> have noticeable accent

It is weird that you picked this example. HN is dominated by folks working in technology. Depending upon where you work, a large minority of your co-workers probably have a "noticeable accent". Do you really think it still matters in 2026? I am forever trying to tell non-native English speakers who are concerned that their accent makes them sound dumb: For educated native English speakers, we don't care about your accent; we care about what you are saying.