Adding accessibility features to my Mac crossword app

Submitted by Daniel Jalkut on Friday, June 14, 2019.

Forum

macOS and Mac Apps

Hello - I am the developer of a Mac crossword app called Black Ink: https://red-sweater.com/blackink/

Unfortunately this app is not even moderately accessible. I've wanted to add VoiceOver support for a long time but have been daunted by the challenges of presenting the 2D crossword grid, clues, letter values, etc., in a meaningful way that is not too overwhelming.

I'm committing to add VoiceOver support for the forthcoming 2.0 update and I am asking anybody who is interested to help advise me about accessibility features to join me on my company's Slack community. If you're interested you can read more on my blog:

https://red-sweater.com/blog/3483/accessible-crosswords

Thanks for considering it!
Daniel

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Comments

The Slack invite page was not working

I realized that for the past day or more the Slack invite page I linked to from that blog post was not working. If you tried to sign up for my Slack team and it didn't work, pleas give it another shot!

https://red-sweater.com/beta/slack.php

I'm very interested

Hi, Daniel. I sent a message on the accessibility channel on the site. I just discovered your blog post, and I'd love to beta test, discuss, etc. I know there is a crossword app for windows from spoonbill games. I don't have a Windows computer, and i think it would be great to have a Mac OS app. thanks for your interest in making accessible apps. I'm looking forward to some great "crosswording" on my computer. :)

Hi Teresa

Thanks for the enthusiasm! As I mentioned on the Red Sweater Slack, I'm getting closer to a solution for the app to make the crossword grid accessible. I'm running into problems but sorting the issues out bit by bit. I hope to have something concrete to share soon!