Is Stack Exchange accessible for the blind and visually impaired and what can be done to improve it?

Question

Some time ago, I raised a question on Stack Overflow asking for text-based browser support. In the comment section, user Shane triggered a small, nonetheless important discussion, and I quote:

It should also be noted that making a site usable in textmode non-js browsers also tends to improve the usability of the sites for blind users. And trust me, there's a lot of those folks out there, and they all surf the web. [Ref. here]

Paraphrasing Cássio Renan's response: Stack Exchange is trying to welcome minorities and the blind and visually impaired are for sure a minority.

As I am fortunate to be not visually impaired, I cannot judge the accessibility of the Stack Exchange for those who are. However, I do see the fundamental importance of it. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to start a discussion on this topic by the following question:

How difficult is it to access the content of the Stack Exchange network for the blind and visually impaired and what can be done to improve it?

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Related questions:

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Answer 1

I use a screen reader and visit Stack Overflow mostly. So, I can chime in for how things stand now (early 2022).

For consuming information, the site is minimalistic and quite a trial to navigate. The main issue seems to be the lack of HTML based on semantic structure. Since I fall into advanced screen reader users, I can overcome some of the usability issues, but it is still a serious time sink to develop these tactics. I would love to skip links and "copy" functions for code. Also, a way to navigate major contribution entries (like each answer). I personally have not used the up/down voting feature as context is too hard to determine if I got the correct controls.

As for contributing, I am finding some huge issues. I am new to this facet so I may be missing something, but this just highlights that things just aren't obvious. For me, it is the SE editor. In my experiences so far, it is unusable. I edit my text outside and cut and paste into the editor and pray.

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I have turned on keyboard shortcuts in preferences as well as the alpha editor. And now I am editing.

Thus far, the shortcut keys for "navigation" of the page is not working, and I have found another person providing even further details on this. I believe there has been some improvements since the linked post, but the bulk remains true. See this post: Stack Exchange's keyboard shortcuts are not accessible to visually impaired users.

My attempt to use the editor to improve this answer illustrated the focus conflicts in impressive detail. When I had an unchanged buffer, I could use standard navigation (line and word movements) and even text selection. But as soon as a single change happened, the experience went wild and became unpredictable, and I fled to an outside editor to get this editing done. Perhaps someone can point me to a sandbox-like way to testing the contribution features without confusing the community with a "stunt" question/post?

In summary, the editor jumps out of editing mode if I use any cursor navigation. If I did manage to keep it from disengaging the screen reader, then it is super simple to "navigate" out of the editor section and jump out of editing mode again. So, you spend tons of time just trying to fix a typo due to all the state jumps happening from the screen reader trying to figure something out in the madness.

Answer 2

To chime in with some updates, we hear you and agree that we can and should do better.

This year we have engaged some external firms to help us identify and plan ways to rectify our current shortcomings around our goal to make our Stack Exchange sites as universally accessible as possible. We shared these thoughts with all of Product, Design, Engineering, and Community teams as well as plans for how we can not only address past mistakes, but make sure anything new we add will have accessibility in mind. Part of this presentation was actually showing the path a user would take to navigate questions and then post one of their own using a screen reader; it really put a spotlight on how difficult it can be currently.

Our focus is to be proactive going forward, but currently going through these findings and starting to correct current problems. We appreciate input from the community as we keep trying to be a more open and equitable platform to enable each other.

Answer 3

@rene contributed an excellent comment regarding copy-editing practices that I think is worth highlighting in the form of an answer:

Apart from software features there is at least one aspect where we as a community and creators of the content should pay attention to: enter an image description when you use an image. It is not just a matter of prodding SE to do the right thing.

I invite someone with specific expertise on this matter to elaborate further.

@AsteroidsWithWings commented the edit instructions contain the following sentence:

Be sure to include meaningful alt text for screen-reading software.

However, this seems like "a needle in a haystack", even if you notice it the importance may not be evident to many readers. Looking at the FAQ, there's one post that added a more elaborate note in 2017.

Answer 4

How difficult is it to access the content of the Stack Exchange network for the visually impaired[?]

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but... the current situation on SE isn't great. I've made multiple reports here on Meta.SE complaining about the lack of accessibility in certain areas; for instance, in the keyboard accessibility of the site (there were a lot of things that couldn't be accessed without the mouse) and repeatedly including images without alt text.

[W]hat can be done to improve it?

Fortunately, the SE team is often willing to address problems when they're reported (although there are multiple outstanding reports), including trying to make the design system accessible. So if you come across something that can be improved, make a bug report here on Meta.SE and include the accessibility tag, there's a decent chance it'll get fixed for a small issue.

(Larger requests, like the fact that chat is entirely inaccessible, or suggestions to turn on keyboard shortcuts if people are tabbing around, have so far been met with radio silence.)