Every hashtag on every post on every platform should ALWAYS be pascal case (a.k.a. camel case). I made this to illustrate how screenreaders read hashtags depending on whether they are lowercase or pascal case.
It’s a small thing that all of us can do to build a more inclusive, accessible internet for all. Please take the time to use pascal case.
@markwyner I didnt even know there was a difference. I did Pascal case even when I was on twitter because it looks better when I read it. At least now I have another reason to do so. Thank you for this.
The frustrating thing is, I type it in camel case, and then the autofill overrides that with all lower case. There are ways to circumvent it but they're fiddly.
@EverydayMoggie super frustrating. My solution is to just type them in manually and never tap the auto-suggestions. It’s more labor but worth it to help people who rely on readable hashtags.
This happens even when I don't touch the suggestions, though. I either have to copy and paste it from somewhere else or remember to type a space afterward, rather than a line break.
@EverydayMoggie that must be the specific app you’re using that’s forcing it. When I’m done typing my hashtag I tap the space bar and it ignores the autosuggestions. And I can achieve this in the various apps I use. Happy to troubleshoot with you since you’re trying. If you want to DM me we can talk through it.
@Cyclist great question. Some developers don’t care. For those who do, it’s complicated. Mostly because auto-predicting multiple words conflates into a single hashtag is kind of a programmatic nightmare.
However, it’s definitely possible using a cache of common hashtags. Universal hashtags could be referenced in a global index. Also, tags commonly used by an individual could be cached for them. TikTok does this, for example.
It’s simply an unfortunate reality. And a pain for people who care.
@markwyner Say, Mark, can you suggest any best practices on how to handle hashtags with word marks whose styling breaks that pattern, such as “iOS”, “GNOME” (the desktop environment), or “Debian GNU/Linux”? 🤔 Thanks! 👍
@jochenwolters good question. With branded terms it’s kind of all over the place. Some systems recognize them and pronounce them how we do. But others treat them by the book. So with iOS you might hear “eye oh es” or “eye oss” or even “eye ohs.” It you’d still want to use the proper case for the systems that read them correctly.
@markwyner This advice also supports the concept of universal design in that it benefits everyone.
Camel case hashtags are also easier to read and understand by sighted people, so everyone benefits from it.
@markwyner Thank you for bringing this to our attention. If you're not visually impaired or don't have to deal with this professionally, you really don't think about such simple things that have a positive impact on inclusion. It has broadened my horizons and is not really difficult to implement.
@markwyner Thanks for this. We made it into a guideline on MetaFilter and made sure to use CamelCase examples for every little tooltip. I do wish that the web Masto app would not default to lower case.
@jessamyn yes! Thanks for doing that. And I agree with you. In fact most (if not all) of the mobile apps default to lower case. It makes an otherwise helpful function useless. 😔
@markwyner I always try to Pascal case the hashtag because I find them more readable but I never thought about screen readers, thanks for pointing it out.
@markwyner THANK YOU. I honestly find it really irritating that suggestions are always all lowercase. I mean, it's also easier for people who do read the text to understand hashtags with camel/pascalcase.
This is super interesting, thank you! But I find that your graphic doesn't help me as much as I think you hoped it would. Given that a screen reader will be outputting audio only, how does "ucksdesign" sound different from "ux design"? It seems to me that they would both sound the same? Unless the latter is read out as "U X design" rather than "ux design"?
@claresudbery@onsman I’m sorry you didn’t find it helpful. Most people did, but these are phonetically represented the best way I could write them out. So sound it out that way. “Ucksdesign” is like “ducks design” without the “d.” All said, the incorrect phonetics aren’t important. It’s just important to use pascal case for proper pronunciation.
Sorry, I'm not being deliberately awkward but I still don't understand?
I understand that "ucks" should be pronounced like "ducks" without the D, but that's not the boot that confused me. It seems to me that "ux" would also sound the same? As in, it would sound like "ucks"? So my question is, do you intend "ux" to be pronounced as "U X", ie two individual letters pronounced separately?
@claresudbery@onsman okay, I see. UX is a professional acronym for “user experience” and UI is the same for “user interface.” They are pronounced like other acronyms, as each letter. So UX being “you ex” and UI being “you eye.”
Oh dear, I am doing a really bad job of explaining myself. That also does not answer my question.
The point of your graphic is to explain to people that they should change the way they format their hashtags, because otherwise they will be read out by screen readers in a way that is unhelpful to people who have sight impairments.
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