Shelly BrisbinJan 7, 2023
Here’s a thread about the Mastodon client @ivory, and accessibility aka. #a11y. The app is in beta, so this is not a review so much as a followup to concerns I raised previously about the developers’ approach to this topic. (thread linked below.) Since I made that post two weeks ago, I’ve joined the TestFlight for the iOS version of the app, and can now write intelligently about the state of the app’s accessibility.
https://journa.host/@ShellyBrisbin/109565648260766092
Shelly Brisbin (@[email protected])

@[email protected] A question: will Ivory be accessible to screen readers? Have you included blind and visually impaired Mastodon users in the beta? OK, that’s two questions!  #a11y

Mastodon
Show threadShelly BrisbinJan 7, 2023
Why it matters: Tapbots makes Tweetbot, a very popular Twitter app that routinely earns praise from the Apple pundit class, of which I am allegedly a member. But when I tried it some time ago, I found the app did not support VoiceOver, the iOS screen reader. And the developer never responded to requests that the app be made accessible.
Show threadRachael LJan 7, 2023
@ShellyBrisbin @glennf I also experienced this. I was a fan of it — had bought two upgrades even — when my vision started going. When I started having to use VO more I discovered that major parts of tweetbot were unusable or required such painful workarounds it may as well be. I wrote them a detailed report of issues — quite hard at the time since I was hybrid VO+zooming and going through a lot of issues. No response. :(
Show threadRachael L
@ShellyBrisbin @glennf Reading your thread it sounds like they are starting from a better place but not sure I’ll ever be able to bring myself to buy it even though I loved tweetbot back in the day.
Jan 7, 2023 at 5:17pmWeb
Show threadShelly BrisbinJan 7, 2023
@r343l @glennf Yeah, I can neither give them praise or criticism for the result, only their lack of communication about it. Was all this VO support an accident? Possibly. That’s what the #a11y guidelines are for. Or did they do something intentional? Either way, I had to close the loop.