AccessiWeather

A free desktop weather app. For the casual check-in or the deep dive.

AccessiWeather brings forecasts, alerts, and detailed weather data into one open-source desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It keeps current conditions, daily forecast, hourly forecast, and alerts in clearly separated sections so you can jump straight to what you need with speech, braille, or the keyboard.

User Manual

For setup instructions, everyday workflows, settings, troubleshooting, and weather-source guidance, see the full User Manual.

Highlights

• Accessible desktop weather designed for screen readers and keyboard use
• Separate Current Conditions, Daily Forecast, Hourly Forecast, and Weather Alerts sections
• Support for US and international locations
• Forecast discussions, weather history, air quality, UV, aviation weather, and NOAA Weather Radio
• Optional AI explanations and Weather Assistant chat through OpenRouter
• Optional notification sounds and sound packs

Weather Sources

AccessiWeather supports three providers:

• National Weather Service (NWS): best for US forecasts, US alerts, and forecast discussions
• Open-Meteo: global no-key forecast coverage
• Pirate Weather: optional key, global alerts, minutely precipitation, moon phase, and summary-style forecasts

Automatic mode

Automatic is the default source mode.

• Default behavior is Max coverage, a fusion-first mode that combines all enabled and available sources for the current region.
• Economy and Balanced are optional reduced-call modes.
• US and international automatic source lists are configured separately.
• Automatic mode follows your saved source ordering.
• US alerts use NWS as the authoritative source when available.
• International alerts use Pirate Weather when it is available.

For the full explanation of source behavior, see the User Manual.

Optional API Keys

AccessiWeather works without paid services, but some features need optional keys:

• Pirate Weather: global alerts, minutely precipitation, Dark Sky-style summaries
  • https://pirate-weather.apiable.io/
• OpenRouter: Explain Weather and Weather Assistant
  • https://openrouter.ai/keys
• AVWX: optional extra support for international aviation weather
  • https://account.avwx.rest

API keys are stored in your system keyring by default. In portable mode, encrypted API key bundles are used instead.

Install

Prebuilt downloads

Download builds from:

• https://orinks.net/accessiweather
• https://github.com/Orinks/AccessiWeather/releases

Packages currently include:

• Windows: MSI installer or portable ZIP
• macOS: DMG
• Linux: run from source

Run from source

Python 3.11 or newer is required. The recommended source setup uses uv.

Recommended, using uv:

git clone https://github.com/Orinks/AccessiWeather.git
cd AccessiWeather
uv sync
uv run accessiweather

Alternative, using a virtual environment:

git clone https://github.com/Orinks/AccessiWeather.git
cd AccessiWeather
python -m venv .venv

Activate the environment:

# Windows PowerShell
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

# macOS/Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

Then install and run:

pip install -e ".[dev]"
accessiweather

Portable mode:

accessiweather --portable

Build from source

For release-style local builds, use the Nuitka build script. This is the path used by GitHub Actions.

uv sync --extra build
uv run python installer/build_nuitka.py

Build outputs are written to dist/. Current outputs are:

• Windows: installer .exe and portable .zip
• macOS: app .zip
• Linux: portable .tar.gz

Platform notes:

• Windows installer builds require Inno Setup 6.
• macOS builds must be run on macOS.
• Linux builds need the GTK/wxPython system packages for your distribution.

For a simpler local PyInstaller build, installer/build.py is still available:

uv run python installer/build.py

More build options are documented in installer/README.md.

Quick start

1. Launch AccessiWeather.
2. Add your first location when prompted, or later with Ctrl+L.
3. Leave the weather source on Automatic unless you want a specific provider.
4. Refresh to load current conditions, forecast, and alerts.
5. Open the User Manual for detailed settings and troubleshooting help.

Documentation

• User Manual
• Accessibility Guide
• Sound Pack System
• Update System

Support

• https://github.com/Orinks/AccessiWeather/issues
• https://github.com/Orinks/AccessiWeather/discussions
• https://orinks.net/accessiweather
• https://github.com/Orinks/AccessiWeather/releases

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md and AGENTS.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.