Mastodawn

Dan Gillmor Nov 20, 2023

The self-verification system built into Mastodon should be one of its greatest selling points. This is especially true for journalists and everyone else for whom evidence of identity has huge value in the social media realm.

But anecdotally -- and I would wager for real -- most people in the craft, even a lot of technically adept folks, don't seem to know how easy self-verification can be here.

If you are trying to persuade a journalist you know to join up, please highlight this feature.

In case anyone needs this, here's a guide to self-verification and a list of troubleshooting tips:

https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-verify-my-account/

How do I verify my account on Mastodon and the Fediverse? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Another unreadable web page where someone thinks it is cool to put a light grey text on a white background.

@cmeier @dangillmor

It should be in a thick clear black font throughout. It's definitely not supposed to be light grey?

I try to make the site as accessible as possible for everyone. If there's a problem with readability please let me know.

Just wondering if it renders differently for different people?

@cmeier @dangillmor

This is what I see, is it displaying differently for you?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Ah. That is what I'd like, but the article was a faded grey that was very hard to read.

@cmeier @dangillmor

Really? Oh no, that's not good.

Could I ask what you're using to view it?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Firefox 115.0.2esr on Linux.

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Oh, and thanks for listening. I see way too many faded grey texts on white backgrounds and I've been thinking it is some kind of cool new graphics designer thing. Now I wonder if it is my browser or something local to my machine.

Except that other friends have complained of this, too, so it is hard to tell what the cause is.

@cmeier @dangillmor

I feel the same way about grey on white (especially thin fonts!), if my site is doing that I'll try to fix it!

@cmeier @dangillmor

I think it should be set to totally black text now, is it any better at your end?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor One more data point -- I've set FF to use an 18pt font (old eyes) and not let the website use its own fonts. Might be something to do w/ that. I'll try in a moment to set that to the default and see if that is the issue.

Thanks for looking! It is really annoying to see an essay you'd like to read and then have to squint at the screen.

@cmeier @dangillmor

The font I use is set to 19pt throughout! 😁

Wonder if it's trying to shrink it?

@cmeier @dangillmor

I've beefed up the font weight, it should be a lot thicker now. Is that any better at your end?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Yes!. The piece under the photo -- "Example of a Mastodon profile with a verified official ..." is still light grey. The text is easily readable. Thanks!

@cmeier @dangillmor

Fantastic! Thanks so much for bringing this up, hopefully other people now find it easier to read too.

I’ll have a look at the image captions later, they are a bit too small/thin.

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Needs basic solid black on white for many of us with eye site issues. Maybe it is just me getting old, but text v background is one of those issues where things really are, or should be, deep black on white, even if the issues being discussed are more grey.

@cmeier @dangillmor

"Needs basic solid black on white for many of us with eye site issues. "

I thought it already was! Possibly my laptop isn't displaying it correctly :/

Hang on, I'll fiddle with the colours...