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Re:For blind internet users, the fix can be worse than the f... by mgdlbp on Thursday July 28, 2022 @12:07AM (#32260387)
I think of better accessibility as being better usability, and thus 'accessibility measures' as 'good ideas' per se for any infrastructure that cares about its users -- of course, the problem is that many organizations do not.

I actually randomly get reminded of this now and then, when I:

- open a door with an elbow instead of greasy or occupied hands

- tab through a UI or use alt key shortcuts to quickly perform repetitive tasks not worth automating

- take carts, bicycles, and other heavy objects up accessible ramps, kerb ramps, or mandatory lifts

- read alt tags of images that fail to load or that the file host has lost

- search in or read the captions/subtitles of media that doesn't get to the point

- read captions when I can't play audio

- machine-translate autogenerated captions from unknown languages

Not to mention all that gets taken for granted that wouldn't exist had it not been required.

Edit:

Found a submission about just this while searching for your past rants:) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30062178

In the disability spectrum chart linked there, the figure with a sword and round shield illustrating the 'Heavy Accent => Speech x Situational' case is brilliant; going far backwards in time guarantees linguistic distance from any viewer.

Re:For blind internet users, the fix can be worse than the f... by rfiat on Thursday July 28, 2022 @09:36AM (#32264097)
What you're describing is named the "curb cut effect" [0].

> The curb cut effect is the phenomenon of disability-friendly features being used and appreciated by a larger group than the people they were designed for. For example, many hearing people use closed captioning.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_cut_effect