[BRLTTY] Claude Code not using the native terminal's cursor

[Nicolas Pitre]

On Fri, 20 Mar 2026, Sébastien Hinderer wrote:

> I can imagine that BRLTTY could cope with such simulated cursors but
> it's not really satisfactory.

BRLTTY version 6.9 already contains support for this:

    When enabled via the "Soft Cursor Detection" preference, BRLTTY will 
    detect a soft cursor by finding screen cells with a unique 
    background color.

    The feature is disabled by default and can be enabled in the 
    Navigation submenu of the preferences menu.

Note that this is a best effort solution. If for example you quit Claude 
Code and restart another Claude Code session without clearing the screen 
content in between then you may end up with two "soft" cursors drawn on 
the screen and BRLTTY will not consider them due to the ambiguity. Or 
BRLTTY will continue to track the Claude Code cursor after you quit it 
if the real cursor ends up on the first column. Better be aware.
The workaround is easy: always clear the screen when quitting claude.

> Also, I am under the impression that, as much as Claude Code has a
> colorblind friendly mode, it could also have a screen reader friendly
> mode where it wouldn't use that many embllishment character and perhaps
> also have a more linear presentation, wiht less popping messages.

If you are feeling advanturous you could investigate alternative agents 
that support Claude (and often many other AI models), such as Aider or 
Cline. I didn't explore any of those possibilities but maybe some of 
them are more accessibility-friendly, or even Open Source and therefore 
fixable by yourself.

Personally I find the above BRLTTY feature sufficient for my tolerance 
level with Claude Code.

Oh, and I contributed patches to the kbd package so that Shift+Tab is 
properly supported on the linux console. No idea when it'll trickle down 
into distros though.


Nicolas