Devin Prater :blind:

I'm Devin, previously [email protected]. I'm back, trying to take everything less seriously. I love relaxing, reading, eating, chatting, and learning about technology.

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Last Notes

2026-07-21 19:23:11 GMT

Anyone had any experience with Forgejo lately with a screen reader? It's a Github alternative.
#accessibility #blind #screenreader #foss #Forgejo

2026-04-07 13:18:13 GMT

So for those who use a Mac daily, what do you like about it more than Windows?

2026-04-06 15:29:38 GMT

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I feel like you're the one trolling. Advanced users will use ADB.

2026-04-06 13:07:03 GMT

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Or use ADB if they can't wait that long.

2026-04-05 18:48:10 GMT

Android is the mobile operating system where stuff can be built. If Google doesn't like your app, fine, users can sideload. And no, that's not going away. You can make your own screen reader, accessibility services, and for AI, Android phones now have up to 24 GB of RAM. I definitely wouldn't be able to use an iPhone as my computer for a week.
#android

2026-03-17 11:25:45 GMT

Blind folks, what would make you want to use, or try out, Linux?
Boosts okay.
#accessibility #blind #linux #foss

2026-02-24 14:34:08 GMT

You know, no, I'm not gonna intertain the idea of #Emacs as a notetaker platform for the blind. We have enough dumbed down interfaces. Blind people shouldn't be subjected to one more.

2026-01-15 19:13:55 GMT

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Oh, well yeah you can. I'll take some tinkering but it's definitely possible.

2026-01-15 19:08:02 GMT

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That's not a thing yet, sorry.

2026-01-15 19:04:57 GMT

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Define PC. Termux is basically a Linux shell.

2026-01-15 19:01:14 GMT

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I mean, I did distro-proot arch but I don't use it much now.

2026-01-15 16:50:35 GMT

I'm still amazed that, as a blind person, I'm typing this on Linux, with an Android phone in my pocket, and not really having any major issues with either.
#linux #foss #tech #accessibility #blind #android

2025-12-11 18:31:56 GMT

Pleast boost for reach:
On the subject of Linux phone accessibility, the developer of AT-SPI wrote:
There's a long-standing issue that Joanie filed against at-spi2-core for
touch screen support:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/at-spi2-core/-/issues/148
Ande I haven't taken the time to figure out how best to handle this. I'm
not sure if evdev would do what we need, or we might want to work with the
maintainers of mutter, KWin, etc. to create a protocol for
intercepting/manipulating gestures. We would also need code that can
detect gestures from touch screen presses. NVDA has code that we might be
able to use as a model.
All of this is theoretically on my list of things to do. Of course, help
would be welcome if anyone else was able to take it on.
end quote
For blind people to switch to Linux on phones, we need to use the touch screen. If anyone can help with this, it would allow the blind to take one step closer to being capable of creating our own accessibility, our own environments, in the way that helps us most. See NVDA as a great example of how that goes.
#accessibility #blind #foss #linux #phones #pinephone

2025-12-10 20:31:27 GMT

If people can get Super Mario 64 running on a PS1, they can make more retro games, like Fire Emblem, Chrono Trigger (possibly), and Final Fantasy 7 accessible. That's not even including audio health bars for Mortal Kombat games, Dragon Ball Z, Soul Calibur, Tekken, and talking menus. Just saying.
#gaming #games #accessibility #blind #modding #mod #mods #mario #nintendo #ps1 #playstation

2025-12-10 12:25:42 GMT

From the Blinux list, my thoughts below the quote:
"Hello to all.
This is partly a (re)introduction and some good news (news for definitely not all, but some) of you.
This message is actually send to two lists, as I have no clue how big intersection of the member lists there are (I suppose huge, but not complete), so sorry for double receiving, you who are in both lists.
And now, with the disclaimers out of the way... I started to be interested in Linux, say ten or twelve years ago (don't remember exactly). Through a set of happy coincidences, I managed to get a job at Red Hat in the desktop team, and because accessibility was in the times of the reorg an important thing, a tools and accessibility team actually was created. It is quite a small team, and the majority of people on it do not have work time to do anything with accessibility (we're maintaining some of the Gnome apps, we do RHEL packaging, testing etc.).
However, I am working on the accessibility related things every day, so don't be afraid to ask something, mention your issues, and such.
Personally, in terms of distributions, I use GNome on Arch (personal laptop) and Fedora (work laptop), so I have the most experience with these setups, but I definitely used Mate, and tried Kde for some time as well.
And, that's it for now. "
So, a small team, that barely has time to do what the team is about. This is really sad. This is what people with disabilities get from one of the biggest Linux companies there is.
#accessibility #blind #linux #foss #gnu

2025-12-03 20:08:53 GMT

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I wish they would port MK 9, x, 11, or even 1 to Android. Some one showed off running MK11 of Winlator, and it worked really well. I mean I couldn't see the counter but I'm sure it was near 60 FPS the whole time.

2025-11-14 14:09:16 GMT

So last night, I tried Fedora 43. Fedora-Workstation-Live-43-1.6.x86_64.iso. The installer is now web based, making it really nice to use, even with just Tab and Shift + Tab. I was able to install it with no problem.
Now, first time setup had just one big issue, the timezone selector. It's keyboard accessible, and works like this: you start typing a city name, like Chicago, and then down arrow through suggestions and press Enter on the one you want. But Orca doesn't speak that there are suggestions available, and does not read which suggestion you select until you press Enter.
Other than that, Gnome desktop looks pretty good these days! The settings are much better, and that's about all I had time to test so far. Orca starts if you hit Alt Windows S at the installer and first setup, then starts after first setup is complete. The overview panel where you type to search doesn't read when it opens, but basically you just hit the Windows key and start typing what you want, and Orca reads what you hand on, and you can arrow through results. Notifications read too, and I'm thankful Gnome supports notifications.
#accessibility #blind #fedora #linux #foss @npub1hpw…cd0d

2025-08-21 17:41:54 GMT

Another little recording, showing AI image descriptions of video games helping.
https://cdn.tweesecake.social/media_attachments/files/115/067/982/296/456/235/original/1ea3f22099d94fbc.mp4

2025-08-14 12:51:29 GMT

For anyone who missed it: new blog post! Beyond Parity: The Case for True Accessibility Affordances
https://devinprater.micro.blog/2025/08/13/beyond-parity-the-case-for.html
#accessibility #blog #blind #UX

2025-07-16 21:19:11 GMT

Please boost for reach among the blind community. Okay y'all, is it just me, or are the Meta RayBan glasses descriptions, even with detailed responses on in accessibility settings, still not very accurate? I mean it feels like they're using Llama 3.1 8B, a small model. Am I going more crazy than I already am? Am I missing some context engineering tricks? Like I don't get it. It said my coffee maker's filter basket was empty when it wasn't, said a cup of coffee was empty when it was about half full, then said the coffee cup was folded when I asked it it was full again, cause speech recognition still sucks I guess and AI can't work around that, and said a washing machine was beside the bathroom counter when it was behind me, across from the counter. Like this isn't me playing a video game, this is normal household stuff.
#meta #RayBan #llm #ai #accessibility #blind

2025-03-26 15:41:46 GMT

Ugh, brings back memories. Mobile Accessibility Suite, from the people that made Mobile Speak I think, and that little keyboard where you had to hold FN and press letters do make punctuation. Anyone remember this phone?
https://www.phonemore.com/specs/samsung/stratosphere/
#Android #Samsung

2024-12-31 00:30:26 GMT

An update. I went to the doctor, and definitely have Bronchitis. They're treating me for Pneumonia. I got lots and lots of meds, and even an inhaler! Never used one of those before. But I got to puff puff! :)

2024-12-12 18:42:49 GMT

Yes! That's how you do it!
I needed to copy a file from the Braille Sense Six, an Android 12 Braille tablet note taker blind thing, and upload it to Google Drive. So I plugged it into my Linux machine. MTP opened in the Caja file manager. I navigated to the file, and pressed Control + C to copy it. I then Alt Tabbed back to Google Chrome, which was open to the Google Drive folder I needed to upload the file to. I then pressed Alt + C, then U, for upload file. I then pressed Alt + ` (grav) to switched to the popup window, pressed Control + V to paste, heard the file name, pressed Enter, and boom, it uploaded, from an external device! Ugh that's so freaking cool! I know, simple, but still! I wasn't sure it'd work.
#Linux #accessibility #blind #Fedora #MateDesktop

2024-09-25 17:07:32 GMT

Okay y'all, got a few people wanting to play Animal Crossing because why not. So, can someone who is totally blind, no light perception or anything, and not used to inaccessible video games play this game? As in, go through menus, from the very start, with a Switch or whatever, (I'm guessing it's just on Switch), and play this game with absolutely no sighted help? I'm just saying, I'm not convinced, but of course I've been wrong before.
#blind #accessibility #AnimalCrossing #gaming

2024-09-15 18:16:07 GMT

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Oh I don't look back either. They told me that I'd wish I was still in school when I started work. And there are times where I think maybe I could have done a little better. But mostly I just look back with bitterness towards them.

2024-08-12 03:26:33 GMT

For Linux developers, here's a page describing some of how to make your package accessible to the Orca screen reader.
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/orca/-/blob/main/README-APPLICATION-DEVELOPERS.md
#accessibility #Linux #foss #Orca #blind

2024-08-09 18:42:28 GMT

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Wow, that's really impressive. My 64-GB iPhone is almost full.

2024-08-05 18:44:59 GMT

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2024-08-05 18:43:27 GMT

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