RussEbyNov 16, 2022
Dan York

ACCESSIBILITY TIP: Adding emojis to your display name is terrible for people who use screen readers.

I was just reminded by someone that when you do this (as I had done), then they have to listen to the screen reader read out all the emojis/icons BEFORE getting to your actual post.

So my name came across as:
----
dan york satellite graphic satellite studio mic graphic studio mic curling stone graphic curling stone
----

Thank you to the person who reminded me of this!

#accessibility

Nov 15, 2022 at 3:13pmWeb
Show threadmoduluxNov 15, 2022
@danyork Mastodon has a setting to elide emojis from profile names, but it’s still best practice not to put them in in the first place. Thanks!
Show threadDan YorkNov 15, 2022
@modulux Interesting - where is that setting? I can't see it in the preferences on my server... or at least on the pages I'm looking on.
Show threadNathan LunsfordNov 15, 2022
@danyork on the flip side, this can be used as a benefit. On my server, which is for audio fiction podcasts, any account that wants to identify as a podcast account can add a custom emoji that will read "podcast" to the end of their display name, so it serves the same benefit to those with screen readers as it does to those without.
Show threadmyanch200Nov 17, 2022
@horrificnathan That's brilliant
Show threadKwanza Osajyefo Nov 15, 2022
@danyork Great tip, if one is being extraneous with emojis. I hope people can live with hearing, "Kwanza Osajyefo unverified graphic" because it's my piece of flair.
Show threadShane M. BaileyNov 15, 2022
@danyork I didn't think about that. I have a word balloon on my Twitter profile. Thank you for this tip.
Show threadShane M. BaileyNov 15, 2022
@danyork I hope you don't mind I shared a variation of this on Twitter as well because I'm sure a lot of people didn't think about that.
Show threadDan YorkNov 15, 2022
@shanembailey No issue by me with you sharing it. Someone else called me on it because I was using emojis in my display name. The tip I wrote was just reacting to that person's info.
Show threadShane M. BaileyNov 15, 2022
@danyork I'm very glad you shared it. We're always learning!
Show threadHerreMörkerNov 16, 2022
@shanembailey @danyork Me too! Thanks for the info
Show threadMartin Nov 15, 2022

@danyork Serious technical question -- can screen readers be configured to skip over or filter? This looks like it will be a wider issue across platforms like Slack as well that use colon-THING-colon emoticons.

I did a basic Google search before asking this, and the number of screen reader solutions is dizzying... which are the most commonly used ones?

Show threadDan YorkNov 15, 2022

@martinbogo I don't know as I don't use a screen reader. This post, though, has a good list of screenreaders and other info: https://adrianroselli.com/2022/11/your-accessibility-claims-are-wrong-unless.html

#accessibility

Your Accessibility Claims Are Wrong, Unless…

Now that it is a market differentiator to talk about accessibility in projects, that’s all many do — talk about it. In a sea of pop-dev noise, “accessibility” can be claimed with little risk someone will challenge it. If someone does, the response is often a fine balance between silence…

Adrian Roselli
Show threadZiggy the Hamster ☎️ 4ZTHNov 17, 2022
@martinbogo @danyork yes, but it’s also possible for HTML and app authors to mark them as hidden from assistive technology, which I think would be the best solution.
Show threadZiggy the Hamster ☎️ 4ZTHNov 17, 2022

@martinbogo @danyork

Looking in Firefox devtools right now, all that would really be needed is to make the emoji elements (they already parse them into elements) have aria-hidden="true".

Also it still reads it a bit odd with or without emoji:

Show threadSavvieNov 15, 2022
@danyork Oops! I didn't know this! I'll have to fix mine now
Show threadJohn Xmith :robot_face:Nov 15, 2022
@danyork I need just one, redundantly telling that I'm a bot.
Show threadSueNov 15, 2022
@danyork
Thanks for the top off
Show threadSueNov 15, 2022

@danyork
Only had I emoji in my bio but now removed. Will resist the urge to use them in any posts.

Conscious I use memes with text. Is that acceptable to people with sight loss assuming their device reads out text?
#Accessibility

Show threadIdris 💙Nov 15, 2022
@SueASmith @danyork
It sometimes can, if the text is plain. What is better is to add alt text to your images. You can do this by clicking the "edit" that appears when your images is uploaded. You get quite a bit of room, so go wild. I've seen "majestic" penguin, "inquisitive" booby, and "ridiculous" cats today.
I'm not blind, but advocate in solidarity as I am Hard of Hearing.
#Accessibility
Show threadSueNov 16, 2022
@RomanticSkeptic @danyork
Thanks for the tip about adding text. Like you I’m not blind but have a physical disability so keen on anything that improves accessiblity for all
#Accessibility
Show threadThanasis KiniasNov 16, 2022

@SueASmith @danyork
I’m not a screen-reader user myself, but my understanding is that it’s not an issue of “never use emoji” but more “don’t use a bunch of them in a row” and “avoid using them gratuitously in usernames that get read over and over and over.”

There was a related thing on the Other Site when everybody was beating the red-flag thing into the ground: screen-reader users had to listen to it say “Triangular Flag on Post” fifteen or twenty times.

Show threadDr. Dainy BernsteinNov 16, 2022

@SueASmith @danyork emojis in posts to express emotion or something is actually fine, along as they're not excessive like posting a long line of hearts or red flags.

For memes with text, you can add an image description, way more easily here than on the Other Site. You can put a brief description of the important visual elements or reference the name of the meme (if it has one) and then write the text in the image description as well.

Show threadSueNov 16, 2022
@dainybernstein @danyork
Thanks Danny helpful advise
Show threadThiagoNov 15, 2022

@danyork the thing is: how do we make that better (or work?)

Just not doing stuff is not going to work universally, as many people won't come across those posts, and some would not even care.

Should mastodon hide the emojis from screen readers? Have a separate field for 'flairs', and that's hidden, or can be skipped by user intervention on screen readers?

Show threadDan YorkNov 15, 2022

@falcon I unfortunately don't have an answer. Someone else mentioned that there is a setting in Mastodon that will hide emojis in profiles (or something like that) ... but I haven't found that setting.

I agree that it's better to NOT rely on people simply not doing something. 🙂

Show threadRuedaNov 15, 2022
@danyork Good information, thank you. I've gone and removed a writing emoji from my Twitter handle thanks to this.
Show threadDebbie YoullNov 15, 2022
@danyork Also, please remove the ridiculous blue check marks from that bird place.
Show threadAl_AcrityNov 15, 2022
@danyork my sister-in-law lost most of her sight in the last year or two and uses voiceover on iPhone to navigate. Still has ridiculously long chains of emoji for every name, group chat etc. Think she keeps them just to annoy/entertain people now.
Show threadCoprolite9000Nov 15, 2022
@danyork Similarly, I've read that delving into the outer reaches of Unicode for bold / gothic / stylised / whatever versions of text can be equally horrible for screen readers - it might *look* like the text being replaced, but the underlying character meanings can be vastly different, and can be read out in full...
Show threadֆքɨɖɢɛNov 27, 2022
@coprolite9000 @danyork this is what my name is. I tried it with android talkback and it called me FK as far as I could tell. Given that for some reason, I want my name a bit mangled and that it's clearly not my real name anyway I can live with that (at least it's short). If I ever want to be serious or popular I shall try to remember to fix it.
Anyone finding this who actually uses a screen reader I'd be interested to know your opinion.
Show threadBianca BertramsNov 15, 2022
@danyork Thanks a lot!
Show threadNobushiaNov 15, 2022
@danyork thanks, I didn’t realize it did that!
Show threadLeeCooksonNov 15, 2022
@danyork @mollyboom (updates profile)
Show threadxianNov 16, 2022
@danyork does mine sound like “shian ex”?
Show threadDan YorkNov 16, 2022
@mediajunkie I don't know, as I don't have a screen reader. I was just relaying feedback from a screen reader user who reminded me of how terrible emojis are in descriptions.
Show threadThanasis KiniasNov 16, 2022
@danyork
I don’t see it much here, but on the Other Site there’s the related scourge of abusing the Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols Unicode block to make one’s username look italic or whatever, so you become “mathematical italic sans-serif capital ‘D’ mathematical italic sans-serif small ‘a’ mathematical italic sans-serif small ‘n’...”
Show threadembilbieNov 16, 2022
@danyork thanks for this. I'll retain mine for a while longer so visual ppl can get an 'at a glance' sense of who/where I am, then remove. But I'm very new still, and building community
Show threadCarl JohnsonNov 16, 2022
@danyork I’ll also say that being colorblind and those emojis being tiny, I can’t understand 80% of them, so whatever they’re supposed to convey is lost on me.
Show threadBenjamin HallNov 16, 2022
@danyork did not know. Thanks!
Show threadbunny booNov 16, 2022
@danyork thank you for letting me know!
Show threadSimon CampbellNov 16, 2022
@danyork Excellent point. Thank you for bringing it to our attention!
Show threadSteffen VoßNov 16, 2022
@danyork Thank you for the tip. I removed ☕ from my name.
Show threadTommy ÞNov 16, 2022
@danyork Great reminder, thanks. Are there ways to hear what a screen reader would say without having to install a screen reader?
Show threadFiXatoFeb 7, 2023
@tommythorn this is how it sounds like with Windows 11's built-in Narrator
@danyork
Show threadTommy ÞFeb 7, 2023
@FiXato @danyork Oh dear, that's not ideal is it now? Fine, I'll remove my attempt to be funny.
Show threadDan YorkFeb 7, 2023
@tommythorn I wouldn't remove it. Many people honestly don't know what it sounds like through a screen reader. 😀
Show threadnonizur ❄️Nov 16, 2022
@danyork thanks for this, I have a bunch.  Gonna trim.
Show threadshauny Nov 16, 2022
@danyork I feel like all apps should have a setting to not read out emojis in usernames. Because people aren’t going to stop this, especially around holidays
Show threadGilly aka SarahNov 16, 2022
@danyork had never considered this. Thank you for the reminder.
Show threadMike WigginsNov 16, 2022
@danyork
I'm new on this platform, I liked your toot. I'm like a Masterdon embryo following you.
Good to make your acquaintance
... Mr Dan York Satellite Graphic regards Mike
Show threadSeirdyNov 16, 2022

@danyork I think that in moderation, one or two at the end of your display name is fine. It’s easy for a screen reader user to just skip to the next element at that point, without missing anything important.

But yeah, more than a couple emoji/emotes is really excessive. If you must, then save that for your bio or a pinned post.

(note that I do not use a screen reader as much as I used to, and if any visually impaired users disagree you should completely disregard this).

Show threadDaveNov 16, 2022
@danyork Thanks, I didn’t know. Emojis removed.
Show threadjeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷNov 16, 2022

@danyork

…ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ

:-O

Show threadJosh JusticeNov 16, 2022
@danyork I wonder if it would make sense to submit a GitHub Issue to Mastodon to hide emoji in display names from screen readers
Show threadJosh JusticeNov 16, 2022
@danyork I wonder if it would make sense to submit a GitHub Issue to Mastodon to hide emoji in display names from screen readers
Show threadBrainPilgrimNov 16, 2022
@danyork But you are the first of your name.🤣
Show threadAmygeekNov 17, 2022
@danyork @cynthb I never thought about this. Just removed the emojis from my name. Thank you!