Christopher MimsMay 10, 2023

I'm just going to admit this even though it makes me sound like an insensitive asshole, because look, we all make mistakes and the point is to grow, right?

when I first came to Mastodon and people were reminding me to add alt text to my images, I was a little irked

then I read several posts about how much this means to people who rely on reading apps to understand the web

now I'm fully converted. I enjoy writing alt text.

and I think it's crazy this isn't standard across all social mediums.

Show threadChristopher MimsMay 10, 2023

I should add: Sometimes my posts with images don't have alt text

this is not for lack of trying

it happens sometimes when I post something from my phone

Mastodon on Safari on iOS does this incredibly annoying thing where even if you type in alt text, it cuts off the button that lets you save it

I have tried everything to get around this bug and it vexes me regularly

feature request to the powers that be: please fix this!

Show threadYury Molodtsov
@mimsical Any particular reason for not using Ivory/Mona on iOS?
I think Alt Text has always been too well-hidden on most platforms, even the ones which supported it.
May 10, 2023 at 1:01pmMona for Mac
Show threadChristopher MimsMay 10, 2023
@yury_mol I absolutely refuse to have any social apps on my phone. it's a psychologically protective measure I've taken for years. too tempting to distract myself with them otherwise
Show threadYury MolodtsovMay 10, 2023
@mimsical I see. Have you tried https://elk.zone?
It's a web app so you can open it in your browser, looks very similar to Twitter and I think their "alt text" workflow does work on mobile.
Elk

A nimble Mastodon web client

Elk
Show threadChristopher MimsMay 10, 2023
@yury_mol cool! thanks for the tip
Show threadRich Stein (he/him)May 12, 2023

@mimsical @yury_mol
Yes, "alt text" on https://elk.zone/home works great on mobile (Android; can't speak to iPhone). The web version is also very good.

FYI, a bit more complicated, but you can do an @OCRbot installation which will generate text from images in fediverse posts. Some more here: https://econtwitter.net/@RichStein/110271233029292734

Have a great day.

Elk

A nimble Mastodon web client

Elk
Show threadold_tootbruteMay 11, 2023
@mimsical @yury_mol this is a very good strategy. i gotta do this.