Mastodon and accessibility

[kayre]

I've been a bit of a whiny mess regarding Mastodon. I'd like to be part of it, but I use the web interface on a laptop, and there is no control over appearance (except I think a dark/light option). The font size is incredibly small, and can't be changed. And responses to pleas for help have been that I should use an app on my phone and quit complaining, which makes me feel SO welcome (sarcasm).

I've just found Whalebird for Mac. It has font size adjustment, and many color theme options including custom. I still don't love it, and bad feelings linger, but I think it might make Mastodon *possible* for me.

Note: I don't consider myself visually impaired. I can read a standard paperback book. Mastodon is like trying to read the fine print on a contract-- all the time.

Not posting a link because I'm not happy with my current choice.

Comments

[amaebi]

I'm so glad!

[gingicat]

Good grief. Discord at least has a desktop app.

[raynedanser]

I'm not over enthused about Mastadon and as I was never a huge Twitter user, I may just abandon the accounts. I've already been at Tumblr and IG for ages and will keep it that way, but I don't think I'll be using Tumblr any differently than I do now.

[julian]

Yeah, I didn't get around to asking about it, so I don't have your unhappiness there, but the font and general presentation just makes me feel cramped.

Bleh.

[cellio]

I use the web interface on my desktop computer and don't want to use a separate application. (On my phone yeah, you have to, but the desktop computer is my primary interface.) I'm using a little browser zoom, which got me to a font size I could read, but I would also prefer to be able to adjust the color theme more. Especially after the recent update, if there's any difference between new and old notifications, I sure can't see it.

I've asked for help and gotten sympathy but not solutions, so far. I don't want to have to write my own CSS overrides; I'm not good enough at navigating tangled webs of styles and whatnot to reverse-engineer what I need. The "high contrast" theme works a little better for me than either of the others.

Edited to add: the web interface has two configurations that I've seen. One throws several columns of stuff at you and, for me, is an unholy mess. The other gives you one "pane" of content at a time, and you can switch what it shows you. If your server is using the former, look for a setting called "advanced web interface" and turn it off if you can. (If you can't, I would be highly annoyed at that server and find another. There's a not-Mastodon-but-similar site called Counter Social that takes this choice away, ick.)

[hitchhiker]

i'm not particularly enthused about mastodon but i'll probably drift onto there at some point if everyone else does, so it's nice to know that there are at least options for accessibility available. but i do hope you manage to find something you are actually happy with.