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The 11th edition of the @webaim.bsky.social Screen Reader User Survey is now live! This is a vital resource into better understanding how people who use screen readers actually operate your website or app. webaim.org/projects/scr... My commentary on it as a thread 🧵 #a11y

For region, a reminder that it's the World Wide Web, not the wealthy Western web. This breakdown is a complicated mix of factors—too large for Bluesky. Here, we should not forget at the end of the day that it's people who use this technology regardless of location. webaim.org/projects/scr...

For self-reported disability, I hope the data of the 5.2% of not identifying was discarded. I view this survey as collecting information from daily users, information from people who don't rely on the technology could unnecessarily skew the results. webaim.org/projects/scr...

I'm glad they capture disability types. It's a great reminder that screen reader use is not exclusively for fully blind individuals, and also not exclusively for vision-related disabilities. I wish more people knew this. webaim.org/projects/scr...

Self-reported proficiency is always a fun one. Setting selection bias aside for the moment: It's a good reminder that just because something can technically be accessed and operated via some obscure command that it doesn't necessarily mean someone knows about said command. webaim.org/projects/scr...

Same general thoughts for internet proficiency. People who are more online probably have a better chance of being aware of, and filling out this survey. webaim.org/projects/scr...

If you're on a desktop or laptop, it's going to be Windows. This is incredibly important in that JAWS and NVDA have different modes of operation compared to VoiceOver. Most people only test on macOS out of convenience, but it is not reflective of majority experience. webaim.org/projects/scr...

(I will leave the politicking of JAWS and its apparent increasing usage out of this thread)

Browser used is directed more towards auditors and testers. Some of the old "canonical" screen reader and browser pairings might not be as commonplace anymore, so testing scripts might need to be updated to more closely reflect reality. webaim.org/projects/scr...

The need to work without JavaScript isn’t solely about accessibility. This post gives some of the reasons why people might turn off JavaScript or (much more likely) be in situations where JavaScript isn’t working or (even more likely) not working yet. gomakethings.com/articles/why...

Yep! I'm a big proponent of progressive enhancement, but wanted to leave it separate to this thread in that I've seen consultants demand the entire experience needs to work without JS enabled in order to "be accessible". It's a non-starter and hurts the overall perception of the practice.

The main reason for use is a good reminder that at the end of the day it is people who use the technology. The same reason why you're loathe to change your browser is the main reason why most people stay with the screen reader they are most comfortable with. webaim.org/projects/scr...

People use screen readers on their phone, another thing I wish more people knew. WebAIM's comment on the correlation between proficiency and mobile OS is also worth noting. Cheap phones run Android, and disabled people are more likely to live in poverty. webaim.org/projects/scr...

100% conjecture on my part, but I wonder if the increase in LLM-powered coding has contributed towards people moving away from mobile apps. LLMs produce inaccessible code by default, and the web is far more malleable—barriers can be overcome via extensions and the like. webaim.org/projects/scr...