Appreciation and Feedback on Accessibility Improvements in KDE Plasma 6.4

[Nate Graham]

Hello Chase,

Thank you so much for the kind words! We have indeed been putting a lot 
of focus into accessibility lately, so I'm really happy to hear that 
Plasma 6.4 has been a notable improvement!

If you're looking to get involved, there's actually a somewhat large and 
important accessibility initiative that you could definitely help out 
with. We're making a push to get all KDE software compliant with EU 
Directive 2019/882; see 
https://invent.kde.org/teams/accessibility/collaboration/-/issues/30.

There are opportunities for development work, but a big part is just 
using the software with a critical eye to find what's non-compliant and 
write it down.

You can see the work-in-progress effort for Plasma itself here: 
https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-desktop/-/issues/149

Thanks again!

-- 
Nate Graham
KDE e.V. Board of Directors


On 6/20/25 7:25 PM, Chase Laird wrote:
> Dear KDE Team,
> 
> 
> I hope this message finds you well.
> 
> 
> I am writing to share my heartfelt appreciation and detailed feedback 
> regarding the recent KDE Plasma 6.4 release. As a visually impaired 
> user, computing poses unique challenges—particularly regarding effective 
> magnification and accessibility features. Over the years, I have 
> extensively used macOS, Windows, and numerous Linux distributions / 
> desktop environments, each offering varying degrees of success in 
> accessibility accommodations.
> 
> 
> With this experience in mind, I want to commend your team for 
> prioritizing accessibility in KDE Plasma. Unfortunately, many desktop 
> environments treat accessibility as an afterthought, often implementing 
> it in ways that inadvertently introduce more usability issues than they 
> resolve. For instance, using GNOME’s built-in magnification resulted in 
> severe screen tearing and a cumbersome experience across my multi- 
> monitor setup.
> 
> 
> However, upon migrating to KDE Plasma on my Arch Linux system, my 
> experience has dramatically improved. Initially, I set up magnification 
> using Fusuma gestures (three-finger swipe up/down for zoom control). 
> Imagine my delight upon discovering that KDE Plasma 6.4 now integrates 
> gesture-based magnification directly into the OS. This thoughtful 
> feature alone has significantly enhanced my daily computing experience, 
> and I am genuinely impressed by the smoothness, stability, and 
> intuitiveness of your implementation.
> 
> 
> Given the profound impact KDE Plasma’s accessibility features have had 
> on me personally, I am eager to contribute back to the KDE community. If 
> there are opportunities or initiatives within the KDE team dedicated to 
> accessibility testing, feedback, or development, I would greatly 
> appreciate the chance to offer my insights and assistance.
> 
> 
> Thank you again for your clear commitment to making Linux a more 
> inclusive platform. You have effectively ended my days of distro and DE 
> hopping, and for that, I am deeply grateful.
> 
> 
> Warm regards,
> 
> 
> Chase Laird