Twitter is walking back its horrible design change for follow buttons

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Last week, Twitter launched a design update that revealed a new font, called Chirp, as well as new designs for some of the buttons on the platform. The company has now said that it will be updating the buttons again after some users complained that the buttons’ contrast was causing eye strain.

Of course, a lot of feedback received immediately after the update was a bit kneejerk. People tend to react harshly when platforms make changes like this, and it can sometimes be difficult to tell whether these complaints are warranted.

We're making contrast changes on all buttons to make them easier on the eyes because you told us the new look is uncomfortable for people with sensory sensitivities. We're listening and iterating.

— Twitter Accessibility (@TwitterA11y) August 13, 2021

However, in the case of the new buttons on Twitter, it seems like the negative feedback is legitimate. The problem with the buttons boils down to accessibility. The new changes upped the contrast on Twitter’s buttons, and I, someone without eye strain problems, can even tell that that the buttons’ color is too sharp.

It is very nice to see Twitter actively addressing this issue so quickly. For a platform of this stature, it is important that it is appealing and accessible to as many people as possible. It seems to me that the best answer to the issue presented here would be more user customization.

Some design features could make the platform more accessible to some users while simultaneously reducing accessibility for others. It would be cool to see Twitter have a full range of customization options that each user could tweak limitlessly for the best user experience possible. Who knows, maybe we’ll see something like that from the platform soon.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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