The Wayland Revolution: Accessibility in the Linux Desktop's Future

With X11's demise looming, Wayland is poised to become the future of the Linux desktop. This presents a significant challenge for users with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies, as early Wayland implementations suffered from severe accessibility issues. However, the situation is improving. GNOME is actively improving Wayland's accessibility support, and screen readers like Orca are becoming more responsive. While challenges remain, such as insufficient headless GUI support and compositor compatibility issues, developers are working to address these and build a more accessible Wayland ecosystem. This post calls for collaborative effort from developers and the community to ensure Wayland's future doesn't leave users with disabilities behind.