The text discusses the limitations of AI in replacing accessibility testers. While AI can automate some tasks, it struggles with tasks requiring contextual understanding, such as interpreting false positives in automated testing, verifying screen reader output, and assessing the adequacy of error messages and alt text. The author categorizes accessibility tasks based on AI’s potential impact, highlighting that many tasks still require human expertise.

AI can assist accessibility professionals by automating tedious tasks, catching obvious violations, and generating first drafts of documentation. However, it cannot understand context, make judgement calls, or advocate for users, making human expertise essential for ensuring truly accessible designs and experiences. While AI can be a valuable tool, it should be viewed as a supplement to human expertise, not a replacement.

“Wishcessibility” is the well-intentioned but misguided attempts to improve accessibility, often resulting in harm. This can include following accessibility guidelines without testing, relying on inaccurate information, or implementing accessibility overlays. To combat wishcessibility, we need to move beyond compliance and focus on the actual human experiences of disabled users, requiring systemic support and buy-in for accessibility work.

VSSFlow is a unified flow-matching framework for video-conditioned sound and speech generation, integrating video-to-sound (V2S) and visual text-to-speech (VisualTTS) tasks. It uses a novel condition aggregation mechanism and leverages the inductive biases of cross-attention and self-attention layers to handle different input signals. VSSFlow outperforms state-of-the-art baselines on both V2S and VisualTTS benchmarks.

TechShare Pro 2025 highlighted key trends in inclusive technology, emphasizing the rapid advancement of accessibility. The conference explored the impact of AI on assistive technology, the growing importance of voice interfaces, and the need to consider neurodiversity in design. It also stressed the significance of embedding accessibility from the start of projects, navigating evolving regulations, and recognizing accessibility as a driver of brand value and commercial success.

Fred, a tech support worker, jokingly told a user named Emily to drape a paperclip chain over her monitor to prevent fuzziness. The prank spread throughout the office, with many users following Fred’s advice, including lawyers. Despite fearing repercussions, Fred was never reprimanded for his prank.

Anthropic researcher Nicholas Carlini used 16 instances of the company’s Claude Opus 4.6 AI model to build a C compiler from scratch. The AI agents, working independently with minimal supervision, produced a 100,000-line Rust-based compiler capable of building a bootable Linux kernel. While the project demonstrates the potential of AI coding agents, it also highlights their limitations and the significant human effort required to support their work.

A new setting in Microsoft Word for Windows allows screen reader users to navigate documents using the up and down arrow keys based on logical reading order. This feature, which is disabled by default, can be enabled in the Accessibility options. It improves navigation for columns of text, multi-page views, tables, text wrapped around images, and dropped cap letters.

A blind screen reader user encountered accessibility issues during an online banking identity verification process. Unlabeled buttons and inaccessible pop-ups led to account restrictions and hours of recovery work. This highlights the importance of accessible mobile banking for usability, customer trust, and operational risk reduction.

Isaac Asimov, a prolific science fiction writer, is remembered for his vast number of publications and his unwanted advances towards women. His behaviour, often dismissed as harmless, was a pattern of unwanted touching and harassment that spanned decades and involved countless women. This aspect of his legacy raises questions about the intersection of talent, fame, and the treatment of others.

Isaac Asimov, a prominent figure in science fiction, was known for his inappropriate behaviour towards women, including unwanted touching and harassment. While some excused his actions as products of his era, this behaviour created a hostile environment for women in the science fiction community, hindering their opportunities and contributing to a culture of harassment. Asimov’s actions, though influential in the genre, overshadowed the negative impact he had on women, creating a barrier to their full participation and success.

Principled Coarse-Graining (PCG) accelerates speech token generation by verifying proposals at the level of Acoustic Similarity Groups (ASGs) derived from the target model’s embedding space. This approach increases acceptance and throughput while maintaining intelligibility and speaker similarity.

The CIA has discontinued The World Factbook, a valuable public-facing intelligence publication. The entire site, including archives, has been removed, but the 2020 version is available on GitHub.

A civil action was brought against a minor defendant in Alberta after a dispute over a toy dinosaur resulted in a serious injury to the plaintiff’s finger. The court found no liability on the part of the defendant’s parents, who were not supervising, or the defendant himself, citing the incident as an accidental “fluke” injury. The plaintiff’s lack of medical records also contributed to the court’s decision.

The concept of the “accessibility unicorn” is often dismissed as unrealistic. However, the issue lies not in the existence of such individuals, but in the unrealistic expectations placed upon them, including inadequate budgets, limited resources, and a lack of a long-term strategy.

The creation of a dedicated accessibility stage at CES 2023 led to poor coverage of accessibility products and innovations. This segregation risks creating “accessibility ghettos” of inferior, expensive products and hinders mainstream media’s understanding of accessibility in mainstream technology. The author advocates for integrating accessibility into the mainstream CES to ensure broader coverage and encourage all manufacturers to prioritize accessibility.

Walter Benjamin’s 1935 essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproducibility,” explores the impact of mass media on art and society. He argues that mass media, such as film and photography, diminishes the “aura” of art by creating a spectacle that replaces authentic experience with a simulated intimacy. Benjamin also connects this phenomenon to fascism, suggesting that the aestheticization of politics can lead to the glorification of violence and the loss of meaningful human connection.

The comments system is plagued with spam, ranging from sycophantic praise to bizarre advertisements. Some spam is threatening, while others offer useless trivia or paragraphs of random information. The most shocking spam includes explicit content, questionable products, and even a poorly translated ad for an adult doll.

With new global standards reshaping expectations, Ayala Gordon and Sarah Lewthwaite argue that accessibility must move from compliance afterthought to strategic priority across every part of the university.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed allowing dancing by default in taverns and bars, and creating a new hybrid restaurant-tavern license. This would bring transparency to establishments that currently operate as nightclubs but self-identify as restaurants. While the proposal aims to improve trust and reduce confusion, it still requires dancing licenses for bars and taverns and prohibits dancing in restaurants.

A Windows PE header is followed by a shell script that extracts and decodes an ELF file, marking it executable and running it. The script then cleans up the temporary file. The extracted ELF file contains LZMA-packed x86_64 Linux code, which includes HTML content and a packed JavaScript game.

The delay in releasing CP/M-86, the 16-bit version of CP/M, was a significant factor in its downfall. While the delay was partly due to the success of CP/M 2.2, which required extensive support for OEMs, the primary reason was the time-consuming development of a new PL/I compiler. This diversion from CP/M development ultimately led to IBM choosing MS-DOS for their PC.

Microsoft’s SoftCard, a hardware card that enabled the Apple II to run CP/M, became a major success and the most popular platform for CP/M. This success, however, strained DRI’s resources, delaying CP/M-86 and leading to the development of 86-DOS by SCP, which Microsoft later acquired and rebranded as MS-DOS. Despite initial success, CP/M-86 struggled against MS-DOS, ultimately leading to DRI’s decline and acquisition by Novell in 1991.

GrabScanGo, in partnership with Storm Interface and Vispero, has launched an accessible self-checkout experience for visually impaired shoppers. The solution integrates tactile hardware and screen-reader technology, allowing users to independently scan items, review purchases, and pay. This ADA-compliant system is available now and is being showcased at NRF 2026.

Safari 17.4 introduced a native HTML switch element, progressively enhancing <input type=“checkbox”> with the switch attribute. A polyfill is available for browsers lacking native support, adding accessibility features like ARIA roles and high-contrast support. The polyfill also handles writing modes and directionality, and is available on npm and GitHub.

The text discusses the importance of compilers in software development, highlighting their role in translating source code into machine code. It compares the compilers of different programming languages, such as Rust and Java, emphasizing their unique features and functionalities. The text also touches upon the concept of self-hosting compilers and the bootstrapping process.

The text explores the role of compilers and type systems in programming languages, particularly focusing on TypeScript. It highlights the benefits of gradual typing and structural typing for dynamically typed languages like JavaScript. The author argues that developers often “lie” to compilers by not providing accurate information about nullability, exceptions, and type casting, limiting the compiler’s usefulness.

The text emphasizes the importance of communicating effectively with the compiler to improve code safety and maintainability. It highlights common practices like using null, exceptions, casting, and side-effects, which can mislead the compiler and hinder its usefulness. By adopting alternative approaches like using Option types for nullable values, Result types for exceptions, and sealed types for casting, developers can make their intentions clearer to the compiler. Additionally, separating pure computation from side-effects and using typed wrappers for concepts can further enhance the compiler’s ability to assist in code development.

The text emphasizes the importance of using union types and other sophisticated types to express invariants and guarantees in code. By modelling alternative states and encoding constraints as types, the compiler can enforce these rules, reducing the need for defensive programming and improving code reliability. This approach, exemplified by the Google Cloud outage incident, helps developers avoid null pointer exceptions and other runtime errors by making illegal states unrepresentable.

MongoBleed (CVE-2025-14847) is a critical vulnerability in MongoDB’s zlib1 message compression path, affecting versions since 2017. It allows attackers to read uninitialized heap memory, potentially exposing sensitive data like passwords and API keys. The exploit involves sending a false uncompressed size, causing the server to allocate excessive memory, and then exploiting BSON parsing to leak data.

A vulnerability in MongoDB’s zlib network compression allows attackers to read arbitrary heap data, including sensitive information, from publicly accessible databases. The vulnerability, present since 2017, was patched in December 2025 but not publicly disclosed until December 24th. While MongoDB claims no evidence of exploitation, the simplicity of the exploit and the number of exposed databases suggest otherwise.

Online comments suggest that exposing a database to the public warrants consequences.

With the end of the year approaching, I was doing some tax prep. I asked the Windows version of Copilot to convert a final pay summary from my last employer into something that was more readable. T…

Self-hosting a database, particularly Postgres, is often more cost-effective and offers similar reliability to managed services like AWS RDS. While managed services handle operational tasks, self-hosting provides more control and cost savings, especially for those with high-traffic applications. The author argues that the pendulum has swung too far towards managed services and encourages teams to consider self-hosting for their databases.

Sulthiame reduced breathing interruptions in sleep apnea patients, pointing toward a viable drug treatment. A European clinical trial has found that the drug sulthiame can reduce breathing pauses and improve sleep quality in people with obstructive sleep apnea, with researchers from the Universit

Let’s Encrypt is introducing several updates to the certificates we issue, including new root certificates, the deprecation of TLS client authentication, and shortening certificate lifetimes. To help roll out changes gradually, we’re making use of ACME profiles to allow users to have control over when some of these changes take place. For most users, no action is required. Let’s Encrypt has generated two new Root Certification Authorities (CAs) and six new Intermediate CAs, which we’re collecti...

A collection of bad practices in HTML, copied from real websites.

German regulators have declared accessibility overlays a barrier to certification, stating they cannot reliably assess websites using them. Organizations should avoid overlays and instead conduct proper accessibility audits and implement genuine, code-level accessibility solutions.

Bluetooth 6.0, announced in September 2024, introduces several new features, including Bluetooth Channel Sounding for improved device positioning and tracking, and Decision-Based Advertising Filtering for faster device pairing and switching. It also enhances ISOAL for better reliability and reduced latency, and introduces the LC3plus codec for improved audio quality. While still rare in 2025, Bluetooth 6.0 is expected to become more prevalent in devices by 2026.

Many accessibility hacks, like electric toothbrushes and Aga cookers, were originally designed for people with disabilities but are now widely used. These innovations, along with features like tactile packaging and smart glasses, benefit everyone by improving efficiency and convenience. The author, a blind person, highlights how these tools enhance their daily life and emphasizes the need for a more inclusive perspective on accessibility.

Google TalkBack version 16.2 introduces several new features, including text formatting reporting, a double-tap gesture for voice dictation with Gboard, and Browse Mode for quick web page navigation. The Enhanced keymap is required for Browse Mode and offers customizable shortcuts. Additional features include gesture assignments for date, time, and battery percentage, split tap to activate focused items, and an option to announce keyboard keys faster.

The author explores the characteristics that make accessibility overlays problematic, focusing on toolbars, automated accessibility fixes, and unethical marketing. The author argues that toolbars should not imply support for specific disabilities, automated fixes should be purpose-built and not generalized, and marketing should not mislead users about compliance. The author uses their own WP Accessibility plugin and Elementor’s A11y plugin as examples to illustrate these points.

Hannah, a young employee, discovered a way to reimage thin clients in-house, saving her company £600 per device and six weeks of downtime. Her boss, recognizing the cost savings, allowed her to play her new Nintendo GameCube at work while overseeing the process.

A few thoughts on the idea that domains should be everyone’s “internet handles”.

Starting January 20, 2026, Amazon will allow authors to offer DRM-free ebooks in EPUB and PDF formats through Kindle Direct Publishing. Authors can opt-in to this feature for their existing titles by changing the DRM status in the KDP author portal.

Kim Kardashian failed the California bar exam after apprenticing for over six years. A lawyer cited ChatGPT’s usage policies in a wrongful-death complaint, highlighting the importance of understanding AI limitations. A Crooked Beverage Company co-founder faces felony theft charges for allegedly stealing over $75,000.

Leo, an IT support worker in the early 1990s, accidentally used a high-priority queue to run a job, completing it much faster than expected. This discovery led to a change in procedure, allowing the night shift to verify job outputs and close files, improving efficiency and resilience.

Contribute to svanichkin/say development by creating an account on GitHub.

A design agency client wanted to implement a “fuck off contact page,” prioritizing aesthetics over user experience. Despite the designer’s objections, the client’s vision prevailed, leading to a disappointing outcome. The designer reflects on the importance of educating clients about the design process and the potential pitfalls of discounted pricing.

Note: Writing Tools aren’t designed to work with this type of content.

A VPS was hacked, causing high CPU usage due to a crypto miner. The attacker exploited a vulnerability in Umami, a self-hosted analytics service. The user took steps to secure the server, including removing Prometheus, updating Umami, and adding a Hetzner Firewall.

The author explored using Chrome’s on-device AI to generate random JSON objects based on a given name and JSON shape. They built a demo where users input a name and JSON structure, and the AI generates a random JSON object with sensible data. The author encountered challenges with the AI’s output format and used a library to generate JSON schemas from sample data, ultimately achieving near-perfect results.

A list of video games accessible to the blind is provided, categorized by level of accessibility. The list includes fully accessible games with audio description, mostly accessible games requiring sighted assistance or mods, and playable games without specific accessibility features. The list is a work in progress, and users are encouraged to share their experiences and suggest additional games.

How an XKCD comic led to teaching myself graph theory — a journey through NP-hard problems, PQ-trees, and layered graph algorithms.

Accessibility is not a purely technical problem that can be solved with code. It is about people and their varying needs, contexts, and expectations. While claiming something is “accessible” is not inherently bad, it is more honest to explain the specific accessibility features it offers.

Kohler’s Dekoda smart camera, which analyzes toilet bowl images for gut health advice, uses TLS encryption for data in transit, not end-to-end encryption as the company claims. This distinction is important for user privacy, as it implies Kohler can access the images. Kohler states that user data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and that algorithms are trained on de-identified data.

Micron is exiting the Crucial consumer business to focus on the more profitable AI-driven data centre market. While Crucial will close by February 2026, Micron will continue to support products under warranty.

New global research from Disability:IN and LinkedIn reveals a powerful workforce trend: professionals with disabilities are advancing- but often by switching firms to do so. Explore the research that will shape your workforce strategy for years to come.

Jim, a reader, recounts a time in the early 1990s when he worked for an online bookstore. While testing the new platform, Jim forgot to disable a site crawler’s ability to add items to the shopping cart, resulting in a cart worth over $50,000. This caused a major disruption for the bookstore, but Jim was able to fix the issue and keep his job.

On the space of minds and the optimizations that give rise to them.

1801 - Joseph Marie Jacquard uses punch cards to instruct a loom to weave "hello, world" into a tapestry. Redditers of the time are not imp...

AI large language models have been heralded as revolutionary in the world of accessibility. But in order to create a more accessible internet, those with disabilities need to be included in the process of training the technology, advocates say.

Welcome to watchTowr vs the Internet, part 68.

That feeling you’re experiencing? Dread. You should be used to it by now.

As is fast becoming an unofficial and, apparently, frowned upon tradition - we identified incredible amounts of publicly exposed passwords, secrets, keys and more for very sensitive environments

How about this for a truism: a book is a book, and something that is not a book is not a book. This post will knock your socks off if you are inclined to affirm this statement, because in medieval …

Grab yours while supplies last. Apple has launched a limited edition iPhone grip and stand, designed by Bailey Hikawa "through an extensive interview...

Two years ago, I wrote: Microsoft-the-company does not care about Infocom. But a lot of people in Microsoft must care. Microsoft is heavily populated by greying GenX nerds just like me. Folks who grew up with the first home computers and fondly ...

After reading the book The AWK Programming Language (recommended!), I was planning to try AWK out on this year’s Advent of Code. Having some time off from work this week, I tried to implement one of the problems in it to get some practice, set up my tooling, see how hard AWK would be, and… I found I’m FP-pilled.

Baltimore, MD (November 18, 2025): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is proud to announce a partnership with ElevenLabs, bringing the innovative ElevenReader platform to blind readers across the United States.

Download Art of Fauna: Cozy Puzzles by Klemens Strasser on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more games like Art of Fauna:…

Cloudflare suffered a service outage on November 18, 2025. The outage was triggered by a bug in generation logic for a Bot Management feature file causing many Cloudflare services to be affected.

All web developers know, at some level, that accessibility is important. But when push comes to shove, it can be hard to prioritize it above a bazillion other concerns when you’re trying to c…

According to a recent Google leak, we’re all to blame for poor quality search results. Summary and thoughts on Rand Fishkin's and Mike King's dropped dual reports on a large-scale leak of Google Search internal documentation for Content API Warehouse.