Regarding Discord's stance on accessibility features

While this may look like yet another thread on the new light theme, I want to give some more general feedback on the way that Discord treat their accessibility features and their users who require them.

Don't forget that back in April when they just outright removed the light theme as a "joke". In this current situation and that one, the thread on Discord's official Twitter is filled with legitimate complaints and feedback and they do sometimes reply, which is appreciated. However, at the exact same time, they post the exact same "light theme bright!!!" joke repeatedly, showing what is clearly a two-faced attitude as they openly mock their affected user base. While I would like this to not be true, it makes you look like nothing more than a group of ableist tech bros who care nothing about the experience of those with various difficulties or simple personal preferences.

It is disheartening and frankly disgusting to see this behaviour happen constantly. Discord seriously has to work on their accessibility both on the platform itself and how they represent this in their public image. I cannot give any support to the development team while they so blatantly laugh in the face of many of their users. This situation is not as terrible as the last one regarding the light theme, but it is very tiring to be at the butt of yet another one of their discriminatory jokes because I have a visual impairment.

Please sort this out. Hire some people who are experts in accessibility and ask for their input on every user-facing decision, because your current team is evidently unable to make accessibility-related choices on their own.

wid

September 10, 2019 01:07
Edited

I would also like to add that attempting to fix the problem so you can use their service without actual physical pain or any other issue by using an external program to create a theme that works best for you, is against the terms of service and can get you banned. They actively cause harm to their user base, mock them, then when they try to fix the problem on their own, they can get banned. Either implement something to let users use your service in a way that makes them not be in pain, or let them do it themselves. To cause discomfort, intentionally or otherwise, while not letting people fix it, is simply horrible.

I would like to stress that this is not an isolated issue and it will continue unless we are direct to Discord about it. They're not a small company any more, they are the leading messaging application and they desparately need to start acting like it by taking responsibility for their complete disregard for people who need accessibility options, not just the visually impaired.

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