Have you ever thought about how others experience the web?
Small adjustments to the way we create content can make a big difference to the number of people who can enjoy it.
I pitched and directed the "Screenreaders say the darnedest things" organic social video series for Belong- Telstra's low cost telco brand. Each episode we shared simple changes you can make so more of your friends are part of the conversation.
Animated by Steve Edwards. Co-written with Hannah Rabbit.
Emoticons
Take emoticons, for example. A mixture of brackets and underscores might seem like a rad way to express your feelings, but not everyone will be picking up what you’re putting down 🤷 For anyone using a screen reader, complicated emoticons can sound like a heap of nothing.
Hashtags
Hashtags without CamelCase can cause quite the giggle when read aloud by a screen reader 🐫Tell us your best hashtag fails 👇
Emojis
We all love an emoji to spice things up 🔥 But too much spice (or too many emojis) isn’t for everyone. For those experiencing a text or post using a screen reader, emojimania can hinder the clarity of the message.
Decorative Text
There’s no one-font-fits all approach to the internet, but some make things a little less accessible 💡 Decorative text might look cool, but it’s basically code, so it doesn’t translate when read out loud by a screen reader.
All caps
Sometimes screen readers see an acronym and are just like, “IDK”.
