so @Twitch recently revealed they're removing the 'Blind playthrough' tag for streams, which in the past was used to denote streams of someone doing a first playthrough with additional other knowledge. I support this, but am also mad about it. #a11y thread: 1/

Let me start off by saying that cutting down on ableist language is both a) good and b) difficult, so anybody endeavoring to do so should be appreciated for the effort. Changing how you think and communicate isn't easy! It's good, hard work. 2/

But we should be immediately suspicious any time a corporation makes a big deal out of giving an inch. When a person gives an inch, it can often be the first step on a road to changing. When a corporation gives an inch, it's often to get you off their back 3/

A quick overview of the Twitch experience for people with disabilities: when arriving at http://twitch.tv , a 'recommended stream' begins automatically playing with the default audio set to maximum. The controls that pause or mute this audio, which could be 4/

competing with a user's screen reader are 24th and 25th in the tab order of the page (the order of buttons you progress through by hitting tab on your keyboard). Common keyboard navigation shortcuts (landmarks and headings) get you nowhere near these controls 5/

On the subject of headings, while the main page has a number of <header> elements that would ideally serve as section headings (h2s), the only actual headings on the page are Recommended channels (an h5 despite being the first heading on the page), 6/

followed by an <h3> for every channel under the recommended channels. Deaf/HoH? Twitch is quite proud of the closed captioning feature available on Twitch-sponsored streams, but casual viewers of the rest of Twitch (that is, most streams), may be surprised 7/

to learn that your average streamer can also have (auto generated) captions on their streams. Several captioning extensions are available, but because they are Extensions–3rd party developed add-ons that Twitch is willing to support/allow– 8/

they aren't actually advertised anywhere. You have to know to go searching for them. And, again, these are third party extensions, not developed by Twitch properly and thus subject to all the other pitfalls of free things on the internet. 9/

Want to stream yourself? There's a variety of streaming software out there, but only one that I'm aware of that is controlled by Twitch itself - Twitch Studio. So how is the Twitch Studio experience for people with disabilities? 10/

Well I hope you can use a mouse, because so many buttons are not keyboard-navigable that I couldn't get it installed without a mouse. 11/

The point, which I've taken my time getting to, is this: Twitch isn't a person. Twitch is a corporation. They do not exist to help you, to further your cause. Twitch does not care about you. Twitch cares about your money. 12/

Individual Twitch employees may care about you. But they are cogs in a bigger machine. What they want takes a backseat to other considerations (primarily how much money it's going to take to do anything because, again, corporation). 13/

So on the surface, Twitch's overture towards less ableist language is a great thing. Positive step. But a glance behind the curtain betrays them; nothing about their UX indicates any real concern for people with disabilities. 14/

If Twitch were actually invested in making their site and their content #accessible, I wouldn't be able to casually dig up a hoard of a11y issues on a five-minute cruise through of their site and software. The problems I've outlined aren't even 15/

that hard to tackle. So when I call the removal of the 'blind playthrough' tag performative, I don't mean it's a bad thing. I mean it's a hollow gesture. Twitch has shown very little actual impetus to serve people with disabilities. 16/

I won't, and don't believe you should, congratulate them on this tiniest of steps until they have shown an actual commitment to making their shit accessible. Because right now, I suspect we'll get an outcome very familiar to accessibility professionals 17/

and people with disabilities: absolute radio silence from Twitch on #a11y issues once the PR campaign for this move is over. Because it wasn't really done to improve the Twitch experience for people with disabilities. It was done to get Twitch some good PR 18/

Until Twitch begins making actual, tangible changes, this move and all the positive PR generated by @aureliyan and @stevenspohn and whatever other blue checks Twitch manages to drum up should be viewed as just that – PR. 19/

Applaud them when they start the actual work, not when they invite you to cut the ribbon before they've even started breaking ground on the a11y features they should be building. 20/20