[denvaar]

I'm surprised at the number of commenters here that are blind, or commenters who work with someone who is blind. Maybe this is more common than I thought, and that's awesome. Goes to show that we should try to make accessibility more than just an afterthought.

[kjellsbells]

I'm sighted but goshdarnit some of the little accessibility features that microsoft have worked into their products are super useful. Readaloud for example in Edge, a lifesaver when you have to trawl thru azure docs at doublespeed.

My biggest beef with Microsoft around accessibility is how keyboard shortcuts are slowly dying out as apps move to becoming embedded webapps. Excel on windows for example has great keyboard navigability. Teams does not.

[leosanchez]

Excel on windows is an javascript application too right? No ?

[kjellsbells]

Not to my knowledge. The 365 apps can be run in a browser or as native windows desktop apps. I avoid the former as they seem slow to me. And their keyboard shortcuts clash with those of the containing web browser.

[sensanaty]

My greatest realization with a11y came when I sat down and used screen reader software on my work project and realized how unusable it was for anyone visually impaired. Even tiny things like font sizes take on a different perspective once you realize what it can be like.

It also made me realize that making an accessible site, such as all the gov.uk ones, means that the site will almost by default have a great UX flow and be easy to use. You have to make some decisions that can limit you, but at the same time you achieve so much in usability once you design things with a11y in mind.

[wombat-man]

Yeah, and what's more frustrating is not getting time to work on those bugs. My current place is a little better, but my last place was a joke. We spent time and hired consultants to evaluate our product, logged the a11y bugs, and dove right into our next feature work. Those bugs are probably still there years later, if they haven't aged out.

[halfcat]

Blind leading the sighted

[pxc]

One time when I was a kid, I rode with my dad while he gave a blind guy from our local Linux users group a ride home. With the windows rolled down and an occasional question, he gave us turn-by-turn directions to his house, based on the map he had in his head of the route between the venue and his house, plus the way traffic sounded as it echoed off of various key buildings and streets that were landmarks for him.