Some time ago we took a long, hard look at how we stacked up to the recommendations outlined in the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium. This is the initiative that sets standards for accessibility for people who may need assistance using the internet. It outlines steps to take and tools to use to create as seamless of an experience online as possible, whether you have auditory, visual, or neurological disabilities, are using a limited device, are on a slow connection with limited bandwidth, or…well, a whole bunch of other reasons.
The result of that long, hard look? Not great. We needed to make sure Tumblr was accessible to anyone who wants to use it.
Over the past few weeks we’ve been making changes to do just that. Our inaccessible menus are more accessible, we fixed our poorly described elements, and increased overall readability. You can read more about all that in our most recent @javascript post about the mobile web.
Part of making Tumblr more accessible involved upping the color contrast in our UI, most notably on the dashboard and everywhere else that familiar blue touches. The light grays and muted blues had a contrast ratio of 2.02:1. What does that mean? Bad. It was bad, and we needed to do better by people with visual impairments.
Enter your new dashboard:
It looks…cleaner, doesn’t it? Like someone dusted off the poorly accessible bits. The blue is darker, the grays are lighter, all the buttons and icons are brighter with our new brand colors, and it has a contrast ratio of 7.87:1 What does that mean? Good! Very good.
The switch to your brand new, higher contrast, less dusty dashboard has been slowly rolling out this week. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll get it sometime in the next few days.
A note: We know that this color change on the dashboard negatively impacts the beautiful bluespace art so many of you have created over the past few years. Seeing these older posts lose the utilization of the dashboard—something that made them so special and unique to just Tumblr—is certainly not a great feeling. There’s no way around that. We hope, however, that this change only means newer, more bluespace art will be created, and that this time around it will be easier for everyone to experience.
Goodbye, #36465D. You’ve treated many of us well, but #001935 will treat every single one of us even better.
Oh, tumblr. I stuck with you through the whole “flagging everything that remotely looks like skin’” business, but this? this is the last straw, my friend.
I’ll try to post a little later today, but… I played some yesterday, and something got me very emotional, so I thought I’d share some screenshots from almost two decades in the future, along with older ones.
So this is a retrospective that includes stuff from the future? I guess?
My little Hannah grew up so much! And it felt so odd to go back and remember when this was Azalea’s story…
Such an awesome idea from krystalgamer! Thought I’d reblog because I’m really happy she found my horse study worthy good enough to make CC out of, and while I’m at it I can share the original 😉
So if you want a sketch of this horse right there in your house, you know where to go ^^
At some point, I do start needing some more material for my book. Or maybe I’m just using that as an excuse to go back to my favorite place. The Museum woes seem so far away when I stand back there, in the middle of the jungle, in front of this bungalow I now know so well. And not just because Windenburg’s literally on another continent.
Can you believe how much time has passed since Mom and I first walked through this front door?
I took Loladorada with me. I feel like she misses it here. She was born here after all and she probably feels like this is where she belongs. And I can relate after all.
I’ve barely put my luggage down that I’m already digging around. I know that so close from civilisation there’s a real risk I’ll mostly unearth fakes and low value ancient pieces of pottery. But that’s actually the goal: I have a chapter in my book I want to write about this.
Also it’s a beautiful night to dig. The hot, humid air and the very act of chipping secret aways breathes life into me.
Somehow, Loladorada must find the repetitive smacks of hammer against tools comforting, because she fell asleep right at my feet, and this is my little slice of heaven.
Maybe it’s Cléo’s bold move so early in the New Year that motivated me; maybe it’s the fact that my Museum economies are running a bit low. But in any case, here I am, writing away to chip at my New Year’s resolution. It’s a book about, big surprise, archaeology. I have so much to say, and I think maybe it’s about time I share it.
Cyril has his own project to work on. His resolution is to bring his grades up, so while I’m upstairs typing away on the keyboard, he’s being the perfect teenage mad scientist.
It’s a neat water rocket! That’s an A+ if I’ve ever seen one.
I’m just leaving the mic here over to my little sister.
Actually no, I’m not, but seeing as everything I know about this day I learned from her recounting it to me, I think it still counts.
On New Year’s Eve, as is tradition, everybody in the family of course took a resolution. I wanna write a book; Cléo wanted to get a girlfriend. More specifically, she hyped herself up to finally talk to Amanda The Red-Headed Scout. Like, talk talk.
It went well.
Really well.
Yes?
Yes?
YES!
So cute.
There you go, one of us kept her resolution.
And it wouldn’t be Cléo if there were no selfies involved. And I can’t blame her, San Myshuno is still dreamy, even if you were born there.
I’m just leaving the mic here over to my little sister.
Actually no, I’m not, but seeing as everything I know about this day I learned from her recounting it to me, I think it still counts.
On New Year’s Eve, as is tradition, everybody in the family of course took a resolution. I wanna write a book; Cléo wanted to get a girlfriend. More specifically, she hyped herself up to finally talk to Amanda The Red-Headed Scout. Like, talk talk.
It went well.
Really well.
Yes?
Yes?
YES!
So cute.
There you go, one of us kept her resolution.
And it wouldn’t be Cléo if there were no selfies involved. And I can’t blame her, San Myshuno is still dreamy, even if you were born there.
Spring is here! And just like the last times the season changed, our house looks like it got a complete makeover. This is a direct consequence of Mom, taking the Easter trinkets out in the same breath as she pushed the Winterfest lights back to the bottom.
To the box with you, lights that barely ever work!
The Stewarts Family (and other shenanigans) 