I want to take a minute to express my displeasure (growing whenever I think on it) with Discord. To some of you, it will seem like not a big deal. For those of you who have experienced something like this, you’ll understand. I’m not actually trying to get something done, I’m just talking about it to talk about it.

Background

I wrote my guide for using Discord with screen readers. I expanded and maintained it until 2022 when I became too ill to keep up with the changes, give participation to feedback in Discord’s accessibility server, or write 300 words a week to correct terminology and descriptions for UI changes that were minor, but could potentially cause screen readers to behave unpredictably. For my time and dedication and work to convince as many members of the blindness community as possible to embrace Discord, I received a T-shirt with their logo just before they changed said logo.

Username

I was also a Nitro subscriber and had been for a few years when Discord changed their policy concerning usernames. Prior to, I was Changeling#0001. I checked in preparation for the change, I researched and found that the accounts with changeling in their names, the one where the name was just changeling and no other words were inactive. When it came time for me to choose, I found one of the inactive accounts had gotten my preferred username, Changeling.

No Reply

I contacted support and explained. I then politely requested a change be made so I could have my username. I sent that email back in April of 2022; no response has come. I even tried DMing the account owner and asking if they’d mind switching since they weren’t using the account.

Turning Point

This is when I decided ed that no longer would I offering my services as an accessibilitye consultant for free. Compensation needn’t be monetary, but it needs to go beyond the proverbial Coke® and a smile. See my about page for ways get in touch.

Your Turn

Has this ever happened to youou? Share in the replies.