So just as a heads up about Ravelry:

* The new look is still the default.

* There is an option to change to the old look in the drop down menu from your ravatar, BUT the log in page remains the new one.

* The log in page is animated. Folks have asked to have this not animated. Today's response was "We slowed down the animation. We followed best practices for animation, but we are happy to slow it down." (It's in the first post of the accessibility feedback thread.)

* New Rav apparently has an animation when you buy a pattern. No comment so far from TPTB.

* They are "hoping" "some time this week" for Livia to get started on an accessibility survey.

I don't even know where to start with that.

* Here is a direct quote about something they are "hoping" to get to this week:

"We are looking at the line spacing, which is currently in the recommended range but which could be made tighter."

Again, don't even know where to start.

* Drop shadows won't be going away, but they want to make a profile setting to turn them off.

* They will be changing borders in the forum to grey today. That should be interesting, as they were already grey on my phone.

* They are hoping this week to add a profile setting to display the original new look font, your system's font, or Dyslexie.

Inter, the font initially used in the new look, doesn't render correctly on all devices, has a thin line weight, and uses a round a. I? Find it harder to read.

Last week, they said they changed things so that by default, new Rav would use your system font. There are multiple reports that this is not working correctly for folks.

* You aren't losing your mind. The logo color is coral, not cinnamon like it was called in the blog post. It is almost an exact match for the Pantone 2019 color of the year.

* Apparently the not descriptive "sneak peek" video was posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram too.

So far on Twitter, there is no comment past "We launched our new look today"

No blog/front page update on Rav either. All this is coming from the thread in FTLOR.

* Direct quote:

"For those of you who are having issues with the New Ravelry design, we’re truly sorry that aspects of the new design are not usable for you. (Con't in next tweet)

Working with you to improve those is our top priority, and you will find more information about what is in progress right now and what is upcoming below." (2/2 for the quote)

I won't say it there, because you can't swear on the main boards, but this is a fuckin shit show, friends.

That quote? Is the only apology-like substance that is apparently out there.

I and tons of others reported bugs and we have no idea if they are being tracked or anything.

There is apparently no willingness to revert to old Rav fully while the new one is either fixed or scrapped.

They are doing an 'accessibility survey' OVER A WEEK PAST ROLLOUT oh my gods

Never even mind all of the very specific and detailed feedback they have been given.

That supposedly has all been read and tracked.

Like yeah, those threads are a firehose. But you also turned 9 MILLION USERS IN TO BETA TESTERS.

For whatever reason, giving feedback feels like yelling in to the void right now.

And I mean, I am sure it is super upsetting to be so excited about this shiny new thing and have a lot of people go "this is AWFUL"

But you also RUN a BUSINESS.

That OTHER BUSINESSES DEPEND ON.

It took four days before they gave out the updated "how to link to us from your own webpage" info and icons!

There are people who actually make their living through pattern sales (not many, but there are.) There are a shit ton more who supplement income with pattern sales.

There are dyers who get sales through there.

And they made their new look give people migraines, nausea, eye strain, and seizures. (Yep, people have reported seizures.)

And THE NEW SITE IS STILL THE DEFAULT

The new look was rolled out without any actual announcement, or any downtime.

The look literally changed for people between one page at the next.

People thought it was hacked! Or they had a virus! Or something else bad happened!

I said this on Rav, but from this end, the ENTIRE THING seems to have been the opposite of good change management and website design practices. I remain fucking FLOORED.

Your website - or software, or anything - updates should not cause migraines or seizures. They should not effectively gaslight people, either.

There are also still folks posting "oh, no one ever likes change, you're doing fine", and I want to address that.

(If I did it in the feedback thread, I would almost certainly get my post deleted by a mod, which is a whole other thing.)

Yes. People don't like change. Any time you change something for a group of people, there are always people who don't like it because it is a change, and for no more reason than that.

BUT

One, that is still a valid reason and needs to be addressed. It is not, in and of itself, a reason to not implement the change. But good communication, including advance warning, and just saying "we know change is hard. We are doing this for x y z reason" helps.

Two, the folks saying "oh, no one likes change" right now are erasing the people who are being HARMED by the change. That isn't "don't like, hdu", that is "you HURT me! Please stop!"

Additionally, there have been some very specific and substantive critiques from artists, UI and UX pros, change management pros, and designers. Those aren't "ugh do not want" either.

There has also, as mentioned above, been a LOT of specific and substantive feedback about the specific ways the new look is causing migraines, seizures, etc. I want to reiterate that.

Even if there weren't, "this PHYSICALLY HARMS ME" needs to be addressed.

And a ton of people have given specific advice on next steps, for free... that seems to have fallen in to the void.

It's just so frustrating to watch the people running a site I usually like a lot dig themselves in deeper, and deeper, and deeper.

I said a couple days ago that, if, in the face of repeated deadnaming and other personally directed vitriol, I couldn't even be mad if Cassidy just said "okay, welp, I'm done." And yeah, a lot of the first day or two of feedback did include that shit.

But a lot of it, and a lot of it now, isn't. It is criticism of the site and the redesign. Is some of it angry? Sure. But I am not seeing the personally-directed derision.

And it sucks because watching the situation devolve over the past six days has me and others worried that Rav might be going away anyway, and that is going to absolutely fuck over a lot of people, and upend a good portion of the fiber world.