hello! this is a rentry resource for why fonts and symbols are bad!
SR: screen reader


symbols!
𓂃 some symbols can break sr, which makes it inaccesable for people who use an sr!
lanuage symbols
language symbols from closed cultures being used from people outside of that culture is disrespectful and cultural appropriation. Over all its just disrespect to use a language from a culture you're not apart of as an aesthetic


Languages should not be used as aesthetic symbols/fonts
Why? Languages are a part of culture, it is the way people communicate with each other, build relationships, create a sense of community, convey cultural ideas and beliefs. In addition it influences attitudes and behavior. Using them as aesthetic fonts/symbols is offensive because it reinforces the idea that these languages are a bunch of cute symbols that you can use for your own benefit to make your bio look β€˜β€™pretty’’. Because of how frequently these languages are used for decor purposes they end up being perceived only as aesthetic symbols/fonts and not a language.

β€˜β€™But English is used for decor too" English is a universal language it is used everywhere. It is often chosen by people of different nationalities as a common way to communicate. It is very common for many websites to be written in English. English is only used for making meaningful words so people can easily navigate through social media whereas other languages are perceived as random symbols and don’t make sense since it’s mostly one or two letters of the language included in a word/layout.

How can I help?

Whenever you notice a server or a user using these languages for decoration let them know it’s wrong and ask for them to be removed. You could send resources that explain why it’s wrong like this post. Whenever you want to use a symbol but are not sure if it’s a language or not you can use this website to check or use symbols which are alternatives that are not languages.

Now I'm going to talk about Greek language which is often used as fonts/symbols. I'm going to list the letters that should not be used as fonts/symbols:

Ξ“,Ξ”,Θ,Ξ›,Ξ,Ξ ,Ξ£,Ξ©,,ψ,Ο€,Οƒ,Ο‰,Ξ΄,Ο†,Ξ³,Ξ·,ΞΆ,ΞΈ,ΞΎ,ΞΌ

β€˜β€™Ξ±β€™β€™ I know this letter can be handwritten like this in English but when it comes to using it online this letter is automatically written as β€˜β€™Ξ±β€™β€™ in the Greek keyboard whereas for English it’s β€˜β€™a’’

In addition let’s take a look at this picture :

These are both Greek letters the one in the left is the capital and the one in the right is the lowercase. The one in the right is usually handwritten like that in Greek although it doesn’t exist on the Greek keyboard. I've seen it being used as font/symbol before so if you see it don’t use it.
Please take time to watch this video and educate yourself on this: How this font became the face of Chinese food in America

Note: languages commonly used as aesthetic are Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Thai
please look at this carrd.co for more information!
heres a carrd of symbols <3
a carrd about this as well! <3


fonts
Hi everyone, today I want to talk about fancy fonts and why we should stop using them.

You may be confused, what do I mean by fancy fonts? I mean fonts like this:

π‘»π’‰π’Šπ’” π’Šπ’” 𝒂 π’‡π’‚π’π’„π’š 𝒇𝒐𝒏𝒕

πšƒπš‘πš’πšœ πš’πšœ 𝚊 πšπšŠπš—πšŒπš’ πšπš˜πš—πš

𝐓𝐑𝐒𝐬 𝐒𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐧𝐭

π•‹π•™π•šπ•€ π•šπ•€ 𝕒 π•—π•’π•Ÿπ•”π•ͺ π•—π• π•Ÿπ•₯

Did you know that these fonts can actually be really problematic? I recently learned some information about them, and I wanted to share so that you can stop using these fonts as well.

β€”β€”

So what’s wrong with fancy fonts? Well, visually impaired people, people with learning disabilities, and others, can’t read these if they use screen readers. Screen readers are technologies designed to read text off a screen so that people can still enjoy content audibly or through braille translation. Assistive technologies are built into devices softwares, apps downloaded onto the device, or braille translation keyboards. The issue, is that screen readers cannot read fancy fonts.

It’s incomprehensible. Anyone using a screen reader simply can’t understand what the text is saying.

β€”β€”

In addition, those fonts can be difficult for some people to read even without screen readers. Some people with dyslexia and some neurodivergent people have trouble reading these fonts in general. They can be too curvy and hard to read (that being said, even the simple ones cannot be read through screen readers, so still avoid them).

β€”β€”

Now, what can you do? We can stop using fancy fonts! If you’ve used them without the knowledge of the harm they can do (like myself), then that’s fine, just don’t use them from now on.

I understand the appeal. They’re pretty and fun to use, but now that we have this information, we need to stop prioritizing aesthetic over inclusivity. Everyone should be able to enjoy content the same, and fancy fonts are preventing that.

β€”β€”

Next time you consider using a fancy font, please consider the information shared with you today. Let’s be more inclusive and stop using fancy fonts.

β€”β€”

Cr: @angeluved (ig), @ahsculted (twt)


this rentry can be used anywhere and was created by sunny bunny!
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i am so sorry for how many words there are</3 im just trying to help people out:3

Edit Report
Pub: 21 Oct 2023 13:05 UTC
Edit: 21 Oct 2023 22:02 UTC
Views: 694