Screen Readers - Tumblr Posts
Man, it always sucks when I’m listening to a fic and the screen reader goes “doubleyou ach ay tee eye ess why oh you are eff ay vee oh are eye tee ee see oh ell oh are doubleyou ach ee are ee dee-”
And I pause it like what the fuck, then find my phone to look at the screen and I see “whatisyourfavoritecolorwhered-”
Like, bro, please, why would you do this?
Or when it starts going “EXEXEXEXEXEXEEEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEXEX!!” Because somebody didn’t use the code for a line break. At least just make it one dash, please.
Like, it’s your fic and your writing it for free and that’s cool, so if you see this and you’re like, “mmmm, nah, still gonna do it my way” then that’s chill.
Just know that it’s really difficult for people with screen readers to read some of these fics. Me personally, when I find a fic that does this, I don’t give it a chance no matter how good it is.
It’s disabled culture to put a bunch of typing quirks and fonts in your posts and then add plain text at the bottom nudge nudge
I didn't think of this originally while writing BUT using numbers instead of letters (eg "l1ke" or "lik3") actually messes with screen readers!! so please please please add translations!
heyhey! just letting some people know I really struggle reading "t3xt liek d1z" and "text like this" as I am dyslexic (it's especially bad when they're combined!) and was just wondering if it would be possible to add a translated version next to it for others who struggle reading it please?
eg "1 juzt had a cool azf ha1r day (I just had a cool asf hair day)"
on a VASTLY different note, my friends were all really sweet and accommodating when I needed to use a screenreader and couldn't see their images. They all put image descriptions and/or alt text with everything they posted until I could see right again. THIS is how to make the world accessible. THIS is the type of "oh alright here's a tool for you" mentality more people need
Shoutout to GTVS, yall are awesome
Well, that got reblogged to the wrong blog. Anyways analogy time.
A plumber is working a job. They need a wrench, but for whatever reason, they don't have one. So, they call a friend, co-worker, or even their client if they have a wrench. Once they are given a wrench, they can finish their job properly.
Accessibility tools are the wrench, and the plumber's job is life. We need these tools to live and function how we want to, but we can't always get them by ourselves. My wrench is screen readers, alt text, and image IDs. I can get myself a screen reader, but how can I make alt text or image IDs for something I can't see?
Wrenches can be substituted for mobility aids, service dogs, non-speaking communication alternatives, or anything else that makes life easier for people. Glasses, damnit. Those help many people see, but if they can't see their way to the optometrist, they can't get them
on a VASTLY different note, my friends were all really sweet and accommodating when I needed to use a screenreader and couldn't see their images. They all put image descriptions and/or alt text with everything they posted until I could see right again. THIS is how to make the world accessible. THIS is the type of "oh alright here's a tool for you" mentality more people need
Shoutout to GTVS, yall are awesome
funny tags I added to the above post because I couldn't see
[Image ID: A screenshot of tags on a tumblr post that read "when I wrote this last week I couldn't see, so I typed "Blease" instead of "Please". on a post about screen readers and alt text i forgot to use my screen reader to proofread. End ID]
A note to anyone able. Please add alt text or image descriptions to posts. If you can't make your own, ask someone else to by putting something like "please add image ID"
They're very important for those who can't see an image if they want to know what's in the picture. I get my eyes dilated about once a year and then can't see properly for about two (2) days. I rely on screen readers and text to speech during that time. Others use those methods permanently. Accessibility is not optional. add image IDs
I like to add visual effects to my writing, but I know that some details can be difficult for people with disabilities like dyslexia or visual impairment. I want to keep my blog accessible to everyone, so I was wondering; how does glitchy text like T̵͇́h̵̤̏i̷̭͘s̴̠̔ (this) work with a screen reader? If it interferes too much, I want to find a work around, but I'm not opposed to not using them at all if need be.
; loving the new-ish trend of hey everyone let's use fancy fonts that are really hard to read for anyone but especially dyslexic people, anyone in the blind community, screen reader users and people who get headaches trying to focus on things too long, etc. Whoo !! This is a great idea that won't effect anyone !! /s
; also I'm not trying to police how y'all live your lives, that's stupid. I'm js saying stop saying you're supportive of disabled ppl and neurodivergents, etc, and then do stuff that directly inconveniences or js fucks w their day yk ?? Or especially in spaces that are supposed to be accessible. You don't know how many " disabled & neurodivergent friendly !! " discords I've been in, only for half the members there to have ridiculously fancy fonts and cursive in their bios and names and the channel names, etc. Like ?? That's not very accessible of you considering I can't read that, and so many others can't read that.
; loving the new-ish trend of hey everyone let's use fancy fonts that are really hard to read for anyone but especially dyslexic people, anyone in the blind community, screen reader users and people who get headaches trying to focus on things too long, etc. Whoo !! This is a great idea that won't effect anyone !! /s
If you're against self diagnosis, that's ableist. If you're against neopronouns and xenogenders, that's ableist (neurotypical allistics use those things as well, but it's commonly used as a tool by neurodivergent people to express their gender. Myself included).
If you preach about 'narcissistic abuse', you're being ableist. If you say autism isn't a disability, that's ableism (it's a spectrum disorder for a reason!) if you fakeclaim people, that's fucking ableist.
If you use a crazy font or typing quirk and don't provide plain text translations, that's ableist, and so is not adding banner IDs for your DNI banners and similar stuff. Edit for this one: if you can't do these things for any reason, that isn't being ableist; I mostly had people who refuse to do these things cuz it'll ruin their 'aesthetic' in mind.
Feel free to add on.
My god, whoever on @staff fixed the badge image descripments, THANK YOU! It was awful trying to read posts, especially by popular authors with a lot of badges, and get trapped in literally over a minute of "badge image badge image badge image..." when I couldn't get to my phone to skip it. That sucked so hard! Now it just says "three badges" or "sixteen badges" and it is so much nicer! Thank you for fixing that!
Is it problematic to feel proud when doing something to make stuff more accessible? Especially my posts, I feel like me adding things like adding Image ID's and similar things should be expected of everyone, but whenever I complete one I feel slightly prideful, and then guilty because even though I've never posted art anywhere before and I've never had to describe art before it is kinda the Bare Minimum of what I might be able to do. Also, I feel like even though I'm glad that people who need Image ID'S can now experience my art more easily, part of me thinks it's selfish to expect people who use Image ID'S and screen readers and the like to even enjoy my creations.