Short answer
Screen readers often struggle with styled Unicode letters. Depending on the software and settings, they may read each character by its Unicode name ('mathematical bold capital H'), read it as the plain letter, or skip it entirely. Upside-down text is usually read as a string of phonetic symbols. Keep the meaning of a post in plain letters and use effects only as decoration.
Key points
- Styled letters are separate characters, and assistive software treats them as symbols, not words.
- Results vary by screen reader, platform and verbosity setting.
- Never put the key information of a post only in styled or flipped text.
- Emoji are read by name too, so long emoji strings are tiring to listen to.
How does a screen reader see fancy text?
As a run of unusual symbols, because that's what the characters are.
When you type 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 in bold Unicode, the post doesn't contain the word "Hello" in bold. It contains five characters from the Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols block, each with a name like MATHEMATICAL BOLD CAPITAL H. Software that reads text aloud has to decide what to do with them. Some screen readers map them back to plain letters, some read the full names, some spell them out one by one, and some skip them. The same post can sound fine on one phone and come out as a long list of symbol names on another.
What about upside-down text?
It usually sounds worse, because the characters are real phonetic symbols with their own names.
ɥǝllo is read as something like "turned h, turned e, l, l, o", in reverse order to boot. A whole flipped sentence becomes a long list of symbol names that the listener has to decode backwards. That's fine for a one-word punchline; it's a barrier if the post says when an event starts.
Who does this affect?
People who are blind or have low vision, people who use text-to-speech for dyslexia or fatigue, and anyone using voice assistants to read posts.
It also affects machine translation and search, which treat styled characters as unknown symbols. If your audience is international or relies on translations, styled text is skipped there too.
How do I keep styled posts accessible?
Put the message in plain text and use effects as garnish.
- [ ] The key information (what, when, where, link) is in plain letters.
- [ ] Styled or flipped text is short: a word or phrase, not a paragraph.
- [ ] Hashtags use plain letters and CamelCase (#FlipFriday reads better than #flipfriday).
- [ ] Emoji are few and placed at the end rather than between words.
- [ ] For a fully flipped post, add a plain-text version in the first reply.
- [ ] If you receive a styled post you can't read, paste it into the decoder.
The tools on this site show a warning when more than half of a result is likely to be hard to read aloud. It's a rough guide, not a guarantee, since screen reader behaviour varies.
Questions people ask
Is small caps text easier for screen readers?
Somewhat, but not reliably. Small caps letters come from the phonetic blocks and are often announced as phonetic symbols or with names like 'Latin letter small capital A'.
What about strikethrough text?
The combining stroke is usually ignored, so the text is read normally but the 'crossed out' meaning is lost. If the strike is the joke, the joke won't land.
Should I add a plain version after a styled post?
For anything that matters, yes. A short plain-text line or a reply with the plain version takes seconds and makes the post work for everyone.