marjaerwin

I'm going to define this as the ratio between the straight-line distance for a trip and the actual walking distance. [Or chair distance, not sure the appropriate terminology.] This will, of course, vary from person to person and day to day. and doesn't take more enjoyable routes into account.

So today, I only had to go 1 km one way. Which works out to about 2,500 steps round trip.

But I had to detour to avoid a busy highway, to avoid some dangerous intersections, to avoid 2 batteries of high-powered strobe lights, and to avoid 3 dogs. Which made it 13,876 steps round trip.

Walkability Ratio 18%.

Hi,

I run into a lot of accessibility problems, especially online.

I get sick from flashing, other animation, animated gifs, animated pngs, animated status notifications, blinking cursors, zooming, smooth scrolling, carousel, marquee, that slight zooming you may not notice because you don’t get a migraine and nausea from it, animated position:sticky headers, foregrounds scrolling in front of non-scrolling backgrounds, columns scrolling alongside non-scrolling columns, stickies not scrolling with scrolling content, etc.

I also have trouble seeing standard-sized text, or seeing light text on dark backgrounds, so I need to switch font sizes, and colors, and it helps to switch fonts too.

I can and do fix a lot of these with my browser and add-ons.

Problem 1.

I am not a programmer, and don’t know much about the technical details, and can’t code fixes. I try to do what I can to describe the practical results though.

Problem 2.

I may not be able to use “safe mode” or a “clean profile” without getting badly hurt. I have to skip reporting steps because of this.

Problem 3.

I am not be able to read documentation, especialy if it has non-scrolling sidebars, and may not be able to find my way through the documentation I can read. I hope I can help with some of the documentation I can read, though.

Problem 4.

I am usually struggling with a lot of pain and frustration when I file my bug reports, and when I try to test variations, e.g. to bibisect them.

Can anyone suggest ways I could be more helpful, both for the coders, and for other users/readers with similar disabilities?

Thank you!

... rgh, migraine.

So apparently an economist with Deutsche Bank has noted that people tend to save money by working from home-- and has proposed to tax those who exceed a certain income and choose to work from home.

Now how do they save money?

Mainly because they’re not using as much gasoline, electricity, etc. They’re not using the roads, creating congestion for other people on the roads. They’re not using the rail lines, if available. They’re not causing as much environmental, infrastructural, and just plain hassle damage.

Of course some people can’t work from home.

But because of the above, when poosible, it should be made more possible, not less.

At higher incomes, you’re not going to have many disabled people, but if extended to lower incomes, that’s yet another crip tax on those disabled people who can’t drive, can’t bike, and can’t use inaccessible bus systems. Or can’t work in inaccessible worksites.

And it’s a time tax while people commute.

What next? Tax people who save money by not having cars? by not rolling coal?

I’ve contacted the state department of transportation, again, about the incapacitator they installed on that crosswalk. It’s an accessibility and safety hazard.

I’d contacted them in January, but they closed it without an explanation.

If I want to ask about why, the page instructs me to self-harm [specifically, to make a pain call, but with my neuro issues, that leaves me with awful earaches and migraines, and many people can’t make a pain call regardless].

https://slate.com/technology/2019/05/philadelphias-septa-is-testing-showing-ads-to-people-buying-tickets-bad.html

This is not accessible. I don't live in Philly, but I have a strobe sensitivity and visual motion sensitivity, and many ads hurt, scramble my senses, and leave me with post-ictal migraines. Also many safety signals make my stumble or fall down, and can leave me with post-ictal nausea, sometimes vomiting. If these kiosks are firing ads at people who are standing up, they will cause similar symptoms. I doubt the rest of the system is accessible either…

P.S. Remember that photosensitive people aren’t allowed to drive. Not being able to take the bus or subway either doesn’t help.

Looking over Medicaid providers:

Aetna:

Provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as: Qualified sign language interpreters Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats)

Provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as: Qualified interpreters Information written in other languages

If you need a qualified interpreter, written information in other formats, translation or other services, call the number on your ID card or 1-800-385-4104.

That's a bit of a catch-22 for people who need alternative communication because we can't reliably use phones.

I need a number of accessibility fixes to use the web. I am not a programmer, but I have to search out new fixes, and often program new fixes, for my own safety. And often I can’t find or program suitable tools.

A lot of web design either works around existing accessibility tools, reintroducing once-solved accessibility problems, or adds new accessibility problems.

****

I have sensory processing issues, including a strobe sensitivity, motion sensitivity, and mild proprioceptive impairment, among other things.

I also have rsi, and can’t use scrollwheels without injury.

I also have a chronic illness.

I can’t say much about how these design tools affect other users with other disabilities.

But most browsers and many web sites inflict types of flashing and/or animation which can trigger my migraines, nausea, and drop falls.

****

Browsers:

For example, Safari, Opera, Vivaldi, etc. inflict blinking cursors.

So far I’ve only found that Waterfox and Firefox allow users to disable blinking cursors.

Both Waterfox and Firefox inflict tab throbbers. Firefox has particularly painful tab throbbers since 57, and no adequate options or css fixes to block the throbbers. My understanding is that because there’s an inadequate user css fix which sometimes works, it’s fixed, and because they on’t formally support user css, it’s not their responsibility to fix the fix.

Both Opera and Vivaldi inflict zooming in their new tab page.

By default Firefox and Waterfox enable smooth scrolling and autoscroll, but luckily they include options to disable these things.

Tiny user interface font sizes.

****

Websites:

Animated gifs, animated pngs, animated pain, but most browsers include options to disable these things.

Advertisements.

Marquee text. Carousel animations. Metronome and Cylon animations.

Zooming on mouseover, as in It’s Going Down, The Advocate, and some other pages.

Zooming on scroll, as in Google Maps and their embedded migraines in other pages.

Scrolljacking in general, including pages which don’t work with my scrolling software, or which impose slow, smooth, painful scrolling.

Static backgrounds behind scrolling text. Makes things painful and ureadable.

Static backgrounds on either side of scrolling text, as in Twitter. The edge of the scrolling element often cuts across parts of the background, so the sheer effect is more intense, and closer to the middle of the screen.

Frames.

Flashing animated login and page not found screens, as on Tumblr.

Sticky headers, and other elements which change size, pop up, or otherwise animate as users scroll.

Fixed headers, fixed sidebars, fixed footers, etc. can also cause trouble depending on their size, contrast, and position.

Pop-up somethings which obscure the article and can’t be cleared away, as in It’s Going Down.

Dogpics.

Tiny font sizes and unreadable fonts. Note that everyone has a different set of readabler fonts– I prefer Opendyslexic, Andika, and Skeirs.

Some people suggest f.lux as a solution. It reddens the screen at night. But it doesn’t resolve the underlying problems, and red light is more likely to trigger seizure-like symptoms.

I’ve got user css fixes for several of these, but not all. Because each page uses different names for sticky elements, css which works on one page won’t work on many others.

I am struggling with aftereffects of what may be lysol-fume exposure. It won’t kill me, but with my allergies and intolerances, it hurts like hell. I can’t use phones due to hyperacusis and other sensory processing issues, as well as loud construction noise.

I used the contact address on their web site.

It isn’t an emergency contact option, but I thought it might help me find emergency contact info.

The only emergency contact options are (a) to use their various hotline numbers, if you can use phones; (b) to use their various tty numbers, if you can register; in the States this requires being able to use phones and provide documentation that you can’t use phones, in typical catch-22; (c) to use 911, if you can use phones; or (d) to contact your doctor, if you can do that in an emergency and if you don’t need to use a phone to do that.

I have sensory processing disorder, coordination issues, chronic migraines, and rsi. I have yet to find a remotely accessible web browser.

Links: ? Site is relatively clear, but installation instructions are intimidating.

Safari: D. Few accessibility extensions. Requires users to toggle cookie and Javascript settings.

Firefox: D. Intense flashing everywhere. More accessibility extensions, but none block built-in flashing. Allows users to whitelist cookies. Requires users to toggle Javascript settings.

Opera: F. Intense zooming everywhere. Kill it with fire.

Vivaldi: F. Intense zooming everywhere. Kill it with fire.

Slepinir: F. Intense zooming everywhere. Kill it with fire.

Chrome: I. Intense animation on website. Cannot use website without Javascript. Cannot use website with Javascript, because animation.

Lynx: I. Unreadable website.

I have a lot of trouble with inaccessible hardware, inaccessible software, etc. when using the computer.

I have sensory issues, chronic migraines, coordination issues, rsi, and other issues.

Can anyone suggest useful resources, fora, etc.?

I have tried help fora, without success. I have tried disability-development fora, but they are usually aimed at programmers, at web designers, etc. rather than at users just trying to make do.

I can’t type without seeing where I’m typing, and I have trouble with multi-fingered and two-handed tasks. Also, I can’t use ergonomic advice based on the idea that everyone can and should be two-handed touch typists. I can’t use certain grips. I can’t use scrollwheels or trackballs. I have trouble with touch devices, and have to be able to disable tapping and gestures to avoid accidentally triggering them.

I have trouble with speech-to-text, because of accent differences, and because I use a lot of text tables.

I have trouble with bright lights, flashing lights, many animated images, all zooming images, and sheering images, among others.

I currently use OS X on a Mac. I previously used Ubuntu Classic on a Windows machine, but I had a lot of driver trouble, and repository issues, and the keyboard broke. Unfortunately, OS X does not have options to remove animation from the system prefs - I have to stick something in front of the screen to change certain system prefs, or to widen scrollbars, or to keep cursors from flashing.