hello ! for people with screenreaders, dyslexia, or a similar disability that impacts reading, typing quirks can be an annoyance and get in the way of being able to fully understand a comment. - “what is a screenreader?” a screenreader is a built-in device that speaks text out loud when prompted to. they can be used for people with low vision, dyslexia, or other sight disabilities. - “how does my typing quirk get in the way?” for a person using a screenreader, the reader will also read out symbols and emojis. if your typing quirk includes a symbol that isn’t screenreader-friendly, it will be repeated in your comment every time you use it ( ex: ‘heart heart peace sign [ text ]’ ). while this isn’t a huge issue, it does get annoying to users who have to hear it every time they want to ‘read’ your comment. for a person with dyslexia, all symbols and words will get in the way and be jumbled up and waving around. coming from someone with dyslexia who can’t easily use a screenreader, all typing quirks affect me, even if small and accessible for screenreaders— my brain cant just skip over it like a device does. especially typing quirks with more than one character ( including one at each end of text. ex: ‘ ⭐️ hello im max ⭐️’ ). it depends on the person, but this is a basic guideline. - “how can i make my typing quirk accessible?” well, you could simply not use one! it’s absolutely not required, and doesn’t do much to help you comment. however, if you wish to keep one, make sure it’s a screenreader-friendly character, and preferably smaller and cut down to one character. this will make it a bit easier for people with dyslexia to read, and wont be spoken by a screenreader. - “is my current typing quirk okay?” ask yourself these! is it larger than one - two characters? is it screenreader friendly? is my typing quirk the first thing my eyes go to when i read my comments? - “what can i do to help out in general?” if you’re using a long string of emojis / symbols / special font,, add a translation as a reply for people who may not be able to read the original comment clearly. avoid zalgo text !! it breaks screenreaders and is impossible to read with dyslexia.
