3 ms·

I don't see a valid reason to leave Twitter in his post. IMO laying off the accessibility team isn't a reason to leave. But, each to his own opinion. The layof

I don't see a valid reason to leave Twitter in his post. IMO laying off the accessibility team isn't a reason to leave. But, each to his own opinion. The layoffs will have effect, but it doesn't have to be a bad one. Once they get leaner, they might have a clearer vison and know where to expand.

ealexhudson 4y ago
If Musk wants twitter to be the town square for the world, that town square needs to be accessible for all. Even though this might not directly affect Simon, hats off to him for making that decision. If twitter starts becoming as inaccessible as most other systems it will lock out people and remove their voices from twitter. That feels like an incredibly valid reason, and isn't the point of free markets to vote with your feet?
- flyinglizard 4y ago
  You don’t need a whole accessibility team for a product to be accessible. It can be handled by raising the awareness of other product teams plus some central auditing, for example (Twitter after all is a pretty basic product, UX wise).
  - mongol 4y ago
    Someone needs to do that though. With the foremost experts sacked, and staff down with a half, who will bother?
    - awestroke 4y ago
      Maybe the employees on the accessibility team were all useless and hated by the whole org? Maybe starting fresh with real accessibility experts is a better way forward?
      - extra88 4y ago
        There was no accessibility team before 2020, Twitter hired real accessibility experts to be on the team, and they have been responsible for a number of accessibility improvements.
- exodust 4y ago
  You make it sound like the role of an accessibility team is to be the valve that prevents the floodgates of inaccessibility opening. That's one hell of an expensive valve. Or that whatever the team has built up until this point, won't function unless they're in the office? > "incredibly valid" At this point, many opinions about Twitter are ranging from invalid to pathetic whinging. Twitter is still Twitter, and not everybody there got fired. I think it will get better after dust settles.
- luckylion 4y ago
  Have you ever actually looked at their website? You need to use a 3rd-party service like nitter to make twitter accessible. It really feels like people have never used twitter and are reading the news and go "aha! they've canned the accessibility team! they're trying to exclude the blind!"
  - extra88 4y ago
    Maybe that was once true but it hasn't been. Here's a deafblind user of Twitter (the iPhone app) who had immediate trouble using the main Mastodon app [0]. Twitter only formed an accessibility team in 2020. Accessibility improvements had been made over the years before then but since the team was formed, improvements have been arriving much more steadily. Since Musk didn't only fire this team but half the staff overall, Twitter has not only lost expertise but people with the time to devote to these areas. [0] https://twitter.com/HabenGirma/status/1586829640827404288 https://twitter.com/HabenGirma/status/1586829640827404288
larsonnn 4y ago
His own opinion is a valid reason. It’s also a valid reason to leave because space captain Musk is in control.

ealexhudson 4y ago

If Musk wants twitter to be the town square for the world, that town square needs to be accessible for all. Even though this might not directly affect Simon, hats off to him for making that decision. If twitter starts becoming as inaccessible as most other systems it will lock out people and remove their voices from twitter. That feels like an incredibly valid reason, and isn't the point of free markets to vote with your feet?

flyinglizard 4y ago
You don’t need a whole accessibility team for a product to be accessible. It can be handled by raising the awareness of other product teams plus some central auditing, for example (Twitter after all is a pretty basic product, UX wise).
- mongol 4y ago
  Someone needs to do that though. With the foremost experts sacked, and staff down with a half, who will bother?
  - awestroke 4y ago
    Maybe the employees on the accessibility team were all useless and hated by the whole org? Maybe starting fresh with real accessibility experts is a better way forward?
    - extra88 4y ago
      There was no accessibility team before 2020, Twitter hired real accessibility experts to be on the team, and they have been responsible for a number of accessibility improvements.
exodust 4y ago
You make it sound like the role of an accessibility team is to be the valve that prevents the floodgates of inaccessibility opening. That's one hell of an expensive valve. Or that whatever the team has built up until this point, won't function unless they're in the office? > "incredibly valid" At this point, many opinions about Twitter are ranging from invalid to pathetic whinging. Twitter is still Twitter, and not everybody there got fired. I think it will get better after dust settles.
luckylion 4y ago
Have you ever actually looked at their website? You need to use a 3rd-party service like nitter to make twitter accessible. It really feels like people have never used twitter and are reading the news and go "aha! they've canned the accessibility team! they're trying to exclude the blind!"
- extra88 4y ago
  Maybe that was once true but it hasn't been. Here's a deafblind user of Twitter (the iPhone app) who had immediate trouble using the main Mastodon app [0]. Twitter only formed an accessibility team in 2020. Accessibility improvements had been made over the years before then but since the team was formed, improvements have been arriving much more steadily. Since Musk didn't only fire this team but half the staff overall, Twitter has not only lost expertise but people with the time to devote to these areas. [0] https://twitter.com/HabenGirma/status/1586829640827404288 https://twitter.com/HabenGirma/status/1586829640827404288

larsonnn 4y ago

His own opinion is a valid reason. It’s also a valid reason to leave because space captain Musk is in control.