I want to tell you a story about one of my headmates. It's about competing needs, and the harm we can do if we assert that one type of accessibility is inherently and always more important than another. It's also a story about typing quirks, and if you can't read a story like that with an open mind, this is your chance to scroll past and leave us be
Terezi is fictive of Terezi Pyrope from Homestuck. Because of that, SH3 TYP3S L1K3 TH1S (plain text: she types like this). Obviously, this isn't compatible with the use of a screenreader. A lot of our Homestuck fictives prefer to use their typing quirks, but will use plain text in settings where there might be people who use screenreaders, or where the use of typing quirks is banned. Not Terezi, though
It's not because they're stubborn, or because they don't understand the importance of screenreaders, it's because it's a genuine need for them. When she tries to type "normally", it causes distress and dissociation, because the words don't feel like she's the one typing them unless she's allowed to type them in her quirk. We've tried to find ways to accommodate them, like I did above by providing a plain text version, but that's not always practical or possible, and she can't write the plain text versions herself. There's a reason she's not the one telling you this story
In a lot of online system spaces, it's become the norm to discourage or outright ban the use of typing quirks because they're incompatible with screenreaders. The idea is that people can just not use their quirks, while people can't opt out of needing a screenreader, but that's not true for everyone. Yes, some typing quirks are incompatible with screenreaders, so when people use them their messages aren't accessible to anyone who relies on a screenreader. And yeah, that's an issue, but the solution can't be that no one gets to use typing quirks. When you ban them, you're still making your space inaccessible, just to a different group of people
When one of the plural discord servers we're in banned the use of typing quirks, we negotiated a method of translating Terezi's messages into plain text that the mods agreed to, but the damage was already done. They stopped coming up to front, stopped talking to people outside the system entirely. They're close friends with three of the people I'm in a relationship with, and yet I haven't seen them in months. If I hadn't asked her permission to write this, who knows when I would've seen her next?
And when I did ask, she burst into tears and asked me to please write it because she can't do it herself. Even if they got to do it entirely in their typing quirk they still couldn't tell their story because they're scared it'll get hate sent our way, and I'll be the one who has to deal with it. She also has a lot of shame about this part of her, because she's been told it's unreasonable and selfish for her to type in her quirk. If you can't understand why that's a problem, imagine being told you're making a space inaccessible just by talking in your natural voice
This is a competing needs issue. There are spaces where people who need screenreaders and people who need to be allowed to use their typing quirks will be coexisting, and that's going to be a tricky thing to handle. But you don't solve a competing needs issue by saying "one of you gets your needs met and the other has to leave". But people don't take typing quirks seriously as a genuine need, they don't see them as an accessibility issue. So when they come up against screenreaders, most people think it's obvious that screenreaders should be prioritized 100% of the time
But when everyone's saying that your needs aren't genuine and you aren't allowed to just do what you need to without worrying about another person's needs (but they're allowed to do that to you), that eats at you. It eats at your self-esteem. The overwhelming message Terezi's gotten is "you're never allowed to put your own needs above the needs of others, and if you do we might punish your entire system for it". No wonder she stopped talking
I don't know if there's a single specific message we want you to take away from this, but if nothing else we'd like to say something to people whose accessibility needs are repeatedly deemed unimportant or less important. You're allowed to put yourself first. You're allowed to say "I can't worry about other people's needs right now, I'm going to do what I need to". You're allowed to be upset when other people treat you like shit for doing that, too. And it's not your fault that you have a need that other people don't take seriously
PL34S3 T4K3 C4R3 OF YOURS3LV3S
(Plain text: please take care of yourselves)
-Oliver (he/him) and Terezi (she/they)
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