If a communication norm is just about other people’s preferences, why should they change? Who’s to say that other people’s preferences are more important than their own, particularly given that this particular preference is shared by millions of other people.
If inconsistent use of capitalization actually hinders understanding for some subset of their audience, then that’s a different story. My experience is that people are more likely to be annoyed than to actually have issues understanding all lowercase text. All caps text, on the other hand, is a different matter - and plenty of government and corporate entities are fine putting important text in all caps. But all caps text is a known accessibility issue. When I search for “all lowercase accessibility,” though, all I get is a bunch of results saying to not use all caps text for accessibility reasons.
If you have sources showing that all lowercase text is an accessibility concern, then you should share them. Heck, you should have led with that. But as it is, your argument ultimately boils down to “someone else should change what they do, that works for them, because it annoys me.”
Who’s to say that other people’s preferences are more important than their own,
Because communication is about getting your ideas and opinions into other people’s minds. I may prefer to write in swahili, but my audience prefers English.
particularly given that this particular preference is shared by millions of other people.
Over particular mediums for particular topics, yes the all lowercase preference may dominate. ALL CAPS FOR SHOUTING and miXeD CaPs FoR cRAzY provide excellent emphasis. But history shows that capitalization is an advantage. It was invented during the printing press and stayed as convention.
It’s just an extra convention to help communication. But I don’t buy your lazy argument because:-
and
Both of the reasons you’ve provided are nonsensical:
It is irrelevant that they don’t believe capitalization aids with clarity.
Communication is about what other people prefer, not what you personally like. And they obviously do want to communicate well
If a communication norm is just about other people’s preferences, why should they change? Who’s to say that other people’s preferences are more important than their own, particularly given that this particular preference is shared by millions of other people.
If inconsistent use of capitalization actually hinders understanding for some subset of their audience, then that’s a different story. My experience is that people are more likely to be annoyed than to actually have issues understanding all lowercase text. All caps text, on the other hand, is a different matter - and plenty of government and corporate entities are fine putting important text in all caps. But all caps text is a known accessibility issue. When I search for “all lowercase accessibility,” though, all I get is a bunch of results saying to not use all caps text for accessibility reasons.
If you have sources showing that all lowercase text is an accessibility concern, then you should share them. Heck, you should have led with that. But as it is, your argument ultimately boils down to “someone else should change what they do, that works for them, because it annoys me.”
Because communication is about getting your ideas and opinions into other people’s minds. I may prefer to write in swahili, but my audience prefers English.
Over particular mediums for particular topics, yes the all lowercase preference may dominate. ALL CAPS FOR SHOUTING and miXeD CaPs FoR cRAzY provide excellent emphasis. But history shows that capitalization is an advantage. It was invented during the printing press and stayed as convention.
Here’s some more discussion
Having tried to learn a language (Bengali) that does not use capitals, I can attest to their use. If you’re starting out, how do you tell a name from another noun? Are you talking about chandra (the moon) or Chandra (the common surname)? There are so many cases in every language where common and proper nouns overlap, and having capitalization is very helpful.