#screen readers

[teddybearworld]

Question for people who use screen readers or text to speech/audio

When a post on here has lots of emojis, special fonts/text or lots of keysmashes, what is a way to tag those posts so that you guys don't have to sit there listening to nonsense for a minute straight?

Thanks!

#disability #actually disabled #screen reader #screen readers #screen reader user #actually blind #blindness #visually impaired #AAC user #visual impairment #actuallyblind

[whumpacabra]

Writing Accessibility PSA

Please avoid using long strings of characters as line breaks in your writing - these are not screen reader/TTS friendly!

Every ‘°’ will be read as ‘degree’ - can you imagine how long it takes to read out a string of 25? Let alone more complicated combinations of characters (eg. imagine listening to TTS read out ~*~ |°| ~*~ multiple times per line break)?

A good rule of thumb is to stick with short, 2-3 character line breaks (eg. I don’t find — or *** too egregious to listen to). Your readers can tell there’s been a scene change whether you use two or twenty em-dashes, but if you use twenty, some of us might have to listen for 30 seconds to read the next scene. If you’re more concerned about aesthetics, you can insert an image of your aesthetically pleasing line break with alt text simply reading ‘line break’ for accessibility.

Don’t feel bad if this is something you’ve never thought about before - now you know better and can make your writing more accessible moving forward!

I would like to invite any other screenreader users to add their own thoughts or preferences to this post. We’re not a monolith and there’s a variety to how different softwares interact with repeating character strings and images with alt text, so there’s bound to be some conflicting opinions on what I’ve suggested above. Let’s try to make the stories we share accessible for everyone :]

#writing #accessibility #line breaks #linebreaks #screen readers #tts #text to speech #whump community #<- applicable to any digital writing but tagging for my own reference. as this is my whump blog. #maybe I’m old but back in my day there was a little kerfuffle about how many people kept using complicated character string linebreaks #on ao3 which has a native line break you can insert via html #I don’t know if you can still do that on tumblr desktop with all the changes recently so I’ve been sticking to my trusty — #this is all in good faith no harm no foul and I’m not a cop so do what you want with your linebreaks. #I’m just putting this out there because it wasn’t something I really thought about before using a screenreader myself

[askablindperson]

In what way does alt text serve as an accessibility tool for blind people? Do you use text to speech? I'm having trouble imagining that. I suppose I'm in general not understanding how a blind person might use Tumblr, but I'm particularly interested in the function of alt text.

In short, yes. We use text to speech (among other access technology like braille displays) very frequently to navigate online spaces. Text to speech software specifically designed for blind people are called screen readers, and when use on computers, they enable us to navigate the entire interface using the keyboard instead of the mouse And hear everything on screen, as long as those things are accessible. The same applies for touchscreens on smart phones and tablets, just instead of using keyboard commands, it alters the way touch affect the screen so we hear what we touch before anything actually gets activated. That part is hard to explain via text, but you should be able to find many videos online of blind people demonstrating how they use their phones.

As you may be able to guess, images are not exactly going to be accessible for text to speech software. Blindness screen readers are getting better and better at incorporating OCR (optical character recognition) software to help pick up text in images, and rudimentary AI driven Image descriptions, but they are still nowhere near enough for us to get an accurate understanding of what is in an image the majority of the time without a human made description.

Now I’m not exactly a programmer so the terminology I use might get kind of wonky here, but when you use the alt text feature, the text you write as an image description effectively gets sort of embedded onto the image itself. That way, when a screen reader lands on that image, Instead of having to employ artificial intelligences to make mediocre guesses, it will read out exactly the text you wrote in the alt text section.

Not only that, but the majority of blind people are not completely blind, and usually still have at least some amount of residual vision. So there are many blind people who may not have access to a screen reader, but who may struggle to visually interpret what is in an image without being able to click the alt text button and read a description. Plus, it benefits folks with visual processing disorders as well, where their visual acuity might be fine, but their brain’s ability to interpret what they are seeing is not. Being able to click the alt text icon in the corner of an image and read a text description Can help that person better interpret what they are seeing in the image, too.

Granted, in most cases, typing out an image description in the body of the post instead of in the alt text section often works just as well, so that is also an option. But there are many other posts in my image descriptions tag that go over the pros and cons of that, so I won’t digress into it here.

Utilizing alt text or any kind of image description on all of your social media posts that contain images is single-handedly one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to directly help blind people, even if you don’t know any blind people, and even if you think no blind people would be following you. There are more of us than you might think, and we have just as many varied interests and hobbies and beliefs as everyone else, so where there are people, there will also be blind people. We don’t only hang out in spaces to talk exclusively about blindness, we also hang out in fashion Facebook groups and tech subreddits and political Twitter hashtags and gaming related discord servers and on and on and on. Even if you don’t think a blind person would follow you, You can’t know that for sure, and adding image descriptions is one of the most effective ways to accommodate us even if you don’t know we’re there.

I hope this helps give you a clearer understanding of just how important alt text and image descriptions as a whole are for blind accessibility, and how we make use of those tools when they are available.

#image descriptions #alt text #accessibility #a11y #screen readers

[actingwithportals]

ALT TEXT ISSUE

So just a heads-up for folks who defer to using ALT text on their posts instead of plaintext IDs, if the ALT text is long enough clicking on the ALT button to visually read the text creates a problem, because as soon as you move your cursor away from the ALT button (like if you use a screen magnifier and are trying to scroll down the page to read the rest of the ALT text) the text WILL DISAPPEAR. It is not possible to continue reading the whole thing visually, which is a problem for blind/low vision users that rely on screen magnifiers or enlarged text.

I know that most people prefer ALT text because people hate having long IDs on their posts, and that generally ALT text is better for people who use screen readers, but it is continuously proving to be a problem for blind/low vision users that rely on screen magnifiers over screen readers. So please PLEASE consider including plaintext IDs so that we can read them too, especially if your IDs are long and likely to get cut off by the limitations of the screen size.

#blind #legally blind #low vision #visually impaired #actuallyblind #alt text #image descriptions #screen readers #screen magnifiers #accessibility

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

#polls #incognito polls #anonymous #tumblr polls #tumblr users #questions #accessibility #screen readers #blindness #visually impaired #low vision #polls about the internet

[skys-archive]

I love you mobility aids.

I love you canes I love you forearm crutches I love you compression gloves I love you compression sleeves for knees and elbows. I love you rollators I love you wheelchairs I love you back braces and neck braces I love you power chairs I love you leg and arm braces I love you screen readers and hearing aids and everyone who spends the time and energy to actually help physically disabled people of all kinds.

I love everything that helps disabled people live our fucking lives

#PLEASE TAG SUCH IF YOU REBLOG AND ARE NOT PHYSICALLY DISABLED #i am a hearing and seeing person #disabilities #physical disability #chronic illness #disabled #chronic pain #disability #deaf #hard of hearing #blind #paralyzed #this post is about physical disability #compression gloves #compression sleeves #wheelchair #ambulatory mobility aid user #dynamic disability #screen readers #rollator #cane #forearm crutches #back braces #neck brace #leg braces #arm braces #power chairs

[zebulontheplanet]

I want people to understand this, not every person who is blind or can’t read uses a screen reader. Some people don’t use them. Some people rely on other people to read for them, some people rely on magnifying apps. Some people just avoid the internet. There are multiple reasons for this, some people don’t like screen readers. Some people don’t find them helpful. There are so many reasons someone doesn’t use a screen reader.

I know someone with alexia who doesn’t use a screen reader because she doesn’t like them. She depends on other people, and she’s happy with that. That’s great!

#zebrambles #screen readers #alexia #blind #vision impairment #reading disability

[cacodaemonia]

The fact that a huge amount of information on platforms like tumblr, instagram, and apparently also tik tok is now shared as screenshots of text instead of—you know—the text itself, which is easier to read and can also be scanned by screen readers, makes me want to burn down the internet.

Tumblr is a platform where you can actually make text posts! There's no character limit! Just. Put. The text. There!

Instagram is for photos, not fucking essays!

Tik tok is a video platform, so why the fuck are people sharing screenshots of Tumblr posts (without even linking to he original post, naturally) set to music and calling those videos?

I don't understand why so many people look at extremely limited (as in they have a very specific function and are not intended to be used in any other way) apps like instagram and tik tok, and go "Ah, I will now use this platform to convey information in the most convoluted, least accessible way possible."

Just?? Use a platform that's actually friendly to whatever kind of info you're trying to convey???

I'm sure there are all kinds of factors involved, especially when people are so driven by views/likes/whatever on one platform, but this trend has made the internet so much less user-friendly and accessible. It's like trying to eat soup with a butterknife, while also taking away other people's spoons and making them use butterknives as well.

#the screenshot plague #*old man yells at cloud* #seriously though #a friend sent me a poem on instagram recently that was just. like 9 screenshots. of the typed poem #FFS #i really liked it and wanted to save it for potential title ideas but i couldn't even find the poem on the person's website or other soc me #it only existed as screenshots so i couldn't copy/paste any of it #i typed out the parts i liked and saved a link to the instagram post in case i ever use the lines but jfc #the stupidest way to share text #accessibility #screenshots #the internet #tumblr #instagram #tik tok #screen readers

[muffinlance]

Hello! I'd love some advice if you have time please :)

Would you know if long, rambly author's notes (after every chapter of an AO3 fic) hinder/disrupt the reading experience of a person using a screen reader? Should A/Ns be kept short to make a fic more accessible?

Thanks in advance!

Others feel free to chime in, but I personally find them charming (and easily skippable, since I just need to head to the next chapter).

I WOULD avoid strings of emojis, which are almost always annoying. Or putting your entire Mandalorian translations doc at the end of each chapter. A few translations are fine. The translations for every word in your fic? Oh god I never remember which author does that until, suddenly and catastrophically, I do.

#Screen readers

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

I follow tons of disability/chronic illness/mental health tags and I keep seeing memes or infographics without alt text or image IDs. This is not okay for content of any subject matter, but its beyond ridiculous for these spaces in particular. You can’t call yourself an advocate if you are declining to use accessibility tools like this. There are absolutely no excuses, especially with the technologies we have now. Most devices can read and copy the text out of any image, for example.

Basically if it’s not worth including everyone, it’s not worth posting. Make it accessible or don’t post it. Thank you

#accessibility tools #disability accessibility #disability advocacy #alt text #image id #text id #screen readers #disability accommodations #neurological disability #physical disability #invisible disability #vision impaired #sight impaired #blindness #accessibility #inclusivity #disability rights #disability community #disabled community #chronic illness community #disability vent #chronic illness vent #neurodiversity #disability problems #disabled rights #disabled things #queer disabled #disability representation #accommodations #disabled representation

[futurebird]

for the love of god put alt text on yer images

I don't want to get mean. But one of the most tiresome things about tumblr is that almost no one here seems to put alt text on images. I thought ya'll cared about being welcoming and supporting everyone. Not having alt text is just RUDE.

So if I want to reblog something and it has an image I have to add a description at the end. This is a band aid. A work-around. It's not ideal. It would be better if the original image just had alt text on it.

I've written 100s of descriptions hoping people will see the reblog with [Image Description: ...] and think "wow maybe I should have done that"

But …. it's not really working. I don't think anyone is picking up the hint at all. So let me be more clear: It's rude to post images without a description. It makes this part of the internet nearly useless for many people. As the person posting the image only you can put the description in the right place (in the alt text) and you are the best informed person to write the description. You know what it is and why it's there. So just ... add the alt text please.

On mastodon I almost never see an image without alt text. We could be like that here too. You don't need to make it long. Something is better than nothing. Just give some context so the post makes sense and everyone can participate. Stop making it harder.

#alt text #image descriptions #annoyed #disibility #vision impaired #screen readers

[sirenium]

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.

#ableism #neoprns #neopronouns #xenogender #autism #narc abuse does not exist #adhd #disability #screen readers #fuck fakeclaimers #self diagnosis #self diagnosis is valid

[vaporize-employers]

for any other non-screen reader users who have been unknowingly using alt text thinking its accessible:

the images on this site that have alt text are totally inaccessible to screen readers if opened or viewed in a different tab.

if it's opened in the dash, all you hear is "close image" (because it's wrapped in a button and buttons make children presentational). i'm guessing tumblr already knows this, though, or they'd have fixed the fact that the alt is automatically changed to "Image". just "Image".

if you open it in a new tab, the alt is the url of the image. again, this is for images that users have added alt text to. the description exists.

the only reason to use the alt text feature instead of the post body, despite the lack of visibility and tininess of the button, is so that the description would still be associated with the image when opened or viewed in a new tab. which is not an unusual use case because not all SR users are blind.

so, i guess don't use the alt text feature if you don't want the ID to disappear whenever a user tries to swipe through a photoset or open the image.

@staff please fix this. if we've taken the time to add alt text, we're expecting that our followers & others will be able to use it. this is really disappointing.

#accessibility #screen readers #tumblr accessibility #assistive technology #disability #mine

[the-astropaws]

❔️ Since some posts are circling around again for mogai/coin blogs not being accessible. Let's add in a perspective from one of the disabled person directly affected by this. While also calling attention to editing blogs, many also fall into mogai side blogs. Feel free to reblog, add on, or ask questions that aren't answered here.

What is inaccessible? Well. Fonts first and foremost. With or without plain text as well. Adding that does not stop the font itself from crashing our screen reader and us having to click away from the post anyway. We can't handle the noises it makes, we can't handle that it stops mid way and we can't click on the plain text specifically. Some screen readers can but ours can't. We have to read the whole post out. So please stop using fonts. Even people who dont need a screen reader can't read many of the fonts.

Symbols. There's a huge issue already in the coining and editing community of using symbols that are part of languages but that can be for a different post. This is about the amount. Some symbols break screen readers no matter how much or little it's used. To help make it easier for screen readers and other issues like reading/processing issues. Less is better. You can stop using symbols all together or limit the amount. Don't fill the post with faces and symbols as it's difficult to process. Even with plain text it can be hard to manage if the other parts are flooded with them when scrolling to the plain text.

Coloured text. This is also a huge issue for many disabled people. Is it cute? Sometimes! Can small amounts draw attention to the important part? Like a link or the name? It can. But in moderation. Do not fill your post with a bunch of different colours. It can hurt someone's eyes if the colours are neon or super bright, (there's custom colours we've seen be coded in), it can also make half the post blind in a way to some. Us for example, if every other word is a colour we will not be able to read it. We'll focus only on the white parts. Adding plain text is amazing for this but still remember to be aware of the colours and use before the plain help. As sometimes we can't look at it long enough to find the bottom.

Typing quirks. These are very difficult for screen readers, dyslexia, and other issues some disabled people have. An example being replacing s with z. Like "zhe iz zo cute" (she is so cute). Our screen reader reads that as "z h e i z z o". Now.. you can see why that's so hard to understand. It reads the letters out. This is just an example of the easy tq's. Imagine the ones using symbols, fonts, and a ton of letter changes. It's impossible to read. We have some typing quirks. We understand liking a typing quirk but we will always stop using them for others. The bare minimum is to please translate them no matter the type. Add a plain text. And stop using ones full of fonts.

Possible questions or statements about this post.

"But my blog looks pretty with these :("

Great! But why should a pretty look matter more than disabled people being excluded from your blog?

"I'm disabled and don't struggle this much with the blogs"

That's amazing to hear you aren't as limited. But never act like all disabled people work the same. There's different types and needs. It's unfair to assume otherwise.

"I didn't know these were an issue. Am I abliest?"

If you didn't know, then that's okay. Education and asking disabled people how to help is an amazing step. You are only abliest if you learn this and purposely ignore it, or think your blog matters more and continue to do these things.

"What are screen readers?"

They are a disability aid. They read out a message, post or page. They also read out peoples names, usernames and status's on apps like discord, twitter etc. It's used for those who have vision issues/loss, have dyslexia, have light sensitivity issues, or have other reading or processing issues. Some people even use them if they have chronic headaches or pain that makes staring at a screen for long times hard.

"What if I have a disability that causes my spelling or words to be hard to understand? Or what if English isn't my first language"

You aren't abliest for either of those. We understand some people have those influences that can make posts hard to understand. If that's the case we can ask for help understanding from someone else / someone can translate it for us. There's a lot of easy ways to work around multiple disability needs. There's blogs dedicated to going around and adding translations, ids, plain text etc to others posts. They love to help and be tagged in things normally!

#soft rambles from above #mogai #liom #edit blog #xenogender #disability #disabled #screen readers

[ghostlytuxedo]

To the people who use unicode font generators in their writing: People who use screen readers CANNOT read your work. This is for any writing, but I'm specifically calling out AO3 because I see this issue there the most.

Screen readers may skip over unicode text altogether, or read each letter as, "modifier letter," or say, "unpronounceable," or spout a bunch of gibberish, etc.

If you want dialogue identifiers or any sort of curly/big/discernible text, AO3 and many other sites have lovely italic and bold font options that are 100% screen reader compatible! (Glitch text is often used sparingly & implied by context—or rarely vaguely readable—enough to only be a minor inconvenience, & I see why it's used. Just leave A/Ns if u think u should.)

I can't tell you what to do, obvi. It's your choice to make, and I know it comes with sacrifices. Just know that unicode may cut you off from potential readers.

Thank you for your time and consideration. ❤️

#accessability #screen readers #writing #fan fiction #fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own #Laully's posts

[jacquissss]

If y’all could send discord feedback that their new update made their UI much less accessibke for screenreaders, that would be great :)

I don’t use one, but my friend does and now she can’t use discord without it crashing every couple of minutes on her! And when she clicks on someone’s profile, she is locked there, because there’s no back button!! Also it’s just not intuitive for her to use at all and is actively making a horrible experience for people who use screen readers!

So I humbly request that if you have discord, please go to settings, appearance, and then click the “give feedback” button. Or leave a review on the App Store! Or tweet at them. Anything would be helpful so that discord sees this is an issue that needs to be dealt with asap, thank youuu

#discord #new discord UI #screen readers #blind #discord app #accessibility #man fuck discord #it pissed me off so much