Feel free to correct me on any of my points, or even add to them.
Okay some notes to add:
The accessibility focused third party apps (Dystopia for iOS, Redreader for Android, there might be more) were granted exemptions to the API pricing, so they can continue to operate after the changes. Dystopia will also soon be available on the iOS App Store (as opposed to having to use Testflight) so as a silver lining it’ll be easier to access for users who need it, while Redreader is considering implementing Lemmy support.
Bots are in a weird place because most likely don’t exceed the API usage rates for the free tier - RemindMe Bot for example has explicitly stated it isn’t going to die with the changes, and that its usage is well under the free tier. I imagine smaller community-specific ones (like the wf subreddit ones) will similarly be far below the free tier limits.
For desktop, the mod tools extension (Toolbox) will remain in their current state, and RES expects to as well. Both projects have dwindling interest in continued development aside from basic maintenance though, certainly not helped by reddit’s increased hostility to developers. Newer reddit features also aren’t exposed to the api so Toolbox can’t integrate them them either.
tl;dr: Some small progress in accessibility concerns, not really enough. Reddit doesn’t deserve a medal for doing the bare minimum in not completely rejecting every blind user from using their service, though noting what they’re doing on that front (good and bad) still matters.
Okay some notes to add:
The accessibility focused third party apps (Dystopia for iOS, Redreader for Android, there might be more) were granted exemptions to the API pricing, so they can continue to operate after the changes. Dystopia will also soon be available on the iOS App Store (as opposed to having to use Testflight) so as a silver lining it’ll be easier to access for users who need it, while Redreader is considering implementing Lemmy support.
Bots are in a weird place because most likely don’t exceed the API usage rates for the free tier - RemindMe Bot for example has explicitly stated it isn’t going to die with the changes, and that its usage is well under the free tier. I imagine smaller community-specific ones (like the wf subreddit ones) will similarly be far below the free tier limits.
For desktop, the mod tools extension (Toolbox) will remain in their current state, and RES expects to as well. Both projects have dwindling interest in continued development aside from basic maintenance though, certainly not helped by reddit’s increased hostility to developers. Newer reddit features also aren’t exposed to the api so Toolbox can’t integrate them them either.
tl;dr: Some small progress in accessibility concerns, not really enough. Reddit doesn’t deserve a medal for doing the bare minimum in not completely rejecting every blind user from using their service, though noting what they’re doing on that front (good and bad) still matters.