annaecook

When someone realizes their Gen AI code is causing a bunch of accessibility bugs and needs me to explain why

It was the worst of times it was the worst of times

Oh sure, everyone believes Anthropic when they say Claude is now conscious and has “anxiety”

But when I say I have anxiety it’s all “have you tried mindfulness”

The internet in 2026

I’m getting better at not getting super cranky when people ignore accessibility guidance I give them.

But some days I wanna go “IM TRYING TO HELP YOU WHY ARE YOU RUNNING”

“Amazon holds engineering meeting following AI-related outages

The online retail giant said there had been a ‘trend of incidents’ in recent months, characterised by a ‘high blast radius’ and "Gen-AI assisted changes"

We’ve been saying this for years, Gen AI is not a reliable engineering tool! 🥲

When I first met my partner, I got upset bc the way they texted made me think they were using AI to respond to me.

I asked about it and was incorrect.

My partner just responds to each individual text and is very sweet and complimentary.

Quite literally, my partner seemed too good to be true

Hey prediction markets are just insider trading for elected officials and you will always lose hope this helps

All I’ll say is I’ve left MySpace, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I’ll happily abandon any platform if you’re enshittifying it 👹

98% of the time people see me and my bright blue hair and I get immediate compliments.

2% of the time some old white guys see me and look at me like an alien that just walked in

I was telling someone about the protests in New Jersey trying to stop the creation of a detention center.

But I paused because for a moment I couldn’t remember if it was a detention or data center.

So there’s that

My partner got (reasonably) annoyed with me and I responded emphatically (and jokingly) with “how could you it’s international women’s day”

I got a LinkedIn DM from someone who politely asked a fun question about if I’m a UI Jedi.

And I am cackling because now I feel the urge to explain the history of the Jedi order and how it’s actually bad 😂

Just neurotypical things

Despite tech excitedly backing Anthropic for making a statement, AI was leveraged in identifying targets by the U.S.

My theory is this a big part of why children were killed and many of the leaders Trump wanted as backup were killed too.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/03/04/anthropic-ai-iran-campaign/

POV you wanted a nap but did not offer enough pets beforehand

My favorite part of using the internet is the countless authentication codes.

That's 90% of using the internet now, what fun for us all

Most days I think that, in the long term, the people fighting for a better world will win.

But some days I wake up and wonder if that’s just misguided hope.

Ultimately, it doesn’t change what I do. Because I’ve been in “give up” before and I can’t live like that.

Block laid off 4k employees, attributing it to AI gains.

But we’ve seen this a lot the past few years in tech.

Execs layoffs many, say it’s AI, stocks go up, no one is left to actually maintain/improve the product.

AI isn’t doing what they say. It’s enshittifation and they hope you won’t notice.

I set an appointment in my calendar an hour early so I would remember to leave early.

I forgot that it was set early

I left early but put in the wrong address in my map, ended up at wrong location.

Then tried to call and cancel bc I thought I was late

And I was told I’d be there 30 mins early

A tech drag king named “drag and drop”

I’m reading the Autism Relationship Handbook and as I accidentally stim at work at my desk

A passage comes to mind that went something along the lines of “stimming doesn’t hurt anyone while many other coping mechanisms people have do, so why do we have social stigma around stimming?”

I don’t need to watch SOTU to have an old man yell at me about his petty grievances and bid for attention with clumsy lies.

I have Felix for that, and I firmly believe he’s a much better living soul.

Now you have him too.

My partner watched my talk today.

Then this evening after many chores strolled into my office and said “I learned from a very smart woman today not to overwork myself or I’ll burn out”

To which I asked “who the hell is this woman?”

😉

It’s the first week of RTO, you know what that means

Rammstein full blast with noise cancelling headphones

Thanks folks for joining! I am overwhelmed with kind mentions, it means the world to me. 💙

I also want to ask you all how I can best translate this talk to written format.

Do you want one big post? Multiple snippets? Toolkits?

What’s most useful for you?

www.youtube.com/live/wa9pFfR...
https://www.youtube.com/live/wa9pFfRcl-w?si=JXU0XVLPWKJWEKcN

Hey folks 25 mins till my talk starts! It’s free and online, and I’ll make sure we have some fun today! 🖤

www.deque.com/axe-con/sess...
https://www.deque.com/axe-con/sessions/accessibility-in-the-end-of-deterministic-design-again/

I'm sorry I can't hear you over rehearsing my keynote presentation 50 times before the event

Nurse practitioner specialist recommended another / new for me neurodivergent assessment lol

Like well damn I’m ending up like the lucky charms of neurodivergence with all the shapes possible

I disdain accessibility "modes"

Segmented experiences are indicators of poor design + a lack of understanding about accessibility

Accessibility is product infrastructure.

Even if the "mode" offers additional functionality, the label alone obscures meaning for many users who need accessibility.

I launched a newsletter called Focus State. Turns out that name was already taken. That’s on me!

Rather than carry confusion forward, I renamed it.

Welcome to Digital Arcana: where I explore accessibility, product design, and design systems as one practice.

annaecook.com/writing/2026...
https://annaecook.com/writing/2026/2/13/from-focus-state-to-digital-arcana

RFK Jr was on a podcast saying he used to snort cocaine off toilet seats.

Meanwhile, I’m worried I don’t come across as professional enough if I use too many exclamation points in an email.

Saw a really cool hover effect and made this meme depicting me at work (I am goose)