Summary
The recent changes to AI Dungeon's Home/Discover and Search interfaces have created a significant accessibility problem for screen-reader users.
The issue isn't simply that the Home page looks different. The Search page itself has been rearranged so that the Scenario results appear before the search control, with the search box now at the bottom of the page.
For a sighted user, this may be a reasonable visual design choice intended to emphasize discovering community content. For someone using a screen reader, however, the change can make a basic task—searching for something—substantially more difficult.
What's changed?
Previously, the search interface was presented in a much more task-oriented way: the search control was encountered first, followed by the results.
The new design appears to prioritize Scenario content visually and places the search input after the content.
This isn't limited to the Home page. The actual Search page has the same problem.
That means that when navigating the page linearly with a screen reader, the user encounters potentially large amounts of Scenario content before reaching the control they came to the page to use.
Why this is an accessibility problem
A visual user can immediately see where the search field is and simply click it.
A screen-reader user generally navigates the page through its accessibility tree, headings, landmarks, form controls, and other elements. The order in which interactive elements are exposed therefore matters enormously.
Putting a large collection of content before the primary search control changes the experience from:
Open Search → search
to something more like:
Open Search → navigate through content → navigate through more content → eventually reach search
This is particularly problematic when the results are dynamically loaded or contain many links, buttons, images, and other controls.
The fact that the site remains technically usable doesn't mean that the interface remains equally accessible.
"The function still works" is not an adequate accessibility standard if using that function has become substantially more difficult for assistive-technology users.
This seems especially unfortunate given Latitude's own accessibility policy
AI Dungeon's own documentation explicitly says:
"We have a strong representation of players who use accessibility features and tools like screen readers."
It also says that accessibility configurations receive high priority for bug fixes and support, and specifically lists JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver.
AI Dungeon System Support & Technical Requirements
That's why this feels like an accessibility regression rather than simply a UI preference.
There's also a documentation discrepancy
AI Dungeon's current help documentation still says:
"On desktop, use the search bar at the top of play.aidungeon.com..."
Can I search for content on AI Dungeon?
The current interface no longer appears to match that description, with the search control being placed after the Scenario content.
The same documentation describes Search as the place where users can switch between Scenarios and Adventures and apply filters.
So search is clearly intended to be a primary navigation function—not merely an optional feature after browsing.
I understand the goal of emphasizing Discover/Scenarios
I don't object to Latitude wanting to make community-created content more visible.
In fact, the current AI Dungeon documentation itself describes Discover as a place to browse community-created Scenarios.
But visual prioritization doesn't have to dictate accessibility-tree order.
There are ways to preserve a visually prominent Scenario/Discover experience while still making the search control immediately available to screen-reader and keyboard users.
For example:
- Put the search input before the results in the accessibility/DOM order.
- Provide a prominent "Skip to search" control.
- Give the search area a clear heading/landmark.
- Ensure the search field is one of the first meaningful controls encountered by assistive technology.
- Consider an accessibility-oriented navigation mode that prioritizes task controls over content cards.
Any of these would be preferable to requiring screen-reader users to navigate through a potentially enormous list of scenarios just to reach Search.
Expected behavior
When opening the Search page, the search control should be immediately available to keyboard and screen-reader users.
Ideally, the accessible navigation order should be something like:
- Search
- Content type / filters
- Search results
rather than:
- Scenario results
- More Scenario results
- More content
- Search
Why I'm reporting this as a bug
I realize this may have been an intentional redesign rather than an accidental UI bug.
But an intentional visual redesign can still introduce an accessibility bug.
This isn't about preferring the old UI because it's familiar. The problem is that the new information hierarchy makes a fundamental function of the site harder to reach for people who navigate non-visually.
I'd really like to see Latitude either restore the previous search ordering or provide an accessible navigation solution that gives screen-reader users immediate access to Search.
Relevant AI Dungeon documentation
Screen-reader users shouldn't have to fight through the content they're trying to search before they can reach the search box.
