This page is within the scope ofWikiProject Accessibility, a group of editors promoting better access for disabled or otherwise disadvantaged users. For more information, such as what you can do to help, see the main project page.AccessibilityWikipedia:WikiProject AccessibilityTemplate:WikiProject AccessibilityAccessibility
Hello everyone, some of you might be interested in WikiNarrator, a new user script to read selected passages or whole articles aloud. More information on installation and usage can be found atUser:Phlsph7/WikiNarrator. Please let me know if you have new feature ideas for the script or encounter problems.Phlsph7 (talk)10:10, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Phlsph7 Apologies for the late reply, but this is a low traffic talk page and very few people watch this talk page. ButWikimedia Sverige is developing a MediaWiki extension calledWikispeech, a text-to-speech solution aimed at increasing accessibility of Wikipedia's articles.
Over atTemplate talk:Portal,Waddie96 suggested using empty alt tags for all portal icons, because the current usage (typicallyalt=icon oralt=flag adds verbal clutter to the experience of their screen reader.
Using a blank alt field is recommended by the W3C forpurely decorative images. I think portal icons qualify for that.
What do other editors think? Are there any unintended consequences of settingalt=|?
I have done quite a bit of work atBob Vylan. The duo use stage names Bobby and Bobbie, which I realized can cause problems with screen readers. I am not sure how this can be dealt with and seeking advice. Thanks. Please @ if you reply. ←Metallurgist (talk)20:40, 31 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Graham87 Is there a template that forces character reading that we could use? I am not that familiar with that space. I will have to look more into making pages more screen reader friendly. We considered using their real names to distinguish, but that isnt standard for stage names, or use their band role, but that would be awkward. ←Metallurgist (talk)04:43, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Metallurgist: Nope, there isn't. Wecan't even detect whether someone is using a screen reader. Again, I'd say don't worry about us ... there's no way to make it better for screen reader users without degrading the experience for other editors. There's also the fact that not all screen reader users use speech; some use Braille instead of or in addition to their speech synthesiser, and space is at a premium in Braille.Graham87 (talk)05:40, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Oh thats very interesting thank you for the information. Maybe I can insert something in the lede or names section that at least would clear it up. Its still a bit odd, even when you can see the names. My grandmother was actually a braille typist. Ive wanted to learn it. ←Metallurgist (talk)16:07, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Metallurgist: The only issue I see on the article is the disambiguation between Bobby, Bobbie, and whichever Bob is. I can see that a singular Bob is mentioned but there is no past disambiguating factor to who is the “Bob”.Cowboygilbert - (talk) ♥08:52, 1 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Bob singular is the duo together. Its a pun off Bob Dylan and "villain". They use stage names Bobby and Bobbie to further conflate themselves, but the joke is only apparent in written text. I honestly wouldnt even know how to explain it to someone without showing the names. As much as I dont like their views or antics, the wholeshtick is hilarious. ← Metallurgist (talk)03:14, 2 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]