So, the browser company has launched Arc browser on Windows, and I was impressed that despite running using Swift code, it's running smoothly and behaving kind of okay with NVDA screen reader.
I do like the most frequently visited websites becoming just permanent tabs on my browser, which is how Arc seems to behave currently. I wouldn't want it for my primary browser, but I could see Arc becoming my default reading browser, where it's sole job is to keep all the websites I like to glance through on my fingertips.
Yes, other browsers and RSS readers can also do that job, perhaps even better than arc, but I find reading the actual website is just sometimes more smoother. Hell any bookmarks bar can do this job, any pinned tabs feature can do this job. But there's something nice about having a dedicated browser who's sole function is to keep certain tabs available all the time.
For the gripes, the setup is technically touchless, no next/agree buttons, so not going to harp on that, just saying that the install progress is unreported. For more Sirius bugs, the first-run experience has certain options regarding importing bookmarks and passwords, and they are inaccessible. I managed to push through with the help of NVDA's OCR and bit of just random luck.
Further, the buttons on the sidebar are unlabled, the address bar is launched by pressing ctrl+l, not alt+d like any other browser, and to know those keyboard shortcuts, you have to Google Arc browser keyboard shortcuts.
Switching between tabs is also using alt+ctrl+arrow keys, which conflicts with NVDA's table navigation commands. Entering focus mode and performing those shortcuts directly sends those commands to browser, bypassing NVDA, so that works, only in focus mode.
Overall, it was impressive that something like this would be even usable to this extent out of box with screen readers, but I think a large credit goes to the chromium engine behind Arc.
I am more excited about other companies taking advantage of The browser company's work, porting Swift code to Windows, which is made open-source by the browser company for anyone's use. May be this can help reduce developer pain of creating multiple versions of apps for multiple operating systems.
By SeasonKing, 30 April, 2024
Forum
Windows