#21: Time is an illusion

Everything feels heavy.

Jun 2, 2022

You’re probably wondering why you’re hearing from me on a Wednesday night. Or maybe you’re wondering why you didn’t hear from me in May.

The truth is, I’m tired. I tried writing last month’s newsletter three different times, but every time something else would pop up on this hellscape timeline and I’d lose the will to do anything but doomscroll and scream on Twitter.

Reproductive rights being threatened. Hate crimes. A mass shooting, another mass shooting, a third mass shooting, so many fucking mass shootings.

Oh, and there’s still a pandemic going on.

I want to write this newsletter. I want to keep sharing useful information with all of you. It’s just really hard sometimes to tell my anxiety-riddled brain to get over the executive dysfunction and do the damn thing. You know how it is.

So I think moving forward there won’t be a real schedule for Accessible Social. It’ll just be whenever I have the energy for it. After all, who said I needed to set deadlines for my own projects? Things might get moved around as well. You never know what my exhausted brain will do next!

-Alexa

PS: thanks for sticking around while I sorted myself out. It means a lot.

News and Updates

Learning Moments

Reproductive Rights and Disability

Y’all, we need to think before we speak when it comes to abortion and disability, plain and simple. The way that some people have chosen to justify someone’s right to an abortion is callous and insensitive. You can talk about reproductive rights and abortion without being ableist and ignorant.

Hayden McGough @haymcgough

Disabled fetuses are complicated. It's a subject that requires sensitivity. You can advocate for the necessity of abortion and reproductive rights without talking about how miserable and worthless you think disabled people are.

s. e. smith @sesmith

There is so much disablism in the conversation about abortion but please I am begging you stop playing into the hands of the right by using foetal disability as a gotcha game.

Julia Bascom @JustStimming

Hello! People with "chromosomal abnormalities" can see your tweets about abortion! Reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are imperative, and we can talk about that without throwing people with disabilities under the bus! We really can!

Don’t Abuse the Alt Text Field

Some of you may have seen the major misstep recently made by the Twitter account for Manchester United. If you missed it, the account tweeted out a picture of ManU player Juan Mata, as shown below. The tweet read, “Read the ALT text.” The provided image description read, “Who’s the greatest player in the Premier League? It’s you Juan Juan Juan…”

I cannot stress enough how inappropriate it is to use the alt text field this way. Your number one priority when it comes to writing alt text is making your image accessible. The team received a lot of well-deserved backlash for this tweet. Thankfully, it was removed and ManU acknowledged its mistake.

Tweet from Manchester United showing a picture of ManU player Juan Mata. The tweet reads, “Read the ALT text.” The provided image description reads, “Who’s the greatest player in the Premier League? It’s you Juan Juan Juan…”

Have you recently spotted a major digital accessibility win or learning moment on social media? Send it to me! I might just feature it in my next newsletter. Feel free to email me at hello@accessible-social.com. My inbox is always open!

Excellent Resources

I find some of the best tips, resources, and insights on Twitter from other creators and advocates, and I want to share them with you, too!

Dorsa Amir @DorsaAmir

Slides are visual aids that assist your presentation. Anytime you put something on your slides, its primary purpose is to help the *audience*, not you. Nothing should distract from your verbal presentation, it should only enhance it. A mini-presentation on slide design. 1/

Lucia Cerchie 🦎 @CerchieLucia

Read @BenDMyers post if you want to use 'relative luminance' in a sentence. 😉 But seriously, if you want to learn the meaning behind those accessible contrast ratios, Ben does an amazing job of simplifying the concept. Hue vs brightness 🤯 benmyers.dev/blog/fix-low-c…

benmyers.devHow to Fix Your Low-Contrast TextSolve 30% of the web’s accessibility defects with just the help of a calculator!

Slab (they/them) @i_am_slab

Periodic reminder that closed captions on Twitch streams aren't too difficult to set up, and will make streams instantly more accessible List of resources of closed and open captions: (1/6)

Emily Ladau @emily_ladau

CROWDSOURCING: Let's get a thread going of your fave books by disabled authors. (The books don't have to be specifically about disability.) Lots of people ask me for recs, but I'm not some kind of authority here. So, what would you recommend? #BookTwitter #DisabilityTwitter

Are you looking for an online community where you can learn more about accessible social media practices? Join the Accessible Social Facebook group! It’s dedicated to helping anyone working in social media, marketing, public relations, advertising, or communications learn more about digital accessibility in a friendly, safe community. All are welcome!

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