The only way a post can be searched for on here is through hashtags.
The hashtag search will only work if there is an exact letter-for-letter match.
If someone publishes a post with the hashtag #Watercolour, that post will NOT appear in searches for #Watercolor or #Watercolours or #Watercolors
That's why some people use hashtags that are multiple variations on a topic, because it's the only way to give a post a realistic chance of discovery on an exact-hashtag-only search system.
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This brings up the issue of screen readers, as long lists of repetitive hashtags make life difficult for blind people who rely on screen readers to read posts out loud.
This issue can be reduced by putting all the hashtags in a list at the end of the post, with a "Hashtag list" warning before the list.
However, this still isn't perfect, and the current system of tagging has many other issues too.
I've tried to suggest a possible solution here:
➡️ https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/24445
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I'm somewhat disheartened every time I see suggestions to Mastodon that implicitly assume that Mastodon is the only renderer for Mastodon posts (by not distinguishing which part of the suggestion should affect the shape of Mastodon-created posts, and which should affect the way Mastodon displays posts--regardless of what software created them).
Sure, this can be untanged during discussion. However, the "fediverse is Mastodon" approach is quite common among its users and so I think that it behooves us to take most opportunities to phrase things in a way that combats that misconception.
