Re: Contractions: good or not?

Hi People

If the person needing screen reading software is in an anything but perfect environment, would the confusions from not hearing correctly the words "is" or "isn't" be important, and of course it would change the meaning completely? Would "is not" be more appropriate in many, if not all, circumstances? Maybe the software would cope, but ...

Kind Regards
John

John Colby BA(Hons) PGCE FHEA
Senior Lecturer, Department of Business
Birmingham City Business School
Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences
C242, Curzon Building, Birmingham City University,
4 Cardigan Street, Birmingham, B4 7BD.
T: 0121 331 6937 M: 07872 559800 E: john.colby@bcu.ac.uk
Availability - Mondays 14:30-15:30, Thursdays 14:00-15:00

________________________________
From: Niklas Pivic <niklas.pivic@tink.com>
Sent: 19 October 2021 07:28
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Subject: Contractions: good or not?

Hi!

I've recently discussed using contractions in technical writing, mainly for user interfaces.

There's science that supports increased readability when contractions are used: https://twitter.com/FriendlyAshley/status/1450180256694951945<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FFriendlyAshley%2Fstatus%2F1450180256694951945&data=04%7C01%7CJohn.Colby%40bcu.ac.uk%7Ca3b4855925a346abb00f08d992d3c895%7C7e2be055828a4523b5e5b77ad9939785%7C0%7C0%7C637702260580713720%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=Mpz7zoNBpk%2FWYxzQzseTRlj4ShhpcgSwMtAZx%2FtOFwo%3D&reserved=0>

Is there anything pointing to the opposite?

Most technical-writing style guides say contractions should be used, especially when writing in a friendly voice.

Modern screen-reading software must surely have no problems with contractions?

Please let me know if there is any science out there that says contraction shouldn't be used for accessibility purposes.

Thank you!

Best regards,
Niklas