Erica (she/they)
@ericaexplores.bsky.social
Rational romantic mystic cynical idealist.
Senior Product Designer for Accessibility. T1D Cyborg. Globetrotter. Larper/TRPGer/Gamer. Urban Witch. Cat Lady.
Raised in NYC 🗽, based in Berlin 🇩🇪, always exploring…
http://linktr.ee/erica
Senior Product Designer for Accessibility. T1D Cyborg. Globetrotter. Larper/TRPGer/Gamer. Urban Witch. Cat Lady.
Raised in NYC 🗽, based in Berlin 🇩🇪, always exploring…
http://linktr.ee/erica
“Germany’s postwar constitution allows domestic intelligence agencies to surveil political parties, actors and organizations deemed extremist — and to make it theoretically possible to ban such parties.“ is the first part of the quote. AfD doesn’t belong in democratic government.
"The restrictions were intended to prevent a repeat of the Nazi rise to power, when anti-democratic forces were able to subvert democracy from within..."
www.politico.eu/article/larg...
www.politico.eu/article/larg...
Large far-right German delegation to visit Washington, Trump ally says
The invitation to the capital comes as Alternative for Germany politicians seek to build closer ties to the U.S. government.
www.politico.eu
November 15, 2025 at 7:02 AM
“Germany’s postwar constitution allows domestic intelligence agencies to surveil political parties, actors and organizations deemed extremist — and to make it theoretically possible to ban such parties.“ is the first part of the quote. AfD doesn’t belong in democratic government.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Lots of folks captioning aurora photos like "for a few minutes we didn't think about politics"
guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation
guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation
November 13, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Lots of folks captioning aurora photos like "for a few minutes we didn't think about politics"
guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation
guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
MAMDANI: "So hear this, Donald Trump: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."
November 5, 2025 at 4:39 AM
MAMDANI: "So hear this, Donald Trump: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us."
Immigrants get the job done!
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
November 5, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Immigrants get the job done!
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Gentlemen: thank you for your service.
I support everyone giving vast sums of money to Andrew Cuomo. It’s the “lighting a million quid on fire” art piece but this time performed by the worst people in the world.
November 5, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Gentlemen: thank you for your service.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Your ability to eat should not depend on your productivity
Your ability to get healthcare should not depend on your productivity
Your ability to get housing should not depend on your productivity
Saying “be more productive!” To those who are struggling devalues human life.
It aids fascism.
Your ability to get healthcare should not depend on your productivity
Your ability to get housing should not depend on your productivity
Saying “be more productive!” To those who are struggling devalues human life.
It aids fascism.
October 28, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Your ability to eat should not depend on your productivity
Your ability to get healthcare should not depend on your productivity
Your ability to get housing should not depend on your productivity
Saying “be more productive!” To those who are struggling devalues human life.
It aids fascism.
Your ability to get healthcare should not depend on your productivity
Your ability to get housing should not depend on your productivity
Saying “be more productive!” To those who are struggling devalues human life.
It aids fascism.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Reminder: November 4th is extremely important, don’t forget to vote!
October 26, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Reminder: November 4th is extremely important, don’t forget to vote!
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Preliminary findings:
🚫TikTok & Meta failed to grant researchers adequate access to public data.
🚫Meta failed to provide simple ways to notify illegal content and to allow users to challenge moderation decisions.
This is a duty, not a choice.
link.europa.eu/JYQrBX
🚫TikTok & Meta failed to grant researchers adequate access to public data.
🚫Meta failed to provide simple ways to notify illegal content and to allow users to challenge moderation decisions.
This is a duty, not a choice.
link.europa.eu/JYQrBX
October 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Preliminary findings:
🚫TikTok & Meta failed to grant researchers adequate access to public data.
🚫Meta failed to provide simple ways to notify illegal content and to allow users to challenge moderation decisions.
This is a duty, not a choice.
link.europa.eu/JYQrBX
🚫TikTok & Meta failed to grant researchers adequate access to public data.
🚫Meta failed to provide simple ways to notify illegal content and to allow users to challenge moderation decisions.
This is a duty, not a choice.
link.europa.eu/JYQrBX
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Couldn’t sum up slop better if I tried
If it’s not important enough for you to create it’s not important enough to make me look at it.
October 21, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Couldn’t sum up slop better if I tried
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26
A really good article about how Apple ruined the even principles of legibility and usability in their OS.
Who said design "is just common sense" already? 😂
www.nngroup.com/articles/liq...
A really good article about how Apple ruined the even principles of legibility and usability in their OS.
Who said design "is just common sense" already? 😂
www.nngroup.com/articles/liq...
Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26
iOS 26’s visual language obscures content instead of letting it take the spotlight. New (but not always better) design patterns replace established conventions.
www.nngroup.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26
A really good article about how Apple ruined the even principles of legibility and usability in their OS.
Who said design "is just common sense" already? 😂
www.nngroup.com/articles/liq...
A really good article about how Apple ruined the even principles of legibility and usability in their OS.
Who said design "is just common sense" already? 😂
www.nngroup.com/articles/liq...
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
I fear that even if AI does compel some devs to (finally) take accessibility seriously, a web that is full of AI-generated content becomes a web that’s less accessible for everyone
October 21, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I fear that even if AI does compel some devs to (finally) take accessibility seriously, a web that is full of AI-generated content becomes a web that’s less accessible for everyone
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
If we're having a debate, and at any point you say, "let's ask ChatGPT", then you lose by default.
October 21, 2025 at 8:17 PM
If we're having a debate, and at any point you say, "let's ask ChatGPT", then you lose by default.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Before the Trump administration invented "Antifa", the government of Uzbekistan invented "Akromiya": sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/inventing-...
October 20, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Before the Trump administration invented "Antifa", the government of Uzbekistan invented "Akromiya": sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/inventing-...
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
I think we really should stop using antifa and just fully say anti-fascist and get them saying they are against anti fascism. Using antifa is giving them some distance and I genuinely think some of their base don’t even know that’s what it stands for.
October 11, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I think we really should stop using antifa and just fully say anti-fascist and get them saying they are against anti fascism. Using antifa is giving them some distance and I genuinely think some of their base don’t even know that’s what it stands for.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Still waiting for it to trickle down...
October 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Still waiting for it to trickle down...
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Big tech is laying off user researchers in droves, because it believes that coercing its customers is more profitable than silly things like "making good products people want to buy."
But now the FAFO pendulum is coming around, with Amazon's $2.5B dark pattern settlement and #a11y lawsuits galore.
But now the FAFO pendulum is coming around, with Amazon's $2.5B dark pattern settlement and #a11y lawsuits galore.
UX so bad that it's illegal
Big tech is divesting from user-centered design, and getting into hot water with the law.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
October 5, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Big tech is laying off user researchers in droves, because it believes that coercing its customers is more profitable than silly things like "making good products people want to buy."
But now the FAFO pendulum is coming around, with Amazon's $2.5B dark pattern settlement and #a11y lawsuits galore.
But now the FAFO pendulum is coming around, with Amazon's $2.5B dark pattern settlement and #a11y lawsuits galore.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Tonight, I'll go home and sleep in my bed. I have a lawyer, I'll get due process.
But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things.
That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things.
That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
Brad Lander: "I'll keep coming back to court, week after week"
YouTube video by Brad Lander for NYC
youtu.be
June 18, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Tonight, I'll go home and sleep in my bed. I have a lawyer, I'll get due process.
But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things.
That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things.
That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Justice Sotomayor's dissent in Skrmetti (which she's now reading from the bench) is deeply pained, accusing her colleagues of abandoning "transgender children and their families to political whims" and badly damaging "bedrock" principles of equal protection. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 18, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Justice Sotomayor's dissent in Skrmetti (which she's now reading from the bench) is deeply pained, accusing her colleagues of abandoning "transgender children and their families to political whims" and badly damaging "bedrock" principles of equal protection. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Donald Trump is NOT our king — and on June 14th, it's up to us to prove it.
No Kings
On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A sp
www.nokings.org
June 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Donald Trump is NOT our king — and on June 14th, it's up to us to prove it.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
From HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT (2020):
"Trump covers up crime with scandal. That is his main propaganda tactic, the one few seem to be able to discern...The crimes are much worse than the scandals, but the media will always take the scandal bait."
www.hidinginplainsightbook.com
"Trump covers up crime with scandal. That is his main propaganda tactic, the one few seem to be able to discern...The crimes are much worse than the scandals, but the media will always take the scandal bait."
www.hidinginplainsightbook.com
June 6, 2025 at 11:58 AM
From HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT (2020):
"Trump covers up crime with scandal. That is his main propaganda tactic, the one few seem to be able to discern...The crimes are much worse than the scandals, but the media will always take the scandal bait."
www.hidinginplainsightbook.com
"Trump covers up crime with scandal. That is his main propaganda tactic, the one few seem to be able to discern...The crimes are much worse than the scandals, but the media will always take the scandal bait."
www.hidinginplainsightbook.com
Ah, schadenfreude.
June 6, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Ah, schadenfreude.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
I'm not worried about being replaced by AI, because I tell people what they don't want to hear.
June 4, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I'm not worried about being replaced by AI, because I tell people what they don't want to hear.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
Spare us the fake outrage.
June 1, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Spare us the fake outrage.
Reposted by Erica (she/they)
“Without widespread theft, my industry can’t survive” is an argument against your industry surviving, and is not an argument for allowing widespread theft
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
May 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
“Without widespread theft, my industry can’t survive” is an argument against your industry surviving, and is not an argument for allowing widespread theft