https://www.reddit.com/r/TranscribersOfReddit/comments/14ggf8k/the_future_of_transcribers_of_reddit/
created by halailah on 22/06/2023 at 22:00 UTC*
1600 upvotes, 58 top-level comments (showing 25)
We are heartbroken to announce that Transcribers of Reddit will be closing on June 30, 2023.
Our role in the Reddit community has always been to point out inadequacies in the platform - namely, the lack of accessibility features such as alt text - and provide a temporary, constructive solution while raising awareness of these problems. We believed that Reddit was ultimately interested in addressing these flaws, and our beliefs were reinforced by the positive relationships we have maintained with admins over the past six years. But in light of recent events, we now recognize that Reddit corporate has demonstrated a severe lack of willingness to fix core issues with the platform. It is clear that these problems are coming from the top, and we do not believe they can be fixed. Unfortunately, while this was an extraordinarily difficult decision for us, these circumstances mean that we can no longer operate this project.
The announced changes to the API structure starting July 1st would likely make it more difficult, though not impossible, for Transcribers of Reddit to function. Technical functioning is just one part of running a project of this size and scope; we believe it is only a matter of time until further changes truly make it impossible. In the meantime, our team would be faced with constantly increasing work to keep the project alive until we inevitably have to shut down anyway. In addition, the communities we aim to serve (including /r/Blind) are being driven away from the platform when accessible third-party apps are replaced by the inaccessible official app with only vague promises for future improvement. Add to that a lack of trust in Reddit and severe disappointment in their responses to user protests, it is ultimately not reasonable for our team to take on that workload.
We will be holding a final Clear the Queue event next week to knock out as many transcriptions as possible before June 30. Stay tuned for an announcement with the exact 12-hour window.
Our Discord will remain open as a community space after June 30. /r/DescriptionPlease will remain open and functioning.
Our parent nonprofit, Grafeas Group, does not have plans for a future project after Transcribers of Reddit. While we can't rule anything out for the coming months, we currently believe that it is unlikely, given our resources and the sudden end of this project, that we will be starting a new venture in the future.
We are incredibly proud of the success of this project - of every post made accessible, of uniting volunteers across 68 countries and every continent, of sharing our lessons and strategies with other groups in pursuit of a more accessible internet, and of creating a community that exemplified the best of what the internet can do.
We deeply appreciate every single person who has contributed to this project over the past six years - volunteers, moderators, the officers and board of our parent nonprofit, our partner subreddits who welcomed us into their communities, people who have donated or bought our merch to keep us running, and everyone who has appreciated, upvoted, and left kind comments on a transcription. We would also like to extend a thanks to the admins who have worked with us over the past six years.
To all of you - thanks for everything. Thank you for bringing your time and your energy. Thank you for being willing to join us in defense of the idea that everyone deserves a voice in the conversation. Thanks for being you.
Comment by halailah at 26/06/2023 at 14:55 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Thank you to everyone who has shown us so much love and support over the past few days - we appreciate every one of you who has reached out with your kind words!
We will be hosting our final Clear the Queue event on Friday, June 30 at 11:00 UTC. During Clear the Queue, we come together as a community to try and transcribe every post in our queue. We hang out in the voice chat of our Discord (although voice chat participation is not required) and it's a party! Clear the Queue lasts 12 hours, unless we finish sooner, so feel free to drop by for as long or short as you want. We hope to see lots of people there!
Comment by MostlyBlindGamer at 22/06/2023 at 22:36 UTC
69 upvotes, 2 direct replies
What can I say… so long and thanks for all the fish?
r/ToR_Archive is my r/all. Transcriptions on r/ProgrammerHumor are how I senselessly stay connected to the memes around my work. I get links to posts from coworkers all the time and there’s the transcription with all the upvotes it deserves. That’s what inclusion is all about, isn’t it?
In more ways than one, it feels like something big is changing. An era is ending.
Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.
Comment by suitcaseismyhome at 22/06/2023 at 23:16 UTC
27 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank you to all of you for what you have done over the years. I don't think that the average user even realises that you exist and the power that you have to bring the to bring the world to individual users.
I do think that this is something that the media should pick up on as well to show the impact that this is having not just to the blind sub but to so many people who have joined a community to support members.
Best of luck to you all and once again thank you.
Comment by PlenitudeOpulence at 22/06/2023 at 23:30 UTC
26 upvotes, 0 direct replies
r/worldnewsvideo and its community will miss you terribly… thank you for all you have done to bring Reddit to everyone.
~Plenty
Comment by DonaldDuck031 at 22/06/2023 at 23:35 UTC
20 upvotes, 1 direct replies
😓 sad to see things go the way they have. I will happily participate in the end event, hopefully we can create some fond memories for others
Comment by SunnyHeartlight at 23/06/2023 at 01:14 UTC
19 upvotes, 0 direct replies
ToR was one of the things that gave me hope in humanity, and I enjoyed both the brief time I was a transcriber with you, and the year I spent working with your team on 1812, which I suppose will now and forever go down as the biggest collective reddit transcription project of all time.
Thank you all so much for the good times we had together, and for being my friends. You will be missed, ToR 🫡
Comment by jadin- at 23/06/2023 at 04:18 UTC
18 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Good human.
Comment by yossipossi at 23/06/2023 at 02:47 UTC
13 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is so heartbreaking. Thank you all for the wonderful service to the platform. Godspeed.
Comment by SirLordSagan at 23/06/2023 at 11:25 UTC
13 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It was fun, thanks for the journey. I'm proud I was a part of it
Comment by Forsaken-Yak-7581 at 24/06/2023 at 07:24 UTC
11 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I’ll be honest I’ve never heard of this sub until I read about you on Engadget. I wanted to come over and thank you for what your have done for our community over the years and for taking a principled stand.
thank you
Comment by EdenFlorence at 23/06/2023 at 09:47 UTC
12 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Sorry to hear about this, I'm sure that this was not an easy decision. I wish everyone in the team and volunteers well.
Comment by [deleted] at 23/06/2023 at 23:47 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You all that work in the background doing services like this are the real heros. I believe humanity is better off because of yall work ethics and sacrifices. I'm not blind and don't know anyone who is, but can't imagine the joy of being able to participate in activities like reddit because of the sacrifices. So from random cop in New Orleans, thank you.
Comment by Jackie_Rompana at 23/06/2023 at 09:39 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thanks everyone, I had a blast volunteering with y'all (haven't been active lately, but was in the past), and I'm so sorry to see this happening. It's so frustrating, but at the end of the day, I'm proud and happy about what we've achieved together. You're all wonderful people!
Comment by Readalie at 23/06/2023 at 21:40 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
ToR will be so badly missed. :(
Comment by tinytyler12345 at 24/06/2023 at 02:40 UTC
10 upvotes, 1 direct replies
This hurts to read. Thank you, all of you, for everything. One of my closest friends is blind and relied on your volunteers to enjoy Reddit. You guys even worked with my subreddit, one that is seemingly unimportant and silly in the grand scheme of things, and yet your volunteers transcribed it anyways. My buddy was so excited when I told him about your program, it allowed him to stay up to date with what's happening in the online spheres all over. It's a freedom he had never had. I know your volunteers are heroes to people like my friend. Thank you!
Comment by Nuna-Luna at 25/06/2023 at 12:31 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’m low vision and hearing impaired and so sad I’m only finding out this sub existed when it’s about to end! There are so many times on Reddit when I wish things had subtitles or a caption to help me figure out what I’m looking at or hearing. Everyone should know about this, accessiblity is treated more like a luxury feature that is nice to have but “eh it doesn’t matter if we don’t” it should be treated as a priority, and I wish more people understood that.
Comment by TheAdvocate at 23/06/2023 at 16:58 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Sickening. Thank you all for the work you've done. You, and the communities that depend on you, did not deserve this.
Great job u/spez !
Nothing to see here, I'm sure.
Comment by [deleted] at 23/06/2023 at 20:46 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank you for the work you did here.
Comment by Daisy-Sandwiches at 23/06/2023 at 21:18 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank you all for your service!
Comment by starfleetbrat at 24/06/2023 at 02:39 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I just wanted to thank you for the service this subreddit provided. I didn't participate as often as I would have liked, but I always thought this was a good thing that people were doing. I'll be sad to see it go but 100% understand the reasons. Good luck to you all in whatever you choose to do next :D
Comment by onichama at 24/06/2023 at 09:11 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Damn. I'm at a loss for words. Thank you for everything you did.
Comment by Air320 at 24/06/2023 at 09:22 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Hugs. I'm sad that it has come to this. Angry as well. But mostly sad.
Comment by Bitbatgaming at 23/06/2023 at 13:04 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thank you for your efforts
Comment by buzznights at 24/06/2023 at 06:21 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
On behalf of r/ihavesex, thank you very much. I will miss seeing the "Sexy Volunteer" flairs. Cheers to all of your hard work.
Comment by Prudent-Ad-5292 at 25/06/2023 at 08:02 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Fuck pointless, greedy, capitalism. What is with this obsession to maximize quarterly profits? Is depriving users of their desired experience and maybe driving some of them back to the native app so worth it? To what end?
Terribly sorry, not only to the users - but to the team that seemed to enjoy the work. That's a hard thing to come by.