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friendica (DFRN) - Link to source

Hey all,

I have a friend who's been trying to get on Mastodon but tells me that it doesn't seem to play well with screen readers. I know there are plenty of people on the fedi who do use screen readers, but I have no experience with them myself, so I can't really direct him.

Can someone who does use a #ScreenReader point me in the direction of some resources that might be useful?
#AskFedi #a11y

#askfedi #a11y #screenreader
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Amin Hollon πŸ–‹πŸ³πŸŒ
gotosocial - Link to source
Amin Hollon πŸ–‹πŸ³πŸŒ
• •
My understanding is that some alternate clients, particularly semaphore.social/, play better with screenreaders? That's what my friends here who use screenreaders have told me, at least. I'll boost this so they can chime in as more authoritative sources.
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

ADHDeanASL
mastodon - Link to source
ADHDeanASL
• •
Hey @pawpower @wx1g @RareBird15 @matt @WittiePenguin @Fragglemuppet any suggestions for screen readers that work well with Mastodon? The OP above this toot is asking for a friend.
@πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle @Matt Campbell @Panamanian❀️‍πŸ”₯ @Superdave! @Lanie @The Witchy Bitches
in reply to ADHDeanASL

The Witchy Bitches
mastodon - Link to source
The Witchy Bitches
• •
@adhdeanasl @wx1g @RareBird15 @matt @WittiePenguin @Fragglemuppet For some reason I can't see the toot you're referring to but how is the person accessing Mastodon, IE iPhone, PC Android ETC?
@πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle @Matt Campbell @ADHDeanASL @Panamanian❀️‍πŸ”₯ @Superdave! @Lanie
in reply to The Witchy Bitches

Jonathan Lamothe
friendica (DFRN) - Link to source
Jonathan Lamothe
•

@The Witchy Bitches @πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle @Matt Campbell @ADHDeanASL @Panamanian❀️‍πŸ”₯ @Superdave! @Lanie I believe he's recently switched to a Linux distribution* (which I understand doesn't play well with screen readers to begin with). I can ask him for more details. Unfortunately he's in the UK, so I can't assist in person.

* I don't know which.

@πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle @Matt Campbell @ADHDeanASL @Panamanian❀️‍πŸ”₯ @Superdave! @Lanie @The Witchy Bitches
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Matt Campbell
mastodon - Link to source
Matt Campbell
• •
@adhdeanasl In that case, I'd reframe the question as which Mastodon client is most likely to work with a screen reader on a non-Windows desktop platform. I suggest Semaphore (semaphore.social/), a web-based client.
@ADHDeanASL
in reply to Matt Campbell

Matt Campbell
mastodon - Link to source
Matt Campbell
• •
@adhdeanasl Oh, my mistake. It looks like Semaphore is gone, and I've been using a cached local version for an unknown length of time. In that case: enafore.social/

Home Β· Enafore

A fediverse client with better support for Akkoma, glitch-soc, and Iceshrimp instances.
enafore.social
@ADHDeanASL
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Superdave!
mastodon - Link to source
Superdave!
• •
@pawpower @Fragglemuppet @matt @adhdeanasl @WittiePenguin @RareBird15 IOS has the VoiceOver screen reader, already. There are many Mastodon clients that work well with it. I'm using Mona. IceCubes is another good choice. For Linux distros, the Orca screen reader is already included, and works well with firefox, thunderbird, the core utilities, and libreoffice, which is also included. I've used the Tuba Linux Mastodon client, with orca, but it's difficult.
@πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle @Matt Campbell @ADHDeanASL @Panamanian❀️‍πŸ”₯ @Lanie @The Witchy Bitches
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle
mastodon - Link to source
πŸ‘©β€πŸ¦―The Blind Fraggle
• •
@matt @adhdeanasl @wx1g @RareBird15 @pawpower Yep, I use Windows and NVDA, and don't have a problem. Does Tweesecake work with Linux? It's a Mastodon client that might also be helpful.
@Matt Campbell @ADHDeanASL @Superdave! @Lanie @The Witchy Bitches
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Cassana 🍻
mastodon - Link to source
Cassana 🍻
• •
@afewbugs I’ve found Mastodon really easy to use with a screen reader, and apps like Mona make scrolling the timelines and interacting even easier. I don’t know about resources as such, so I’ll boost, but just wanted to put in my 2 pennies too.
Edit: Just had a look and, of course, @FediTips has something on it: fedi.tips/how-do-i-use-mastodo…

How do I use Mastodon through a screen reader? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tips
@Jules she/her @Fedi.Tips
This entry was edited (6 hours ago)
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

mousebot
mastodon - Link to source
mousebot
• •
i just know some folks who use it via emacs, which has some pretty good text to speech support. its nerd shit tho
This entry was edited (6 hours ago)
in reply to mousebot

Zenie
mastodon - Link to source
Zenie
• •
@mousebot
I wonder if an add on for mastodon.el could make that easier. Ive never tried the reader in emacs, but have always heard good things.
@mousebot
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Frederik Braun οΏ½
mastodon - Link to source
Frederik Braun οΏ½
• •
hi. Marco is using assistive accessibility tech, but maybe just VoiceOver on iOS? @marcozehe πŸ˜€
@Marco Zehe
in reply to Frederik Braun οΏ½

Marco Zehe
mastodon - Link to source
Marco Zehe
• •
@freddy Most of us blind people use Mona on iOS and iPadOS and MacOS. On Windows, there's TweeseCake. After registering with a Mastodon instance, and doing a rudimentary setup in the Mastodon settings, one can use the 3rd party client without needing to use the Mastodon web interface.
@Frederik Braun οΏ½
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

lilo
mastodon - Link to source
lilo
• •
Can't help you with the software question, but there is a cosy instance run by visually impaired people: dragonscave.space/about – might make a nicer starting point than one of the larger generic ones.

The Dragon's Cave

A fun, happy little Mastodon/Glitch instance.
Mastodon hosted on dragonscave.space
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Jeffrey D. Stark
mastodon - Link to source
Jeffrey D. Stark
• •
twblue and tweesecake are apps made specifically for screen reader users on windows... mona on ios... and tusky on android...
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

#BlindAltBot
mastodon - Link to source
#BlindAltBot
• •

Can the sighted people in this thread kindly be silent and just boost for more reach. Thanks.

A knowledgeable blind person already asked the pertinent follow up question #blind.

#blind
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

zl2tod
mastodon - Link to source
zl2tod
• •

Ping @JonathanMosen

Jonathan: @me
is asking about Mastodon clients and screen readers in the toot above.

@Jonathan Lamothe @Jonathan Mosen
in reply to zl2tod

Jonathan Mosen
mastodon - Link to source
Jonathan Mosen
• •
@zl2tod Looks like some good replies are coming in on this thread already. In my view, Mastodon is the most accessible social media platform around.
I would add a couple of things.
First, any blind person is very welcome to join us here at CaneAndAble.social, a great community for blind Mastodon users. There are plenty of helpful people here.
Second, if the person uses iOS, I produced an audio tutorial on Mona for Mastodon. This went out as part of the Living Blindfully podcast I used to run, which can still be found in any podcast app.
Mona has been updated since then, but it’s still very relevant, and many blind people appreciate an audio walkthrough.
The URL for the audio is: LivingBlindfully.com/227, and the transcript is at LivingBlindfully.com/lb0227tra…

Episode 227:A tutorial on Mona for Mastodon, the most powerful, accessible way to do Mastodon on your iPhone, iPad and Mac

This special episode is devoted to Mona, a Mastodon app for iOS, iPadOS and MacOS. It has exceptional VoiceOver accessibility, and during its development, the developer has consulted extensively with the blind community.
Living Blindfully
@zl2tod
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

tea
sharkey - Link to source
tea
• •
a partner uses enafore.social/ with a screenreader occasionally, but i don't remember if it is good or just passable ​:neocat_think:​ might be worth a try

Home Β· Enafore

A fediverse client with better support for Akkoma, glitch-soc, and Iceshrimp instances.
enafore.social
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Andreas
mastodon - Link to source
Andreas
• •
Maybe @kc can help
@Casey
in reply to Andreas

Casey
mastodon - Link to source
Casey
• •
@ePD5qRxX imo there's no way around third party clients at the moment. I'm using iOS/macOS-based devices only right now, and the Mona 6/Mona Classic client from the app store work rather nicely. I've also had good experience with Tusky on Android a couple of years ago and I hear its still great.
@Andreas
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Doggie BSc
iceshrimp - Link to source
Doggie BSc
• •

I've tried using some of the fedi web apps with a screen reader and yeah they tend to be horrible

There may be some native apps that do better in that regard

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Khomus
mastodon - Link to source
Khomus
• •
@cassana Tweesecake on Windows, Mona on Mac, also iOS. Sorry, they're on their own for Android. These are the ones I've used, there might be others.
@Cassana 🍻
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Mark Connolly 🍻 πŸš΄πŸΌβ€β™€οΈ (he, him, his)
mastodon - Link to source
Mark Connolly 🍻 πŸš΄πŸΌβ€β™€οΈ (he, him, his)
• •
I’m sighted and won’t comment! But I will tag @MonaApp as so many folks in the thread have mentioned the app. (And I’ll add that it’s great for sighted people too!)
@Mona app
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Robert Kingett
mastodon - Link to source
Robert Kingett
• •
What screen reader and what OS are they using? FediTips shared my guide they might want to use a third party app but also try livingblindfully.com/episode-2…

Episode 206: Mastering Mastodon, how do you get started with ham radio, and a fix for the Eset issues plaguing screen reader users

Kia ora Mosen At Largers. A reminder that this podcast is indexed by chapter. If you listen with a podcast client that offers chapter support, you can easily skip between segments.
Living Blindfully
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

Incident Creator ❎
mastodon - Link to source
Incident Creator ❎
• •
While I was blind (long story, medical mishap) I found PCs and laptops to be bloody useless. What did work well was a large Android phone or tablet running "Talkback" and an accessibility one-handed keyboard called a Quirkey (which as a dev I knew how to use). Touching the screen gave a good mental map of layout, and the Quirkey removed the need for an on-screen keyboard. I just used Fedilab as I knew the layout already.
This entry was edited (24 minutes ago)

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