Grawlix you too, LJ

[soc_puppet]

Oh look, there go the comment style changes. Subject line is confirmed gone. Drop-down menu for icons is confirmed gone (and the animated browse isn't loading for me at all). The preview option is confirmed gone. Heavy reliance on animation is confirmed in place.

Well, LJ, we had a decent run. Quite a few years out of me, and if I do the math, I did indeed get a certain value of my money's worth out of my permanent account. Sadly, I will definitely be shutting down comments on LJ, and will quite probably be discontinuing crossposting there as well. I remain undecided yet as to whether I go so far as to lock down some or all of my previously posted content, but I suppose time will tell.

For folks still interested in my random shit, I'll be posting on Dreamwidth for the foreseeable future as soc_puppet, with occasional crochet-related detours at hooked_on_anime. Dreamwidth is running open account creation through the end of the month, so anyone who wants to can create an account without needing an invite code. (I've got a ton of invite codes anyway, so drop me a comment here if you miss the deadline.) I might yet be convinced to crosspost to either JournalFen or InsaneJournal, as well.

For everyone else, so long and thanks for all the fish ♥

Edit: My old, seriously out-of-date computer is literally incapable of using the new comment form at LJ, so yeah, commenting there is going away forever. It's much more likely that everything's getting locked down, too. If you wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss you, LJ, you did a damn fine job.

Edit 2: Anonymous commenting is back on at my Dreamwidth account. I don't care if I do start getting spam again, the spam team will eat it for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. They love eating spam, basically.

Incidentally, for upcoming fun times (where by "fun" I mean "schadenfreude"): Dreamwidth Stats
Check out the latest Newbyday number over the next few days. Watch it rise drastically >D (I am so glad I decided to import my stuff on Saturday, you have no idea.)

For fun that is considerably less dependant on LJ's suffering, check out Dreamwidth's Latest Things feed. It can be seriously addictive in the best ways.

Comments

[the_prettiest_star]

You're right! That Latest Things Feed is awesome! Maybe that'll get me settled to DW. I definitely post from here that's for sure~

[soc_puppet]

Oh man, the Latest Things feed is amazing. I mean, content from minute to minute is a grab bag, but that's part of what makes it exciting! There's some real treasure to be found there, that's for certain :)

[branewurms]

Wait, the drop-down menu for icons is gone? Then how are we supposed to choose our icon for a comment...?

[branewurms]

I just looked and I'm still getting a drop-down... But I'm also still getting a subject line? I thought from the way everyone was talking the changes had already gone into effect?

[branewurms]

Oh n/m, now I see - it's only on journals w/customized comment pages disabled. And OH MY GOD IT'S AWFUL WTF.

[soc_puppet]

Yeah, it's a real nasty piece of work =_= Huge blow to accessibility, too. And since a lot of large communities rely (or rather, relied) on the default comment pages to function properly/for readability, there's a lot of scrambling going on :/

[codeman38]

Wow, that thing is HORRIBLY broken with respect to keyboard accessibility/tab order. I've already submitted a support request, and am considering posting to accessibility_fail here as well...

[codeman38]

("That thing" being the new comment form monstrosity on LJ. Seriously, did nobody test this with a keyboard? Once you've opened the icon selection box, you have to tab through the entire content of the post itself in order to get to the close button! And there's no way to actually tab to any of the icons!)

[soc_puppet]

Given LJ's recent history, I'm certain that not only did no one on staff test the update for accessibility, but a number of people have said in various comments (at lj_releases and lj_news) that the LJ staff blatantly disregarded any comments from beta testers who said this was less than ideal.

I've known since I heard about the changes being in the pipeline that there would be accessibility issues, but I was wholly unprepared for the sheer magnitude of them. A good portion of that is probably privilege on my end as a neuro-atypical TAB person, I'm sure, but reading some of the comments from users complaining about what LJ is getting wrong is quite frankly breathtaking. Hell, in addition to lack of basic usability, I saw at least two users complain that the new format triggered migraines! Not being able to post something is annoying, but at least it doesn't usually cause physical pain.

[mommy]

I'm cringing at the accessibility fail going on at LJ. Just no.

I always seem to forget about DW's Latest Things page. Thank you for reminding me that it exists!

[soc_puppet]

Ditto that, and I'm sure I'm not even aware of the tip of the iceberg WRT accessibility >_<

Absolutely! I've got it bookmarked for when I need something to entertain myself with :)

[ningen-demonai.livejournal.com]

... Sweet crepes, what the fuck comment page am I looking at?!