Ravelry and accessibility - the bloated blog post

Important note


Although this post is some years old, it may get updated from time-to-time as needed. (Yes, Ravelry's accessibility issues are still a problem, and no, they have not been resolved.) 

Last time any sections were updated was May 3, 2022 9:02pm ET.

What this is all about


On June 16, Ravelry launched a new look. This was over a year in the making, and the team behind the site worked really hard and spent money and all the usual other things you would expect for such a huge project. Unfortunately, it became pretty immediately obvious that the site was not accessible, even beyond the usual ways that companies miss on accessibility - there have been reports of nausea, headaches, and even seizures because of the new UX (user experience). As well, it's been reported that the new site is much more unusable with screenreaders. There have also been reports that the new look plays havoc with the mobile experience: example 1, example 2.

Most importantly, THE ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEMS CAUSING PHYSICAL HARM HAVE NEVER BEEN FIXED. Moreover, the most effective tool for enabling people to continue to use Ravelry harm-free was removed.

To be clear: Some things were improved soon after the launch of the redesign; the Ravelry staff kind of listened to some of the accessibility problems at first. But improvement was slow, small, and grudging, and the most serious accessibility issues are still in place, despite publicly-made declarations that accessibility is important and statements that they would try to hire an accessibility consultant. (They have not hired an accessibility consultant.) 

The Ravelry staff have, in fact, claimed not only that many of the reported accessibility issues don't exist, but that the new version of the site is "the most accessible version of Ravelry ever". Apologies for this behaviour have since been issued, but the most serious accessibility issues remain in place. That's a brief summary on the extremely problematic approach that Ravelry has taken to the entire situation; see 'Ravelry's problematic response' in the informational categories further down to read more.

FAQs:

This is obviously very disappointing on a number of levels. For one thing, I don't want people to be hurt. As well, I don't want people to be edged out of using an incredibly useful site. Not just crafters, but also, for many fibre-related businesses, Ravelry as a selling and/or marketing channel has been essential over the years.

(Incidentally, as a designer, I noticed that activity on Ravelry around my designs - likes, queues, etc. -  noticeably tanked after the redesign was launched.)

Other resources about the whole situation in general and what accessibility is:


Informational categories



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