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Description

dA has been one of the best things ever since the color-scheme and easy navigation makes it easy for me to maneuver. I have only told a few people here that I have a visual disability. Why I rarely tell anyone: I do not want pity, I do not want to be treated any different because of it and here I can be normal cause on this site I can see what I am doing. I have an physical injury in my brain (not going though details to spare you all: I do not want pity: I want dA to stay the way it is!) and this means I have trouble seeing but there is nothing wrong with my intellect or understanding but I have a hard time seeing cause there is a problem with the signal from my visual-centra to the eye (read up on how eyes really work and you´ll understand better). I cant see faces very well unless people are close to me- I cant see who´s who if someone waves at me from across the street. Computers are a dread especially with white/bright backgrounds or dark backgrounds- no matter how I change the colors of letters I cannot see. On every other site I have to strain my eyes to a crazy point and get really tiered and even headaches from it.

DeviantArt is my virtual place for rest - or rather a place where I can be like everyone else. I don't need to strain my eyes to read or go though fifteen steps to find comments or my inbox (looking at you: you-tube). The overall organization of comments, others art (people you have on dA-watchlist), comments and notes are arranged in a way I can effortlessly navigate even if dA make small changes. I do not need to search for the text- I know where things are and I can actually ACTUALLY see them. I don't have to rely on my memory to find the right things in the interface cause it is pure logic. I have chosen dA as my main page to display my art for here I can have it as a hobby and feel like everybody else. I partake in contest and stuff that I would normally not cause it causes too much of a strain on my eyes - but here everything is easy for me to read and navigate and find what I need.

When I logged in a few days ago it had switched to the new one and I could not see, I could not navigate I had to spend an hour finding my way back, finding messages and my friends here and it was pure chaos. I had to ask another person to help me find my way back and log out. I am all for changes to the better and updates and things: but this new dA is very confusing and when you have a visual disability it is a purgatory on its own. I do not mean "oh new interface I do not understand" I mean: I cannot navigate the site at all, because I cannot SEE what I am looking for. I am on stationary computer cause here I have all my visual aids, it does not work on phones or tablets nor a laptop.

Please please PLEASE do not take my only safe haven away from me or my friends here. I knew updates and changes are sometimes necessary and like I said: I am all for changes to the better. This is NOT better: not for anyone it seems. I know you guys worked hard on this and gave us a chance to test it but I don't know one single person who likes the eclipse -thing. I have for real dreaded the day this would happen and I sincerely hoped you would see how many people did not like it and not switch to it completely.

If you do this you are forcing me to leave cause as a visually disabled person it will be too much of a strain for me or even impossible- the unwanted switch was enough of a scare for me. I don't want to leave. I want to stay here- it is an important part of my life. I have many of my friends here and it is a platform where everyone can meet. I have been able to hide my visual disability for years thanks to this site and it has been heaven being treated like everyone else. In real life it is hell and people who do not understand that you don't have to be totally blind to be vision-impaired. I get shoved, yelled at, people push me away to get in line at the store cause I don't always move fast enough for their taste (cause I don't want to bump into people). I get ridiculed for not being able to read signs with smaller text, I take too much time trying to see what I want to order at McDonalds or other fast food restaurants (well meaning I eat less junk-food but you get my point). Don´t take away one of my very few happy places I have where I can be who I am without being labeled.

I take a very high risk of never being commissioned as an artist again because of this (people can be cruel) but most people I know on this site would not care and keep treating me like an equal and like my art for what it is- not because of what I have. But if dA goes for me thee is no point for me keeping up art anyways so...yeah I take that risk any day if it means keeping dA as it is!

I can be here on the same terms as anyone else.

Please listen to us. Please do not take this away from us.

Please share this as much as you want. It is important to us all.

Description

dA has been one of the best things ever since the color-scheme and easy navigation makes it easy for me to maneuver. I have only told a few people here that I have a visual disability. Why I rarely tell anyone: I do not want pity, I do not want to be treated any different because of it and here I can be normal cause on this site I can see what I am doing. I have an physical injury in my brain (not going though details to spare you all: I do not want pity: I want dA to stay the way it is!) and this means I have trouble seeing but there is nothing wrong with my intellect or understanding but I have a hard time seeing cause there is a problem with the signal from my visual-centra to the eye (read up on how eyes really work and you´ll understand better). I cant see faces very well unless people are close to me- I cant see who´s who if someone waves at me from across the street. Computers are a dread especially with white/bright backgrounds or dark backgrounds- no matter how I change the colors of letters I cannot see. On every other site I have to strain my eyes to a crazy point and get really tiered and even headaches from it.

DeviantArt is my virtual place for rest - or rather a place where I can be like everyone else. I don't need to strain my eyes to read or go though fifteen steps to find comments or my inbox (looking at you: you-tube). The overall organization of comments, others art (people you have on dA-watchlist), comments and notes are arranged in a way I can effortlessly navigate even if dA make small changes. I do not need to search for the text- I know where things are and I can actually ACTUALLY see them. I don't have to rely on my memory to find the right things in the interface cause it is pure logic. I have chosen dA as my main page to display my art for here I can have it as a hobby and feel like everybody else. I partake in contest and stuff that I would normally not cause it causes too much of a strain on my eyes - but here everything is easy for me to read and navigate and find what I need.

When I logged in a few days ago it had switched to the new one and I could not see, I could not navigate I had to spend an hour finding my way back, finding messages and my friends here and it was pure chaos. I had to ask another person to help me find my way back and log out. I am all for changes to the better and updates and things: but this new dA is very confusing and when you have a visual disability it is a purgatory on its own. I do not mean "oh new interface I do not understand" I mean: I cannot navigate the site at all, because I cannot SEE what I am looking for. I am on stationary computer cause here I have all my visual aids, it does not work on phones or tablets nor a laptop.

Please please PLEASE do not take my only safe haven away from me or my friends here. I knew updates and changes are sometimes necessary and like I said: I am all for changes to the better. This is NOT better: not for anyone it seems. I know you guys worked hard on this and gave us a chance to test it but I don't know one single person who likes the eclipse -thing. I have for real dreaded the day this would happen and I sincerely hoped you would see how many people did not like it and not switch to it completely.

If you do this you are forcing me to leave cause as a visually disabled person it will be too much of a strain for me or even impossible- the unwanted switch was enough of a scare for me. I don't want to leave. I want to stay here- it is an important part of my life. I have many of my friends here and it is a platform where everyone can meet. I have been able to hide my visual disability for years thanks to this site and it has been heaven being treated like everyone else. In real life it is hell and people who do not understand that you don't have to be totally blind to be vision-impaired. I get shoved, yelled at, people push me away to get in line at the store cause I don't always move fast enough for their taste (cause I don't want to bump into people). I get ridiculed for not being able to read signs with smaller text, I take too much time trying to see what I want to order at McDonalds or other fast food restaurants (well meaning I eat less junk-food but you get my point). Don´t take away one of my very few happy places I have where I can be who I am without being labeled.

I take a very high risk of never being commissioned as an artist again because of this (people can be cruel) but most people I know on this site would not care and keep treating me like an equal and like my art for what it is- not because of what I have. But if dA goes for me thee is no point for me keeping up art anyways so...yeah I take that risk any day if it means keeping dA as it is!

I can be here on the same terms as anyone else.

Please listen to us. Please do not take this away from us.

Please share this as much as you want. It is important to us all.