@jwildeboer I would also like to add a story here... I was participating in a project some XX years ago, which was highly active, largely with younger people, very much coordinated through IRC, though we also did a bit of mail.
I was mentored, on a specific project and I noticed my mentor preferred mail, which was fine by me, but a bit unusual for that project.
I found out the reason when I met him, because everything he typed, he typed with his mouth. So I learned:
Requiring chat is abelist.