LiteralGrillSep 4, 2023

I see people on my timeline now and then grumpy that people are trying to encourage others to use alt-text, sometimes saying people are "too pushy" or they "deserve to be able to post in peace."

So folks actively work together for once to advocate for accessibility for disabled people and your primary complaint is that it's annoying so stop? I hope folks wake up and realize how fucked up that is.

ESPECIALLY when tons of people refuse to wear masks leaving us stuck in our homes where social media is a godsend for having community.

I'd have loved to see these folks' reactions when people in wheelchairs were using sledge hammers to put in curb cuts back in the day. Maybe we gotta bring that kind of energy back. #Disablity #DisabilityJustice

Show threadSylttiSep 4, 2023

@literalgrill I mean, I can understand why folks are grumpy about it. Folks just want to share content. I can see why it gets irritating when they look at their comments and see people "trying to encourage" alt-text by either yelling at them to include it or throwing a wall of alt-text at them. It's fine to want to make sure folks that use screen readers can be included in the fun, but being aggressive in trying to get an OPto include at-text isn't going to work.

Mind you, I don't see a lot of agression, but I do see multiple comments JUST for at-text alone.

Show threadLiteralGrillSep 4, 2023

@Syltti So honestly then, what is your suggestion to make folks do it if we can't be "irritating?"

I'm certainly not against Mastodon requiring alt-text on every picture posted, but minus that, what's the plan?

The multiple comments thing tends to be a Mastodon specific problem with how stuff is displayed, it happens on most posts with discussions sadly. But if people want to avoid multiple posts asking for alt-text, there's a simple solution.

But as it stands, I don't mind if people get annoyed by being asked. Disabled folks have to be extremely annoyed every day about heir accessibility needs being met. Almost every advancement of disability rights has come through being "annoying."

So like, unless there's another solution, I'm so happy I found a place where people are showing up for us disabled folks for once. If that bothers people, they can either be thoughtful and add alt-text or deal with the consequences of not caring about disabled people, aka feeling "irritated."

Edit: I've gotten some responses explaining that programming this might actually not be possible and of course, there are folks who can't create alt-text that need to be thought of too. But even letting other users submit alt-text for photos for users to approve would be a cool start!

Show threadSylttiSep 4, 2023

@literalgrill My suggestion would be to understand that out-right demanding at-text is ridiculous. I understand the why, I add alt-text myself where I can. I also understand that there are a lot of people that either post content (memes/discussions/ect) that aren't as aware of the disabled community. I doubt many would be adverse to adding it IF asked politely. However, dumping alt-text on someone with a Alt4You hashtag is not asking; that's demanding.

At most, your instance's admins could add including alt-text to the instance rules/guidelines, but, even then, it's not like you, or anyone else, can force people. I get that you're frustrated too, but that's life. You don't don't get to participate in everything. (This applies for those of us that aren't disabled as well, if that wasn't obvious.)

Show threadSyltti
@literalgrill If you really need folks to add alt-text, simply ask. Once. If you see someone else already has, move on. A bunch of people asking for the same thing could either see that thing happen, or see that thing 1) not happen, and 2) see that person not engaging anymore.
Sep 4, 2023 at 5:41pmWeb
Show threadLiteralGrillSep 4, 2023

@Syltti Just a question, can you name me single instance in the history of the disability justice movement that any rights were given because people asked politely?

The unfortunate truth of it is asking nicely for things like this has been shown historically not to work. Those people who aren't aware of disabled people are being educated literally by the people who are asking for people to include alt text.

People using a hashtag to give people alt text for free so they don't even have to do any work is way kinder than they even need to be! They are literally doing The thing for someone else, so if they feel bad because that happened, maybe it's because they feel shitty that they weren't nice to disabled people?

If people would choose to not use alt text to be an ally towards disabled people just because they thought someone was slightly rude when they asked, they were never allies in the first place.

For the getting multiple posts asking for the same thing, again that's a mastodon issue. It would be cool if people fully opened up posts before commenting, but that doesn't seem to be a fully cultural thing for this bit of social media yet.