Curtis Wilcox

Digital accessibility developer in higher ed

Language: English 🇺🇸
Location: Boston, Massachusetts USA
GitHub: https://github.com/extra808

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npub1agre7p535d3lsh8hz60sc7ddfn62evfsxdtw7nmdzk2vwax58vuq799xth

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[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsw5pulq6g6xclctnm3d8cv0xk5ea9vkycrx4h0fak3t9x8wn2rkwqppamhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt0d538jaut

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nostr.mom

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npub1agre7p535d3lsh8hz60sc7ddfn62evfsxdtw7nmdzk2vwax58vuq799xth

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Last Notes

2026-07-01 12:50:54 GMT

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If the '137' in that sea of version data is the Firefox version number iceraven is equivalent to, Firefox didn't add support for `font-variant-emoji` until version 141.
Given they're decorative, no icon at all seems like an okay fallback to me.
`https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Properties/font-variant-emoji`
@npub1jpy…yfwv @npub1gly…x4dg @npub1t46…wpm3

2026-07-01 12:01:41 GMT

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To ensure they're treated as decorative, add aria-hidden=true to their container divs.
<div class="content-info-emoji" aria-hidden="true">📦</div>
@npub1t46…wpm3

2026-07-01 11:59:03 GMT

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I was getting the fallback in Firefox as well, same versions (also in Firefox 151.0.1 for macOS).
@npub1jpy…yfwv
https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/844/587/939/868/218/original/8b2bc2245c5fcc42.png

2026-06-30 17:09:32 GMT

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Does the custom emoji in this font basically look the same as the same character in other fonts, e.g. a thumbs up emoji (👍) but the custom one has an extra large thumb? If so, then something like <span aria-hidden=true>👍</span> is the way to make it decorative.
If the custom emoji is not equivalent to an existing emoji in the Unicode catalog, then the font should have it assigned in the Unicode Private Use Area (PUA) @npub1t46…wpm3 referred to. Screen readers shouldn't say anything when they encounter PUA characters, they don't have a name stored for them.
@npub1gly…x4dg

2026-06-17 00:26:43 GMT

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@npub1df5…nmjq
Mobile Safari is bundled with the OS but for macOS, the latest Safari version can be run on the latest version and the 2 previous major versions. This has been true for a very long time.
https://front-end.social/@jensimmons/115215525219711231
@npub1kgk…puzv

2026-04-10 01:46:13 GMT

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I didn't find a Visa one but found a couple of relevant links.
https://www.mastercard.com/us/en/news-and-trends/press/2021/october/mastercard-introduces-accessible-card-for-blind-and-partially-sighted-people.html
https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/news-and-insight/press-release/new-accessibility-guidelines-launched-payment-cards
@npub15dl…nlg5

2026-01-10 16:26:28 GMT

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Is there meant to be only a decorative glow through the porcelain or is there also meant to be more light shining up through an open top?
If the point is just the glow, I'd think everything could be attached to the lid, which could be any disc wider than the jar's top. The simplest implementation is likely an on-off switch with the assembly; as someone else suggested, you could probably find a rechargeable lantern that would fit within.
@npub1jpy…yfwv

2025-12-06 05:00:07 GMT

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Modern, standard CSS can only make scrollbars thinner than the browser default, not wider.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Properties/scrollbar-width
@npub1ndx…xu0k

2025-12-05 18:28:30 GMT

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Scroll-to-top widgets (they can be as simple as `<a href="#">Scroll to top</a>`) are primarily for touchscreen users, especially those with motor disabilities.
I don't have a disability and I don't see how anyone could use a scrollbar on a phone. At least on an iPhone they seem purely for visualizing scroll position, not to change scroll position.
Scroll-to-top widgets can pose accessibility problems by inadvertently covering other page content, particularly focusable content. They might be helpful for some users on very long pages.
@npub1ndx…xu0k

2025-11-20 23:53:32 GMT

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I read all of them in the Eighties (maybe not the last, Chapterhouse: Dune), so I don't remember specifics, just a general feeling of diminishing returns.
Oh, I didn't know the first three were originally serialized.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert_bibliography#Dune

2025-11-06 22:50:08 GMT

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Find-in-page opening <details> is in the current Safari beta so it will soon work in all current browsers.
@npub1940…zhyh @npub1j3j…7q2w

2025-08-12 12:20:37 GMT

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Printing and scanning are both handled by OS systems, individual apps don't need to be looking for networked devices.
@npub1jpy…yfwv

2025-04-11 22:51:03 GMT

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Microsoft Edge for all platforms added a Page Colors setting in the Fall, it affects it like Windows Contrast themes do. It has the same theme choices as Windows, plus "White." It doesn't have a UI for creating custom themes.
Firefox's Manage Colors setting also does `forced-colors`.
I collected information about testing the color and contrast user preferences on a page. The two above browser features are user-friendly ones, unlike the Chromium's emulators in the DevTools Rendering pane.
https://codepen.io/ccwilcox/full/YPzraqb
@npub1ftx…yzsr

2025-03-06 01:00:07 GMT

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It's more of a "man bites dog" story, the U.S. has more actual disputes with Mexico.
An article I saw had Mexico agricultural imports at about $39 billion. Still a lot.

2024-12-18 13:24:25 GMT

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The question is about designing a low contrast *mode*, when a site has different themes users can choose from.
The only guideline I can think of is color combinations in a low contrast theme should still meet WCAG color contrast guidelines.
The problems with users relying on their display brightness include:
1) The brightness of some displays doesn't go that low.
2) Brightness controls on some displays are difficult to use.
3) Changing display brightness changes all colors equally so bright things become dimmer but already dim text could become unreadable.
@npub197g…q2n4

2024-12-10 18:19:34 GMT

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The sub-genres vary but I think any of them reflect what his "funny books" are like.
His first book is a funny one, "Agent to the Stars," and can be read on the web for free. I imagine his writing has evolved over time but this book fits a pattern he's repeated, there's a funny premise that he sees through in a narratively satisfying way.
http://www.scalzi.com/agent/
@npub1x59…gect

2024-12-10 17:33:39 GMT

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Scalzi writes both serious and funny SF. Of the funny ones, "Redshirts" won a Hugo award but I think I preferred "Kaiju Preservation Society." If it matters, the latter is available as a part of Kindle Unlimited.
@npub1x59…gect

2024-12-04 14:36:16 GMT

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The MDN page for `align-content` includes when support in the block layout was added in browsers.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/align-content#browser_compatibility

2024-10-31 22:31:28 GMT

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If I use a "See more posts on bot.viii.fi" or "Open original page" link on its profile page on my instance, I get what looks like raw json. Could that redirect to the root page instead?
https://bot.viii.fi/bot

2024-10-28 23:04:39 GMT

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There absolutely is.
"TTS" stands for "Text-To-Speech," Whisper does the opposite.
While other speech-to-text software built on different principles can mistake non-speech sounds for words, they don't add entire sentences as researchers found Whisper to have done.
https://cdn.openai.com/papers/whisper.pdf
https://facctconference.org/static/papers24/facct24-111.pdf
@npub1pw5…293s @npub1z40…s3fq

2024-10-26 23:15:54 GMT

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My guess it's a thing I referenced in my comment on the article: traditionally changing inputs doesn't immediately make anything happen. Because these particular inputs don't trigger a change in context, I don't think any WCAG criteria are failed but it's about meeting expectations.
However, even changes of context on input are allowed by WCAG if the user is informed. These inputs change visual settings, they have labels that say what they're for, and there's no button accompanying them, will immediately making the change really be unexpected?
@npub1dad…33m8 @npub1f80…p4z0 @npub1j5z…uqw3

2024-10-25 18:01:18 GMT

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Nice!
Yesterday-I-Learned from @npub1dad…33m8 that you can put event listeners on fieldsets. So instead of putting `onchange` on each radio button, you can just put one on the fieldset:
`<fieldset onchange="switchMode(event.target.value)">`
@npub1j5z…uqw3

2024-10-17 12:31:05 GMT

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The low-ranked ones on Apple Rankings are read for filth.
https://applerankings.com

2024-10-16 12:17:59 GMT

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<q> does a few things:
It localizes the marks, it will use the marks that fit the `lang` set on a parent element. Add `lang="fr"` to see how the appearance of <q> changes.
It automatically makes quotation marks "curly" instead of straight. Your article appears to have curly quotes in the text but my guess is something did that formatting for you, you didn't use an arcane key combination to type open quote, close quote characters. <q> uses pseudo-elements to add the right characters.
Because the curly quote characters aren't a part of the text, they don't get mangled by encoding mismatches (e.g. Unicode vs. Latin-1).
In languages that use them, it automatically alternates between double quote (") and single quote (') marks for nested quotations; outermost is double, next quote in is single, then inside that is double, and so on.

2024-10-08 03:56:35 GMT

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Only Firefox supports alternate stylesheets and even it didn't persist your choice across different pages (presumably because it can't know whether the next page will have the same ones as the current page).
It could be the foundation for something that could work. We're getting multiple page View Transitions and they have no guarantees so why not assume the next same origin page has the same selected stylesheet then a Flash Of Misstyled Content if it doesn't?
@npub1qgg…0ptl

2024-10-03 12:08:49 GMT

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I think styling links based on their destination is seldom useful and have some accessibility challenges.
The external link example is missing `::after` but it would add the name of the Unicode character, "Northeast arrow with variation selector 16," to those links, pretty annoying for a screen reader user.
All major browsers now support alternative text in `content` but that's new so a fallback is called for.
```CSS
a[href]:not([href^="https://shkspr.mobi" I])::after {
content: "(external)";
content: "↗️" / "(external)";
}
```
https://caniuse.com/mdn-css_properties_content_alt_text

2024-09-29 15:35:05 GMT

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I associate having lots of short pages with:
A) media sites trying to earn more money from clicks and ad impressions by spreading their content over multiple pages.
B) web design clients (and therefore web designers) being obsessed with what's "above the fold."
I think growth in the use of smartphones and responsive web design spread the understanding that there is no one "fold" for everyone and scrolling is fine, actually.
@npub15wt…46w7 @npub15yx…r2v2

2024-09-28 15:30:36 GMT

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It is esoteric.
Fortunately, for someone in need, googling "control mac using keyboard" has 2 good Apple Support pages as the top hits.
It led me to confirm that when you use Full Keyboard Access, you don't need to mess with Safari preferences for links to be in the tab order.
Mac keyboard shortcuts
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102650
Navigate your Mac using Full Keyboard Access
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/navigate-your-mac-using-full-keyboard-access-mchlc06d1059/mac
@npub10u2…dp4q

2024-09-28 14:47:14 GMT

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Until recently, Firefox treated not including links in the tab order as a macOS norm it should honor, only including them when the OS Keyboard Navigation toggle was enabled.
In Firefox 127 they changed that, always including links in the tab order, as Chrome for Mac did and as Firefox does on other platforms. (Note Firefox ESR 115 is still a supported version and still requires the OS Keyboard Navigation toggle.)
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/127.0/releasenotes/#note-790143
@npub10u2…dp4q

2024-09-28 14:43:37 GMT

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The macOS Keyboard Navigation toggle doesn't change keyboard navigation inside Safari viewports, you can have it on and links still won't be included in the tab order, only Safari's "Press Tab…" preference changes that.
The Keyboard Navigation toggle does change keyboard navigation of controls on the Safari browser window (Back button and such). It does the same to Chrome but Firefox's browser controls are always keyboard navigable.
@npub10u2…dp4q

2024-09-28 14:28:00 GMT

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Apparently Safari added "Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage" as a preference in 2011.
https://osxdaily.com/2011/08/14/enable-tab-key-navigation-safari/
Before then and even today, when that's not enabled, you can still include links in the focus order by pressing Option+Tab instead of Tab.
@npub10u2…dp4q

2024-09-27 19:30:36 GMT

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I think the Mac vs. Windows difference goes back to their origins in the Eighties.
The Mac made the mouse a mainstream input device, it was GUIs and mouse-first interaction from Day One.
Windows was a layer added on top of DOS, a command-line OS. Having a working mouse was not guaranteed and using command line, at least a little, was a necessity until at least Windows 95.
Therefore by default macOS only provides keyboard operation for the most commonly desired tasks.
@npub1d4w…2d8t

2024-09-27 17:46:07 GMT

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You can tell us what exactly is different on macOS about enabling Keyboard navigation and enabling Full Keyboard Access (FKA).🙂
All I've noticed about FKA is it provides a more visible focus indicator and it's enabled when VoiceOver is enabled.
@npub1d4w…2d8t

2024-09-27 17:38:10 GMT

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I don't think the OS keyboard toggle helps because those apps aren't built using the OS's UI libraries.
Electron apps are basically wrappers around a website so ifgood web development practices are followed, keyboard navigation & operation will be the same as it is in Chrome, which doesn't require the OS toggle to be enabled. Apps like VS Code and Slack are so complicated, they start with the basic interactions then layer on custom keystrokes and patterns.
@npub1d4w…2d8t

2024-09-25 12:34:43 GMT

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@npub1jpy…yfwv
Buttons are always in Safari's focus order. "Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage" only adds a[href] to the focus order, everything else already is, even area[href]!
Now that Firefox has joined Chromium in ignoring macOS keyboard settings, no OS settings need to be changed for keyboard testing of websites.
One might still enable "Keyboard navigation" in the macOS Settings to be able to Tab through the browser UI controls other than the address bar.
@npub1mgj…c2n2