Hey all, with the continued influx of Twitter people, I'm once again seeing a drop in the number of people who add alt text/image descriptions to what they post, denying access to many disabled users here.
Exactly how you do this varies by Mastodon client app, but it is usually just below the image once you upload & before posting.
Even a short-but-useful description is better than nothing—focus on what you're trying to get others to get from the image rather than describing every detail.
Here's one useful guide as to what to write in your image descriptions for those that find such guidance helpful:
https://uxdesign.cc/how-to-write-an-image-description-2f30d3bf5546
But again, you do not need to be elaborate here, but do try to write something that will provide enough information to people who can't see or understand your image on its own that they can be included in the conversation rather than excluded.
@krisnelson
Back in early Web days, the thing we used to say was that the alt text should express the *point* of the image—what is the purpose it’s serving on this page?
I like the distinction made there between, for example, how you’d alt text the dog photo if it’s illustrating a news article (basically just filler) or if it’s on a site illustrating dog breeds.
@tkinias @krisnelson
What's most disheartening (ie: infuriating) is that most websites now use the IMG ALT tag for "SEO" and just stuff their keywords in there.
(I was web designer in The Early Days but am now a web content writer. )
@krisnelson
Thanasis Kinias
lazysupper 🍂🍁 salguod, man