I think that the inverse thesis is true, you make websites more accessible (a11y, wgac, aria labels etc) for humans, then the interaction heuristics are clearer for agents functioning off browser-use or similar. If a screen reader can understand your site, then an agent can. Reinventing the wheel to facilitate the current state of agents makes the web worse for everyone, it's not a preemptive move, it's actually a decline in almost objective and measurable quality, and potentially one which removes access to the internet by people who just want to.. use the internet.
This. The accessibility tree is a superpower for agents when it's good. Screenshots are "robust" but low performance. Like so many other things, making stuff better for humans indirectly makes it better for agents.
Comments
I think that the inverse thesis is true, you make websites more accessible (a11y, wgac, aria labels etc) for humans, then the interaction heuristics are clearer for agents functioning off browser-use or similar. If a screen reader can understand your site, then an agent can. Reinventing the wheel to facilitate the current state of agents makes the web worse for everyone, it's not a preemptive move, it's actually a decline in almost objective and measurable quality, and potentially one which removes access to the internet by people who just want to.. use the internet.
This. The accessibility tree is a superpower for agents when it's good. Screenshots are "robust" but low performance. Like so many other things, making stuff better for humans indirectly makes it better for agents.