No Mastodon, I do not ever want to use a hashtag in all lower case, stop suggesting it. #CamelCase is the #Accessibility option.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who use AltText to add descriptions to your pics and media. As someone who used to be able to see but has been blind for over 30 years now, it allows me to see the pic in my mind and is greatly appreciated and allows me to enjoy them.

Another heartfelt thanks to those who use #CamelCase in their hashtags. This makes it so much easier to understand with a screen reader and for those who read print as well! ❤️

Especially on Mastodon there is very much a culture of equality and respect for others. By showing that you appreciate these values you are more socially acceptable here.

Camel Case, https://www.boia.org/blog/make-your-hashtags-accessible is the practice of capitalising the start of each word in a #. E.g. #CamelCase. Those familiar with the difference between susanalbumparty and SusanAlbumParty will appreciate the effort, as will people with dyslexia. People with screen readers also benefit as described in the link.

2/T

Here's few words about #accessibility, specifically #CamelCase and #altText on #Mastodon. From a pragmatic as well as ethical point of view. If you are already signed up on ethical grounds, good job, let's keep at it!

Pragmatically: If you are not writing for an audience outside of people you personally know then there is a non zero chance you will have someone with difficulty seeing or with dyslexia try to read your work. Effective communicators remove barriers for their audiences.

1/T

PSA: To everyone who is #NewHere, and those who are not.

When you use hashtags it can help those using a #ScreenReader to use #CamelCase. Screen-readers can then find and pronounce the constituent words, rather than trying to pronounce the whole thing.

It's not essential, but it's one way we can make the Fediverse more welcoming.