Léonie WatsonIf you use a screen reader and are worried about reports that Masto is less accessible than we'd like, try https://pinafore.social/ - it's a webapp with a much more simple interface than Masto itself plus it has thoughtul wellbeing settings too!
Oh! It really is a delight to use https://pinafore.social with a screen reader. Clean interface, useful headings, great button/link text, accessible names on the article elements so navigating through toots is much more usable than in the default Masto UI. 💜
Andy Bell@tink it’s a fantastic PWA on mobile too
Adrian Roselli, pH0@tink That makes me feel *much* better about recommending it to folks.
Pratik Patel@aardrian
Agreed. Masto in the default isn't inaccessible (with a screen reader), so much as cumbersome to the point where it's debatable how much effort you're willing to invest.
Pinafore is just about all I could hope for in an interface really.
modulux@tink Little trick I found, though some may like it and some won’t. On settings, hotkeys, if you activate “Left/right arrow keys change focus rather than columns/media”, you can easily navigate the interface by using the left and right arrow keys instead of tab and shift-tab, which I find more ergonomic when I’m moving up and down the timeline.
Thanks for the suggestion. It does indeed sound like a good configuration.
Unfortunately JavaScript shortcuts and screen readers don't play well together. More on this here if you're curious:
https://tink.uk/time-to-revisit-accesskey/
Still, it seems to be another of the many thoughtful features in Pinafore for people with lots of different requirements and preferences 😊
@tink I use a screen reader myself, specifically NVDA with Firefox. So long as I’m on focus mode it works fine.
Ah yes. That'll do it. Out of curiosity, do you switch in/out of focus mode just when navigating the timeline, or do you use the hotkeys all the time?
@tink I stay in focus mode, use arrows to move through the timeline and the hotkeys for boosting, favouriting and replying. When replying or composing a new toot, I can use the left and right arrows when I’m at the start or end of the edit field to move through the interface still on focus mode, so to go to add cw, change visibility, toot button, etc. Sometimes it can get to browse mode by itself, for example when pressing space over the visibility button, but once I’m back to the timeline it automatically goes back to focus mode, which is what I want.
I’m normally super sceptical of web apps, but Pinafore really makes staying in focus mode worth it, rather than using the screen reader commands.
CharJTF 
(she/her)@tink Thanks! I'm finding it much easier to use than the others I've tried.
Hello Char! 😊
It's a remarkably usable webapp. I'm particularly impressed with the "wellbeing" settings. I'm pretty good at ignoring notifications and social media in general when I need to, but I know many people struggle, and so I hope those kinds of options herald something we'll see a lot more of in future.
Stuart Langridge
Nolan Lawson@sil @tink I'm glad to hear it! @marcozehe was an invaluable help with getting the details right. 🙇♂️
I really can't describe what a pleasure it is to use Pinafore with a screen reader! Thank you. Just so many touches that elevate it from merely usable into enjoyable to use - and I don't often say that about anything!
Now, if only I could install the PWA on my iPhone...
@tink @sil @marcozehe Thanks a lot! Again, those little touches (like the aria-labels on the articles) were mostly thanks to Marco's guidance. 😄
As the PWA, maybe something changed in a recent iOS release. It used to be installable. Let me check…
Dawn Budge@tink thank you for this, it is an improvement for other users too. I am finding it much easier to read than the main site, which has smaller white text and blue links on a dark grey background and strains the eyes.
Jakob Rosin@tink it also has a fantastic keyboard support as well. If you turn off browse mode, you can use it as any other app because most functions are mapped to keyboard. There are keystrokes to even jump between timelines and posts, which screenreader also announces perfectly.
Dohány Tamás@tink agreed much 💯
Sirpushalot
Everton Zanella Alvarenga@tink that's a great tool! The interface is pretty clean using this site, thank you for sharing! #accessibility
Sareh@tink Thanks for the suggestion!
@tink oh the wellbeing settings are fab!
In terms of metrics, I can hide follower boost & favorite counts.
In terms of immediacy, I can hide unread notifications count (i.e. the red dot) & show absolute timestamps (e.g. "March 3rd") instead of relative timestamps (e.g. "5 minutes ago").
Game changer! I've enabled all of these settings.
@tink I reverted the greyscale setting since it seemed a bit too low contrast for me. I need to find out where the configuration for this lives - is it on GitHub so I can submit a PR for adding high contrast mode?
It looks like it's on Github:
https://github.com/maa123/pinafore-custom
@tink wonderful, thank you. Seems like there's already folks working on a high contrast mode this week and the repo has an active issues / PRs, which seems promising https://github.com/nolanlawson/pinafore/issues
