marjaerwin

Web pages are often inaccessible.

Browsers are usually built to display web pages as designed, so they enable inaccessibility instead of enabling users to safely browse.

Bug report systems such as bugzilla tend to downplay page-specific issues and refer users to projects like webcompat.

They also ask users to self-harm by testing the behavior without safety tools, in so called quote “safe” unquote mode, or with a so-called quote “clean” unquote profile.

Webcompat report systems are not accessible, and besides, they are intended to make sure all browsers display each web page just as sado-standard-istically as every other browser, so they don’t address accessibility.

They also ask users to self-harm by testing multiple browsers.

I am not a programmer. I don't know what the ideal infrastructure would look like. But it had better prioritize accessibility.

Pdf was developed as a format for printing. And the same features which make it good for printing also make it usable for scanning archived books. But it is widely used for other articles and other ebooks. And it isn't suitable and creates a number of accessibility challenges.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a pdf-only book about accessibility. It wasn't very accessible, and it didn't address some of my accessibility needs.

Because it's designed to display page by page, it can't easily reflow. Instead users are supposed to move about within each page. On older e-readers, that's incredibly slow. On newer ones, zooming, panning, etc. can trigger migraines. Because most publishers are fond of large pages with 2 columns, that requires a lot of extra movement.

Because it's designed as a final format before printing, it can't always be converted to epub or mobi or other reflowable formats. Text gets lost, or scrambled. Because many publishers are fond of extra images framing each page, it can create a lot of extra clutter.

Because newer pdfs are often incompatible with older devices, it often requires pdf-to-pdf conversion. Willus's k2pdfopt or k2opt is the most powerful tool for that, but it rasterizes everything, so it's better for scanned pdfs. Ghostscript with pdfwriter and a suitable compatibility level's not as powerful, but it doesn't rasterize everything, so it's usually better for pdf-born-pdfs. It sometimes loses text though, and sometimes fails to process images if they're set up as mosaics of small blocks.

Corrupt or garbled text in the original, or after pre-processing with Ghostscript, make pdfs unsearchable, and much harder to navigate. I expect they also make these pdfs incompatible with screen readers. Even the out-of-order text which is so common could make them incompatible with screen readers.

On a map or counter-sheet where exact appearance and size are important, it's probably still the best choice. But for articles, rules, ebooks, etc. please consider alternatives.

Where is all this knowledge?

support.mozilla.org keeps flashing on Firefox as pages load.

I am photosensitive and have not been able to protect myself from Firefox’s default settings, or from many web sites. I would really like to be able to protect myself.

support.mozilla.org’s main accessibility article does not address my accessibility and safety needs, though it does address some others:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/accessibility-features-firefox-make-firefox-and-we

Searching for “photosensitive”

“We couldn’t find any results for photosensitive in English. Maybe one of these articles will be helpful?”

I worked out a partial list of fixes here:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1540174

and here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/a46slw/i_have_a_seizure_disorder_and_i_need_to_learn_how/ebc3z9s/

I mostly use both Waterfox and Firefox with numerous accessibility fixes, but still get very sick when hit with certain types of animation.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.