One ask: Finch needs more sounds. If you design sound and this seems like a fun thing to contribute to, I would love to hear from you.
[Github repo and issues](https://github.com/akash07k/finch)
#Accessibility #a11y #ScreenReader #Blind #LowVision #OpenSource #BrowserExtension #SoundDesign
7/7
I have been running it internally across my own machines and browsers for over a month and a half, and it feels rock solid.
Free and open source, on Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox, and other Chromium and Gecko browsers.
[Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/finch/oibdifnhdjolmckhjlcifnelbonfccfa)
[Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/finch/)
6/7
The sounds come as a theme. It ships with one called Pulse, tuned to sit quietly under a screen reader, with more on the way.
Global shortcuts: Alt+M mutes, Alt+Shift+M mutes when the browser is unfocused, Alt+I opens settings.
It does not read the pages you visit, inject scripts, or block ads. No telemetry, no analytics, no network calls. Everything stays on your machine.
5/7
It is built first for blind and low-vision users. If you are sighted, it is still handy when you have more tabs open than you can keep track of.
65 events across three tiers, each with its own volume, pitch, and preview. A sensible set works the moment you install it; the rest are opt-in. Browsers fire events in bursts, so Finch uses a cooldown and per-event debounce: you hear the event that mattered, not five sounds for one click.
4/7
The more I sat with the idea, the more I realized the people who would get the most out of it were not people like me.
A screen reader reads the page, but it does not announce the things sighted people catch out of the corner of their eye: the download that just finished, the tab loading in the background, the small confirmation that a bookmark saved. If you cannot see the screen, you either miss those or stop and go check. Finch fills that gap with sound.
3/7
Honestly, it began as nostalgia. I am a sound lover. Back in the Windows XP and 7 days, Internet Explorer let you turn on a sound for "navigation complete", and the click when you followed a link was on by default. I loved that, and the whole sound set that shipped with Windows 95, 98, XP, and 7. Somewhere along the way browsers went quiet, and I always wanted that feedback back.
2/7
Your browser does a hundred small things a day and tells you about almost none of them. Finch gives it a voice.
It plays a short, distinct sound the moment something happens: open a tab, finish a download, load a page, save a bookmark. Each one gets its own brief, recognizable sound.
The name fits: finches are songbirds, and you tell the species apart by their calls.
#Accessibility #ScreenReader #a11y
1/7
What do you do when apps you'd really like to use are inaccessible?
Well if you're a really smart person and can program, you create an accessible version for yourself.
If you're not, and you're like me, you spend a lot of time with Codex (in my case) getting one built.
Take: Windows Device Manager, anything that gives you network sent/received info, Smart Mon Tools, SiSoft Sandra, Belarc adviser, MSInfo32, HWInfo, CPU-Z, GPU-Z, MSI Afterburner, Aida64 and Fan Control and roll them all into an accessible, keyboard-first app and you're getting there.
My goal is for this to become the gold-standard of apps like this in it's class for blind people. If it just *happens* to look good, bonus. My son (who can see fully) says he likes it and found it useful, so that's something.
Anyway, if you're interested in checking it out, you can find it on github.
Would appreciate any feedback you have.
https://github.com/OnjLouis/accessible-sensor-readout/releases
JamminJerry
Andre Louis