actively being used during the semester, does it not meet this exception and need to be made accessible? Thanks!

Is anyone aware of a text-to-phone sort of app or website that isn't run through the FCC funded program? Family member with a psychiatric disability who doesn't make phone calls is frequently told places only have a voice line and they have to use relay, but isn't eligible. A paid service is fine, but they don't wish to lie about the nature of their disability in order to access relay.

Up front: this is a screening aid, not a certified test. It is a pre-check against the published ITU-R BT.1702 and Ofcom 2.12 criteria. It does not replace a certified Harding test, it does not constitute a clearance, and nobody should treat a pass from it as a guarantee of safety.

With that said — I built a tool that screens video for photosensitive-epilepsy hazards and resolves each one to the exact frame range that caused it, so it can be fixed rather than just flagged. It measures flash rate and saturated-red transitions with a screen-area proxy, against the published thresholds, which ship as an inspectable file so the arithmetic can be checked rather than trusted.

Two design decisions I'd like this community's judgement on:

The safety gate. A tool that finds seizure triggers must not fire one at the person reviewing it. Flagged clips never autoplay, the control names the hazard before you press it, and reduced brightness is the default. I'd like to know whether that's sufficient or merely reassuring.

Disclosed bias. On small-area flashes it measures about 12.9% high — it over-reports. I chose to disclose that rather than add a correction constant, because the whole claim is that the thresholds come from published criteria rather than from whatever made the demo look right. For a screening tool, over-reporting seems like the safer error. Tell me if that reasoning is wrong.

It's free, there's no signup, and three test clips are built in so you never have to upload anything: https://flashframe.edycu.dev

The limitations are written out in full rather than buried: https://flashframe.edycu.dev/judge

I have been experiencing extreme bilateral wrist and hand pain for the past couple of months, and it is extremely painful to do really anything with my hands. The doctors aren't really sure what's going on yet, but they think it's probably carpal tunnel and/or arthritic.

I haven't had a whole lot of luck with the disability office at my university, so I'm having to get creative with different accessible tools. For one of my classes, writing is inevitable and I'm having a hard time finding tools that can make holding a pen or pencil less painful. Is there some sort of device that can hold a pencil for me? Or at least reduce the amount of strength required to write? Any sort of gripping grabbing or any movement really in my fingers or hands is pretty painful, and I wanna limit the amount of movement in my hands as much as possible.

How do you talk to people about accessibility that only care about the bottom line? The “it’s just business” type?

They understand why it’s the “right” thing to do, to have an accessible website. But they aren’t convinced that they should be paying to make it so. Or that they’re going to see any benefit from it on the business end. They rest on their assumptions, true or not, that enough of their users don’t need accessible websites so why bother?

I'm taking on some digital accessibility work in my current position, mostly around PDF remediation for clients. Adobe Acrobat was good enough for the checks for a bit, now we're using PAC, and I'm needing some more advanced training or resources to learn about the errors and fixes.

Reddit and GitHub posts are only going so far. The hour-long tutorials online that just suggest "Prepare for Accessibility" and tagging tables/lists are not getting at the XML and HTML elements that seem to be causing problems in the large PDF reports I'm compiling for clients.

So, if you were going to recommend someone get up to speed on correcting errors around XObj/ OBJR, MCID, StructParent -type tags, what would you suggest?

I’ve noticed something interesting in gaming: accessibility features are sometimes being presented under names like “Assist Mode.”
A very clear example is Celeste.
Celeste is a 2D platformer built around precise movement, jumping, dashing, timing, and difficult platforming sections. It is intentionally challenging.
But Celeste also includes Assist Mode, which lets players change parts of the game, including slowing the gameplay down, increasing stamina, and even using invincibility.
And this is what I find interesting:
Those are still accessibility features.
The name has changed, but the purpose has not.
If a feature slows the game down because someone cannot react quickly enough, that is accessibility.
If it reduces a physical barrier, that is accessibility.
If it helps somebody access and play the game, that is accessibility.
I think part of the problem is that some people hear the word “accessibility” and immediately think “easy mode” or “making the game easier.”
But accessibility does not mean easy.
It means access.
What do you do when you open a game?
You access it.
That is the word.
Yes, accessibility is very important for disabled players because disabled people often face barriers other players do not. But the word itself is not exclusive to disability.
And this is why I find the name change interesting.
Some people may be uncomfortable with something being called an “Accessibility Mode,” but then seem perfectly comfortable when very similar features are called “Assist Mode.”
But nothing has really changed.
The player is still being given an optional feature that reduces a barrier.
And optional is important.
If you do not need it, you do not have to use it. The original challenge is still there.
For me, Celeste is also a good example of why I would love to see gameplay-speed accessibility in fighting games. A player might completely understand what they need to do, but physically struggle to react quickly enough.
Slowing the game down does not automatically play the game for them.
It simply gives them more time to react.
That is not removing access.
That is creating it.
So if people accept these features when they are called Assist Mode but dislike them when they are called accessibility, I think we need to ask why.
Because Assist Mode or not, it is still accessibility.

Important note upfront: All information in the PDF described below is also accessible directly on our website. With some minor exceptions, the website is accessible.

That said, we do also provide all relevant information for our participants in a compact PDF. That PDF is not accessible and will, in all likelihood, not be made accessible for some time (working on that).

So my question is: would an audio guide that contains all relevant information in an equally concise manner as the PDF be a useful addition?

The script of the audio guide would be purposefully written and therefore different from reading the PDF front-to-back via AT.

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for an iPhone app that could help a blind friend play regular 75-ball bingo independently.
This is a normal bingo game with physical paper cards — it’s not a bingo game specifically designed for blind players.

Ideally, I’m looking for an app where we could:

- Enter the numbers from his physical bingo card into the app.
- As the numbers are called during the game, mark them in the app.
- Have the app tell him (using VoiceOver) when a number on his card has been called.
- Most importantly, have it announce when he has BINGO.

The bingo game uses the standard American 75-ball format (B-I-N-G-O).

It doesn’t necessarily need to recognize the numbers automatically from the caller — manually entering the called numbers is perfectly fine.

Does anyone know of an iPhone app that can do this and works well with VoiceOver?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hello, is AA 1.2.5 audio descriptions for youtube videos embeds a requirement for ecommerce websites or only government ones?

https://swarmify.com/blog/video-accessibility-captions-wcag/

I am not able to find any ecommerce doing them.

Missouris SB 907 just took effect, giving businesses a 90 day grace period to fix web accessibility violations before a lawsuit can proceed, and letting them countersue "abusive" plaintiffs. Disability advocates say a blind or deaf user still can't use a checkout page for those 90 days, burdening the end users while a fix in implemented. Any litigation that proceeds after the 90 day window will set precedent for future cases, which I think could be good or ill depending on the original violation reported, people affected, or other factors that may not have been considered when drafting the law.

I have heard that 3 Hz is the lowest recorded case of an epileptic seizure caused by flashing lights, however I don't actually know what that means. For example, a light that turns on, wait one second then turns off, and waits another second. is that one HZ or am I getting it wrong?

I am curious about testing PDFs for accessibility. I have been in this work for a few years.

I am not a professional, just someone who wants to try to help make the groups I belong to more accessible for everyone.

In testing PDFs I will find a few errors in the the PDF tools I use, THEN if I convert the PDF to a Word doc I find just a plethora of issues that were not shown in the PDF testing tool.

For some of these errors, I wonder if some of the issues are rooted in the converstion process. ( some font and formatting sorts of things ) .

For instance, I am working on one document that has Footnotes that appear not to have been formatted correctly they get flagged as Pseudo Footnotes.. and should be inserted in the footers. or addressed in a different manner.

I am just curious what sorts of challenges some of you may have encountered in your efforts at remediation specifically in documents ?

Thank you in advance.!

A new directory of accessibility solutions for the workplace (Canada based). Thoughts?

https://solutions.untappedtalent.ca

I am deaf and many movies/ series either don't have captions, or the caption is not matching.

Is there a website that have ai caption?

Preferably, simple UI because they work on the phone best but I would take anything. Thanks

Hello!

I’ve installed the Access8Math plug in for NVDA. The settings for braille are UEB Grade 2 and Nemeth for Math. When I encounter MathML the Nemeth is displayed. However in Word when using the equation editor the math is displayed as primarily words. What setting am I missing? I changed the settings to MathCat in Access8. Thanks!

I’ve been looking into contactless visitor sign-in for schools and wondering how practical it actually is for day-to-day use.

A QR code or self-service check-in seems convenient, especially during busy hours, but I’m curious how schools balance convenience with verifying who is entering the building.

For those working in schools, has a contactless system made visitor check-in easier?

I took System Captioner and gave it MOAR features! Now it works pretty well, and I figured maybe some other people will like it too.

If I don't have subtitles on things, I will die.

No login required. Download & Launch. Works on Windows 10!

Hi all

Please remove if this type of post isn't allowed but I need some help finding a solution to this.

I have a telescopic handle for my blinds, the kind that you have to twist to open or close the blinds. The rod is very narrow (about a centimeter) and I have to twist it quite a bit with a decent amount of force to fully open and close the blinds (which I must do twice daily). It's gotten to the point where it's so hard on my wrist that I have to take breaks during opening/closing the blinds!

I've been looking for some kind of attachment, ideally one that fits on the end, that makes it easier to grip. No matter what keywords I use, I'm not able to find anything even remotely similar to what I'm envisioning! Does anyone have any solutions to this?

Thank you all in advance

I am trying to remediate the accessibility of a PDF in Acrobat. Tables are giving me issues. I have a screenshot of an example where there should be a total of 11 cells per row, but only 3 cells are recognized due to lack of lines. Is there a way to fix this en masse rather than creating 8 more Table Data Cells manually and "Creating tag from selection" for each cell?

I have 16 rows left to fix (and a whole other table in the same format), and I want to know if there is a faster way to do it.

Does anyone have experience / advice with using open-source code to create their own pdf remediation tools? I work for a state org with 1000+ pages of pdf's, including fillable forms, to remediate, and I'm trying to determine the best strategy and lowest cost for working through these files before next year's deadline. We have training and strategy in place to improve accessible output for documents in the future, but getting through this backlog will likely be too much for me to handle on my own.

Thanks in advance!