Read on Twitter
Welcome to #mallowan's thread on accessibility in RP! I believe RP should be something everyone can enjoy, so I've made this thread to help show how that's possible!
Before we begin, I have a few things I want to make clear right off the bat:
1: Disability is not a monolith. Every disabled person requires different accommodations. Not every disabled person will require the accommodations listed in this thread. I do not and CANNOT speak for everyone. Some of these only apply to RP/Twitter.
2: Disability is not a monolith. Just because you know a disabled person who doesn't require these accommodations doesn't mean others don't. You wouldn't refuse to put a ramp outside a building just because you have a disabled friend who can make it up the stairs.
Keep that same energy for other accommodations. Everyone deserves to have access to RP, so let's make it accessible.
3: It is your account, not mine. I cannot tell you what to do with it. If, however, you can make it through this thread, watch all three videos in their entirety, read provided resources, and refuse to make a change, I urge you to take some time to really reflect on why that is.
4: This thread is made as a plea for help. It is almost entirely comprised of things that have made RP increasingly inaccessible for me, personally, or for friends who have told me about their barriers. The tone of this thread is intended as educational.
If you perceive the tone of this thread to be anything other than educational, that was not the intent. I am dealing with a lot right now and my words are not at their prettiest. But this thread needed to be made.
5: I am open to polite, respectful discussions. If you come at me with anger or hate I will have to block and move on. I do not have the physical or emotional energy to deal with vitriol.
With those disclaimers out of the way, let's begin the thread!
The Valuable 500 is an organization working to make companies more accessible. The work they're doing is important. I want to start this thread with some statistics from their website, https://www.thevaluable500.com/ . Particularly the one with the paw print.
Clothing lines for disabled people aren't something everyone realizes are necessary, but many disabilities can make buttons and zippers difficult or impossible to use or certain fabrics impossible to wear. A lot of things are affected by disability without people realizing.
One of the most common accessibility issues in RP is fonts. Neurological and vision-related disabilities can make it difficult or impossible to read and understand profiles and tweets which use any of the copy-paste fonts.
This video, from @/asciiArtHelpBot, demonstrates how a screen reader would read a tweet using a font other than the default.
If you want to check how something sounds using a screen reader, a free and easy way is by using https://ttsreader.com/ .
Even for people who don't use screen readers, some fonts can be completely inaccessible. It can be like trying to read Doop's dialog and it becomes frustrating when it consumes your TL.
If you choose to continue using fonts, then there are two things you can do to make your account at least somewhat accessible. The first is by using ALT Text on screenshots of your account.
Twitter has a built in feature which allows you to put descriptions on all your photos that a screen reader will read if someone cannot see the picture. Here is a link to Twitter's guide: https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/picture-descriptions
The second method is to ensure your character's name is in the default font on your profile at least once.
This means it can be:
- The display name
- In the bio
- In the location
- In the pinned
This does not mean:
- In a thread below the pinned
- In an image in a thread below the pinned
Don't make people search for it.
- The display name
- In the bio
- In the location
- In the pinned
This does not mean:
- In a thread below the pinned
- In an image in a thread below the pinned
Don't make people search for it.
Leaving your display name blank can also be frustrating and make it difficult to tell accounts apart. Putting something there is a good way to keep your account accessible.
Fonts are not the only thing that can make it difficult to read what's happening. Writing has become increasingly stylized recently, but that can once again make it difficult or impossible for people to understand your tweets, especially with disabilities that affect reading.
When a tweet is very spaced out, when punctuation is being used in odd ways, and when words that wouldn't actually be used in day-to-day conversation are peppered in everywhere, it makes the writing inaccessible. Here are some examples:
Another prevalent problem is very dark or stylized icons. Even some abled people will have difficulty telling what's happening in pictures like these without turning their brightness all the way up. For people with vision issues the icons may appear black or blurry on the TL.
Speaking of images: let's talk about pinned edits.
Many edits use bright flashes in transitions. These are not only irritating to people with sensitive eyes, but can trigger migraines and even seizures!
Many edits use bright flashes in transitions. These are not only irritating to people with sensitive eyes, but can trigger migraines and even seizures!
As someone with both severe chronic migraines and a history of epilepsy, I have to avoid watching pinned edits unless I'm in a brightly lit room. Which means it usually doesn't happen. You're driving people away by using edits with flashes, and putting them at risk.
Let's talk about risk, too. Trigger warnings are important. Be they on your account, or on a specific tweet. And the trigger warning should NEVER be censored. People mute their triggers to avoid seeing them.
If I mute the word "orange" and you put "tw// or*nge" I'll see the tweet and may have read the triggering content before seeing the warning. If you put "tw// orange" it won't even show up on my TL.
(Please note I just used a word I figured wouldn't be muted by anyone.)
(Please note I just used a word I figured wouldn't be muted by anyone.)
Another big topic in RP is proper faceclaims. This is important! Whitewashing is bad! POC aren't interchangeable! Using straight-sized FCs for plus-sized character is bad! Using cis FCs for trans characters is bad!
But you know what else is bad?
But you know what else is bad?
Using an abled FC to portray a disabled character is bad! It erases the disability. Here's a blog I find helpful for finding disabled FCs: https://juliaroleplays.tumblr.com/fcdirectory
And here's a foundation working for proper disability representation in media. They have a list of shows with proper representation, and actors there can also be helpful as FCs. (Those shows should also be supported outside of RP.) https://rudermanfoundation.org/
Before I wrap this up, I want to discuss inspiration porn, the models of disability, and ways to help. These are not strictly RP related, but are still very important and need to be discussed.
Inspiration porn is what videos and stories of disabled people "beating the odds" are called. They're often used to harm the disabled community and insist that "if they can do it, you have to."
TW// Mentions of COVID and Police Brutality
This video from @/Imani_Barbarin shows some more of why they're harmful.
This video from @/Imani_Barbarin shows some more of why they're harmful.
There are two models of disability: medical and social. The medical is more widely accepted, but is inaccurate and incredibly harmful. Learning the differences and how to work towards the social model is important. This article sums up the differences: https://canbc.org/blog/medical-model-of-disability-versus-social-model-of-disability/
This article sums up the ways in which the pandemic has proven the social model to be true, and proven that accommodations in the workplace that disabled people have been told are impossible are actually fairly easy: https://www.forbes.com/sites/drnancydoyle/2020/04/29/we-have-been-disabled-how-the-pandemic-has-proven-the-social-model-of-disability/amp/
Here is a video from a disability advocate (and entertaining youtuber) addressing ways everyone can make the world more accessible. One of the ways is by opening up a dialog and educating people. That's what I hope to do here.
Remember, it is not on disabled people to change. It is not on us to magically cure our disability, because many of us can't. It is also not on us to have to ask each and every person we interact with for respect and consideration.
But there are little things everyone can do to make the world more accessible. Let's all do our part to make RP more accessible!
If you have any further questions on how you can make your account more accessible, how you can make the world more accessible, if you need more help finding a disabled FC, or if you have questions about disability in general my DMs are open and I'm happy to help!
You can also reach me via the curiouscat in my bio if you wish for your question to remain anonymous.
If there is something you think should be added to this thread, let me know. Everyone deserves to be heard and to have access.
- #mallowan
If there is something you think should be added to this thread, let me know. Everyone deserves to be heard and to have access.
- #mallowan
