Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it will be a good way to attract downvotes moreso than attention.
I'm getting AOL chatroom flashbacks. When do we start using color faders again?
Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
71–80 of 172 posts
Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#72This is (ab)using unicode, for example the F is actually a Mathematical Bold Fraktur Capital F: https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/U+1D571 This is terrible for screen readers and the like which are unable to read or understand these unicode characters making accessibility a real concern.
Maybe a HN reader using a screen reader can describe how theirs handles these characters.
Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#73Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#74Ỹ̹̼̰͚̺̥ẻ̥̏p͔̭͙̐ͪ̇͊,̤̪̯̙̣ ̰̣̼̻̺͈a̜͚̟ll ̮̼̙̗o͇f̜ t̳̬͍̤͖h̝o͉͚̩̗s̠͙̗̝̬͕ͅḙ͇̬̱͔̟ ͖̘̖͉ͅa͇̥̖͎̜͇r͓̳e͔̙͙ ̞̦͈u̪̤̳̟̞̰s̼̣̩̗i̭̯n͔̟̞͕̹g̩͇͍̗͖̻ ͕̪̮̩v͙̳͍̞͓ͅa̹̫̰ͅlịd̯͚̘̯ ̤̙A̜̪S̗͎͖̥̠̳C͇̮I͓̭̟̲I̦̟̲/̶̞̞̱͈̰̣͙̥̹̪̯͚̝͈̹̹ ̛͈̱̻͍̬̟͙̰̠̟̖̕Ú̡͉͙̻̗͙̭͉̖̖n̨̡̗̩͈̭̻͕̭͇͇̲͙̖̫̯̜͚͈ͅi͏̷̀͏̪͎̜̜̠͇̩͙̗̯͍̮̜͖̮͓͓̫c̺͉̦͓͙̤̼̰̀͠ͅo͏̯̜̥̣̯͕̻̮͘͡d̖͉͈̬͍̩͚̬̯̰̳̀́͞ͅe̡̗̻̫͕̙̘̲̫̦͉̬̖̭̺͡͝ ͖̺̳̟͓͇c̠̟͎̼̲̳h͖̣͕̯a̜͔͉̼̮r̗a̰̘̭͚̠̮̝c̱̰̦͕̰ͅͅt͉er̟͉̫͍̥̦s͈͖̤̞. ... 日本の作品も (🅙🅐🅟🅐🅝🅔🅢🅔 also w…
We called those corrupted-looking fonts "Zalgo"
Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#75This is (ab)using unicode, for example the F is actually a Mathematical Bold Fraktur Capital F: https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/U+1D571 This is terrible for screen readers and the like which are unable to read or understand these unicode characters making accessibility a real concern.
I wonder actually. Google seems to understand these, you can search with them. I wouldn't be surprised if screen readers understand these symbols. They're originally for Mathematics, and I'm sure there's plenty of blind mathematicians.
I develop web sites with screen readers in mind, and I would be very surprised if they could handle this sort of thing consistently.
Google spent billions of dollars learning how to search and interpret the web. Screen reading companies don't have that kind of scratch.
Also, it's important to remember that screen readers are about more than just the blind. There are screen readers that help people learn a new language, or translate text into simplified forms for people with low education, or low attention (think of the Mac's built-in text summarizing service).
For people who have a hard time reading custom fonts because of limited sight, or limited attention, they often override custom CSS fonts with something easier to read. This sort of thing will make the page unusable.
Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder actually. Google seems to understand these, you can search with them. I wouldn't be surprised if screen readers understand these symbols. They're originally for Mathematics, and I'm sure there's plenty of blind mathematicians.
blind mathematicians don't write english to communicate in these unicode blocks... These blocks don't exist to be used for writing words in the english language.
Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#77This is (ab)using unicode, for example the F is actually a Mathematical Bold Fraktur Capital F: https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/U+1D571 This is terrible for screen readers and the like which are unable to read or understand these unicode characters making accessibility a real concern.
I don't see why screen readers can't just be extended to handle characters that look like F.
Re: Show HN: Fancy fonts you can use almost anywhere
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder actually. Google seems to understand these, you can search with them. I wouldn't be surprised if screen readers understand these symbols. They're originally for Mathematics, and I'm sure there's plenty of blind mathematicians.
Wow, that's actually pretty neat: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com%... Anyone know if there are any existing libraries that do this conversion?
icu::ErrorCode status;
auto t = icu::Transliterator::createInstance("Any-Latin; NFKD", UTRANS_FORWARD, status);
t->transliterate("unicode string");
[1] http://site.icu-project.org/