Link tags: readers

What RSS Needs

I love my feed reader:

Feed readers are an example of user agents: they act on behalf of you when they interact with publishers, representing your interests and preserving your privacy and security. The most well-known user agents these days are Web browsers, but in many ways feed readers do it better – they don’t give nearly as much control to sites about presentation and they don’t allow privacy-invasive technologies like cookies or JavaScript.

Also:

Feed support should be built into browsers, and the user experience should be excellent.

Agreed!

However, convincing the browser vendors that this is in their interest is going to be challenging – especially when some of them have vested interests in keeping users on the non-feed Web.

The Folly of Chasing Demographics - YouTube

I just attended this talk from Heydon at axe-con and it was great! Of course it was highly amusing, but he also makes a profound and fundamental point about how we should be going about working on the web.

Investing in RSS - Web Performance Consulting | TimKadlec.com

Same:

Opening up my RSS reader, a cup of coffee in hand, still feels calm and peaceful in a way that trying to keep up with happenings in other ways just never has.

Mastodon is just blogs

Do you still miss Google Reader, almost a decade after it was shut down? It’s back!

A Mastodon server is a feed reader, shared by everyone who uses that server.

I really like Simon’s description of the fediverse:

A Mastodon server (often called an instance) is just a shared blog host. Kind of like putting your personal blog in a folder on a domain on shared hosting with some of your friends.

Want to go it alone? You can do that: run your own dedicated Mastodon instance on your own domain.

This is spot-on:

Mastodon is just blogs and Google Reader, skinned to look like Twitter.

The blind programmers who created screen readers - The Verge

A fascinating account of the history of JAWS and NVDA.

gilest.org: What using RSS feeds feels like

• You’re the curator
• You decide what’s interesting
• You have more control over what you read and how
• It’s a fast and efficient way of reading a lot of web
• It’s just better than the endless scroll of a social media feed

Spot on!

To me, using RSS feeds to keep track of stuff I’m interested in is a good use of my time. It doesn’t feel like a burden, it doesn’t feel like I’m being tracked or spied on, and it doesn’t feel like I’m just another number in the ads game.

To me, it feels good. It’s a way of reading the web that better respects my time, is more likely to appeal to my interests, and isn’t trying to constantly sell me things.

That’s what using RSS feeds feels like.

In Quest of Search

On the surface this is about the pros and cons of minting a new HTML search element to replace div role="search" but there’s a deeper point which is that, while ARIA exists to the plug the gaps in HTML, the long-term goal is to have no gaps.

ARIA is not meant to replace HTML. If anything, the need to use ARIA as ‘polyfill’ for HTML semantics could be considered as a sign and a constant reminder of the fact that HTML falls short on some semantics that benefit users of assistive technologies.

Notes on synthetic speech - Tink - Léonie Watson

This is a fascinating deep dive by Léonie on the inner workings of speech synthesis. She has quite a conundrum: she wants fast playback, but she also wants a voice that doesn’t sound robotic. Unfortunately it’s the robotic-sounding voices that work best at speed.

If you’re interested in this topic, I highly recommend listening to (or reading) the accessibility episode of the Clearleft podcast which featured Léonie as a guest giving demos and explanations.

Back to the Future with RSS

Nicky Case on RSS:

Imagine an open version of Twitter or Facebook News Feed, with no psy-op ads, owned by no oligopoly, manipulated by no algorithm, and all under your full control.

Imagine a version of the newsletter where you don’t have to worry about them selling your email to scammers, labyrinth-like unsubscribe pages, or stuffing your inbox with ever more crap.

Skipping skip links ⚒ Nerd

Vasilis offers some research that counters this proposal.

It makes much more sense to start each page with the content people expect on that page. Right? And if you really need navigation (which is terribly overrated if you ask me) you can add it in the footer. Which is the correct place for metadata anyway.

That’s what I’ve done on The Session.

Why I Still Use RSS | atthislink

Having only the content I want to see only be shown when I want to see it with the freedom to jump between readers as I please, all with no ads? For me, no other service comes close to the flexibility, robustness, and overall ease-of-use that RSS offers.

HTML test cases

This is handy—an up-to-date list of tests run on form fields with different combinations of screen readers and browsers.

The Importance of HTML – Jerry Jones

You’re not going to get a Webby Award or thousands of views on Codepen for how amazingly crafted your HTML is. You’ll need to be OK going unrecognized for your work. But know that every time I use a screen reader or keyboard on a site and it works correctly, I have a little spark of joy.

An opinionated guide to accessibility testing /// Iain Bean

0. First impressions
1. The Tab key
2. Automated testing tools
3. Screen reader testing
4. Next steps

Not so short note on aria-label usage – Big Table Edition – HTML Accessibility

This is a very handy table of elements from Steve of where aria-label can be applied.

Like, for example, not on a div element.

Accessibility Support

A very handy community project that documents support for ARIA and native HTML accessibility features in screen readers and browsers.

How-to: Create accessible forms - The A11Y Project

Another five pieces of sweet, sweet low-hanging fruit:

• Always label your inputs.
• Highlight input element on focus.
• Break long forms into smaller sections.
• Provide error messages.
• Avoid horizontal layout forms unless necessary.

5 most annoying website features I face as a blind person every single day by Holly Tuke

Five pieces of low-hanging fruit:

• Unlabelled links and buttons
• No image descriptions
• Poor use of headings
• Inaccessible web forms
• Auto-playing audio and video

About Feeds | Getting Started guide to web feeds/RSS

Matt made this website to explain RSS to people who are as-ye unfamilar with it.

Takin’ five. — Ethan Marcotte

I linked to the first of Ethan’s short videos on accessibility last week, but it’s well worth checking out all five:

1. Introduction to using VoiceOver on macOS
2. Designing beautiful focus states
3. Flexible and accessible typesetting
4. Responsively designing with viewport units
5. Designing beautiful and accessible drop caps