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Accessibility

The accessibility settings in the Catbird app, how this website is built for accessibility, and how to report a problem.

In the app

In Catbird, most of these are in Settings, then Accessibility.

Alt text

Require Alt Text Before Posting
Catbird won’t post your images or video until each one has a description.
Display Larger Alt Text Badges
Makes the ALT badge on described images bigger.

When you write alt text, you can select text from the image to copy it into the description. On iOS 26 devices with Apple Intelligence, you can also generate a draft description on the device.

Motion

Reduce Motion
Turns off animations in the app.
Prefer Cross-fade Transitions
With Reduce Motion on, uses short fades instead of sliding transitions.
Auto-play Videos
Turn it off and videos wait until you tap play.

Text and display

Increase Contrast
Raises the contrast of text.
Bold Text
Uses a heavier weight for text.
Font Style, Font Size and Line Spacing
Choose System, Serif, Rounded or Monospace type, a size from Small to Extra Large, and tight, normal or relaxed spacing.

Catbird follows the text size you set in the iOS Settings app (Accessibility, then Display & Text Size) in most places, and you can cap how large it gets. Some screens still use fixed text sizes and don’t change size yet.

Reading

Show Reading Time Estimates
Shows how many minutes a longer post takes to read.
Highlight Links
Makes links in posts stand out, with color, an underline or both.

Interaction

Confirm Before Actions
Asks before you unfollow someone, mute a person or mute a thread.
Disable Haptic Feedback
Turns off the app’s haptic feedback (the small vibrations when you tap).

Appearance

App Theme
System, Light or Dark. System follows your device.
Dark Mode Style
Dim, a soft dark grey, or True Black.

These two are in Settings, then Appearance.

This website

catbird.blue aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA. Each of the site’s main pages is checked with automated accessibility tests in all seven of its color themes. Automated tests can’t catch everything, so reports from people who use the site are the best way to find what they miss.

  • The site is built for keyboard use: a skip link jumps to the main content, and the focused control always has a visible outline.
  • If you turn on Reduce Motion on your device, the site drops movement and uses fades instead.
  • If you turn on Reduce Transparency, the see-through header becomes solid.
  • Windows contrast themes are supported: the site switches to your system colors.
  • Pages fit screens as narrow as 320 pixels without sideways scrolling, and text can be zoomed.

Display settings

At the bottom of every page, under Display:

AppearanceSystem, Light, Dim, Black
System follows your device: Light when it’s light, Dim when it’s dark. Dim and Black match the app’s two dark themes.
Increase ContrastSystem, On
System switches to a high-contrast theme whenever your device’s increase-contrast setting is on. On uses it all the time. The high-contrast themes include the color-blind safe colors too.
Color-Blind SafeOff, On
Replaces the reds and greens used for likes, reposts, errors and confirmations with colors that stay distinct for common types of color blindness. Every state also has an icon and a word, so color is never the only signal.

Your choice is saved in this browser only. The display settings need JavaScript; without it, the site uses the Light theme. High Contrast and Color-Blind Safe are themes of this website; in the app, use Increase Contrast in Settings, then Accessibility.

Report a problem

If something in the app or on this site is hard or impossible to use, including with VoiceOver, Voice Control, Switch Control or another assistive technology, please report it. Say which screen or page, your device and iOS or browser version, and what you use to get around.