@UpCloud What if I just identify myself as a business?

Downloading NVDA 25.1.1 is sooo slow for some reason.

Something I've thought about today:

Android is kind of less "blind friendly". I use that to mean how well the OS, accessibility frameworks, and screen reader are working together to give an experience that doesn't assume a visual user. A really good showcase for this is scrolling. On iOS, if you swipe, you barely notice that the screen scrolls when you get to the bottom of it. On Android though, you can hear the half second or so it takes to scroll. Also there technically are no screen reader commands to scroll up, down, left, or right. There's just "scroll forward" and "scroll backwards," which means that if you scroll forward in an app with tabs, you might find yourself on the next tab rather than the next list of items.

Now, for those who only use speech, this is usable. But a lot of blind Android users who just explore by touch don't seem to get that "swiping" is all a Braille user can do. Like, the system should not care which way one navigates. And even though on a touch screen, you can scroll in any direction using two fingers, this isn't screen reader specific, so a Braille user cann't do that. But who cares about Braille, it's dead don'cha know? /s

Another thing that really gets on my nerves sometimes is putting in my PIN. I really need to try a password and see if that works better, but the PIN entry field isn't an actual keyboard, it's just an interface that looks like one. So, using a Braille display, I have to navigate one number at a time, and enter them by pressing Enter on the one I want. Sometimes I can press Space with dot 4 to go down a line of numbers, but sometimes that puts me on the bottom row instead of the next row. Of course, on iOS, I can type my passcode as expected.

It's also kind of baffling to me that Gemini on Android doesn't automatically speak or Braille responses whenever I type to it. It could easily send those responses to TalkBack. But, as usual, the hearing, speaking blind are the testers Google has, so of course the feedback is that it works, it's fine, and if there are any descenting voices, they're either drown out or unheard. And this is AI, the current money-maker and time-waster for all these companies. And yet, even in that, they still can't get accessibility right. Just look at it on the web. The thing says Gemini replied, except it hasn't even finished generating the response yet. Imagine if VoiceOver did that in iMessage and the person had just started typing, and VO didn't even say when they actually sent the message? The NFB would have all their resolutions on just that one topic.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of things in Android work well. But there are just these things that remind me that there really needs to be a big shift in Google regarding accessibility, and not just a surface-level cleaning, for Android to really lose that speech-only attitude of workarounds. Also I'm not saying iOS is anywhere near perfect, even for Braille. But when I do use Braille on iOS, I feel a lot closer to a second-class citizen than a third or fourth like on Android.

#Android #iOS #blind #accessibility

@pixelate Yup, because on iOS you don't scroll, you swipe. It just quickly changes your focus, which in some rare cases can't get you to the end of a page or list. I'd compare it with page up/down keys on windows. Yup, TalkBack might be slower but it's logical and does it like the Android OS expects, not deeply half-broken integrated into the entire system.

@dhamlinmusic @mastoblind AI Content Describer, Audio Manager,Clock, Count elements of the selected text, NPP Add On, Weather_Plus,Win Wizard, a bunch of speech stuff such as Speech History etc.

@Aryan @simon Good point, it actually doesn't, but I don't think Signal does have it per default either. I should look if any of them has an issue and if not, make one probably.

@neil Very interesting, will keep that thing in mind!

You don't have to host your own server if you don't want to.

For a small monthly payment, Snikket will host an instance for you:

https://snikket.org/hosting/

Hey @simon now that we experience another step in WhatsApp fucking up itself I remembered you mentioned you wanted to contact some Signal Desktop dev and that you would report accessibility issues. Are there any news on this? I like Molly on Android, but the Desktop App just can't get near WhatsApp, especially Chat and Message lists.

WhatsAd

I would encourage all others to do the same.

WhatsApp is getting ads – here’s where you’ll see them https://9to5google.com/2025/06/16/whatsapp-is-getting-ads-heres-where-youll-see-them/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

@fireborn What do you think about the accessibility differences on Android but especially on Windows? I wish I could, but I simply can't. I won't get YMCA and shit to switch anything over, but I'm really planning to do so for as much personal use as possible. But again, the Desktop app holds me back tbh.

I will be ceasing use of WhatsApp as soon as I begin to see adds. To that end, I have created a Signal account. Please contact me there instead going forward. Thank you.

@DavidGoldfield nvda.zip is their friend.

The fact that in the past 30 days, *.doubleclick.net was tried to be accessed 109,496 times, *.LGSmartAd.com 71,081 times, *.GStatic.com 65,466 times, and app-measurement.com 17,539 times, speaks volumes about the amount of ads our devices gobble up each day. When I look at DNS stats and zoom into these I'm a bit shocked to see it, because these all happen during the background too, like the TV trying to push the Smart AD domain. Then there's device-metrics-us.amazon.com, somethinng my echos tried to reach 13,620 times, a relatively low number, but they appear to ping home every half hour without your knowledge, just silently. I've become hyper-aware of the traffic flowing in and out of my network now, and this is why using a 3rd-party DNS (or rolling your own, if you're into that sort of thing) is super crucial.

WhatsApp führt Werbung ein. Was einst als »niemals« galt, fällt dem Profitstreben zum Opfer. Nach der Überwachung nun auch die Dauerbespielung mit Konsumreizen. Nutzer werden vollständig verwertet: als Datenquelle, als Zielgruppe, als Ware. Ein Messenger im Dienst der Kontrolle – nicht der Kommunikation. Zum Glück gibt es bessere Alternativen. 👇

https://www.kuketz-blog.de/whatsapp-ade-signal-und-threema-ueberzeugen-als-sichere-alternativen/

@BorrisInABox I feel and agree with you so much man. Every one of those last few changes just made me wanting to run, but in Germany it's like iMessage in the US. I'm sure some people don't even have any other communication platform. And yup, Signal accessibility on Windows and Android is frustrating.

Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsAp. I really wish I could get off this platform, but there are too many special interest groups in the blind community, especially, with which I am involved, that use it because of it's screen reader accessibility, which, on both mobile and desktop, but desktop in particular, is far better than Signal.
For many others, especially those outside the United States, it's how they primarily communicate with businesses.

Every day I continue to use a Meta product is a day I'd rather not.

Silver lining though: Ads will appear in the updates tab, which I never, ever use anyway.

If WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, and WhatsApp can't read your messages as they continuously claim... BTW, does anyone really trust that? Then at least they won't be super targetted.
End-to-end encryption is only as trustworthy as the ends, after all.

RE Last Boost: Again, I want a fucking messenger, nothing else! Can't there just be like a good alternative so I can, idk, stop using this Meta Bullcrap daily?