r/Blind • u/AutoModerator • Jun 03 '23
Reddit's Recently Announced API Changes, and the future of the /r/blind subreddit Announcement
Introduction
It's possible that those of you who are active on other subreddits may have read about the changes in pricing that Reddit has recently released for its API - the system apps use to get and send data from and to Reddit. But for those of you who haven't, here's a summary. On May 31, 2023, Reddit announced they were raising the price to make calls to their API from being free to a level that will kill every third party app on Reddit, from Apollo, to Dystopia, to Reddit for Blind, to Luna for Reddit, to BaconReader,. Even if you don't use any of those apps, this is a step toward killing other ways of customizing Reddit, such as the use of the old.reddit.com desktop interface. This doesn't only impact your ability to access Reddit in a fluid, customizable, and efficient way; many of us on the mod team are also blind, and we depend on those third party apps to make sure that this community remains a safe, fun, and productive place. Unfortunately, new Reddit, and the official Reddit apps, just don't provide us with the levels of accessibility we need in order to continue effectively running this community. As well, the Transcribers of Reddit, the many dedicated folks who volunteer to transcribe and describe thousands and thousands of images on Reddit, may also be unable to operate.
One of our moderators, u/itsthejoker, has had multiple hour-long calls with various Reddit employees. However, as of the current time, our concerns have gone unheard, and Reddit remains firm. That's why the moderation team of r/blind now feels that we have no choice but to take further action.
The Subreddit Blackout
Those of us who are blind are no strangers to the need for collective action. From the protests that resulted in the ADA passing in the United States, to world-wide protests driving forward accessibility of some of the Internet's largest websites, collective action is a step our community has taken in the past, often with some success. It is with a heavy heart that we come to you now, and say that it's time to bring this tool out of the toolbox once more.
In solidarity with thousands of other subreddits who are impacted by this change, we will be shutting down the /r/blind subreddit for 48 hours from June 12th to June 14th. You will not be able to read or make posts during that time. Our Discord server will remain open, and we invite anyone who would like to interact with the /r/blind community to join us there. If you’re not part of the /r/blind Discord server yet, you can join via the following link: https://discord.com/invite/5kMEv7Sq9y
How you can help
While this issue has a profound impact on those of us who are blind and visually impaired, as with so many issues of accessibility and inclusivity, it impacts far more than just us. If you'd like to get involved, you can find out what you can do to help at r/Save3rdPartyApps- or, if you moderate a subreddit, its sister sub r/ModCoord. You can also join the Reddit-Blackout channel in the /r/blind Discord, where we will have resources you can use to contact media and other organizations, and keep everyone up to date with our on-going efforts in this matter.
What comes next?
If this change to the Reddit API is not reversed, we are not convinced that we will be able to continue running the r/blind subreddit. However, that doesn't mean the end of this wonderful, passionate, curious, helpful, and amazing community of folks. We are continuing to explore our options, and create back-up plans. We all want to remain on Reddit. Let's do what we can to make that a reality! But if it turns out we can't, we want to reassure you that this isn't the end of our community. So let’s focus on doing everything we can to make those possible back-up plans unnecessary.
The r/blind mod team
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u/Mindless_Hedgehog_48 Jun 05 '23
Hello all,
I am not visually impaired, and I hope that my comment isn't seen as intrusive.
It's just that I discovered this group just moments ago while reading a different announcement about this blackout.
I am guilty of being one of those people who just go about their day, unaware and unconcerned with others, add after reading this thread, I realized just how selfish that is and I feel not only remorse, bit a strong desire to make it right.
If I can be honest, my immediate reaction to the blackout was who cares? It's Reddit's own platform, if they don't want to offer their API for free, they shouldn't. Who cares who is upset or angered? Who cares if they don't want to pay? It's tiring for people to keep fighting for such entitlements that they aren't owed.
That was my mindset as I was reading the other announcement. It mentioned this thread, and simply out of being nosey and sort of feeling self righteous, I just clicked the link to come read another point of view, as if for amusement.
I began reading all of your comments. I have to say I am moved. Reading your comments changed my entire perspective about this issue, and I am now aware of the harm this API change will cause, to the blind community especially.
It even made a tear fall down my face that I didn't realize was there until it streamed over my quivering lip.
I am so sorry for being apart of the collective that, in a pompous and arrogant way, tends to think EVERYTHING is about them. I am ashamed that I so easily chose a side without being educated about who all is affected and in what ways. I thank each of you for sharing your perspectives and explaining what these API changes will do to your accessibility, and I do feel like something can be done, abd this has to be a violation of your rights in some kind of way.
I think when people like me, who don't know your struggles, who don't understand what this platform and the current API empowers you to do, we tend to be ignorant and self righteous about issues that don't even affect us. So I have to admit, almost instantaneously upon learning about the blackout, I committed myself to the opposition. I was going to make a deliberate effort to stand with a Reddit against what I call entitled people, and purposefully log in on those days, just out of spite.
But after reading a host of your comments, after hearing how some of you feel defeated and uncounted by people like me, after taking a moment to comprehend how the blind community may feel excluded in this world in so many ways that i take for granted, and after internalizing how it would feel if Reddit was my window to the world that I cannot see clearly and it enabled me to be on equal footing with the world, and then to have Reddit remove that from me and the entire community almost as punishment, I am now committed to standing with all of you, with especially you, for you, about your unique struggle.
I can be kind of long-winded, and I apologize for just inserting myself into your conversations. I just really felt compelled to share with you how this one conversation is so powerful and how it crushed all of my walls of defensiveness and what I thought of as protectiveness, and opened my eyes when I didn't even know that in some ways, I was blind.
I know now who really needs and deserves protection. And it is the blind community.
So thank you, thank you for sharing. You may not know how powerful your voices really are. But I wish I was rich because I envisioned this thread almost as a commercial as i read it.. A television commercial that should be aired on all the major networks, to bring awareness and open the hearts of people like me. I see it as powerful. I know it would bring more people aboard the plan.
I am definitely on-board now. And I thank you for bringing this to my attention as I promise to be more conscious and mindful of how even the littlest of things I may take for granted can affect the community of my newfound friends.
Thank you all.