It's release day! #Mastodon 4.2 will drop later today. I'm very excited for all the improvements we've been working on since January to become available to all server operators and their users.

@Gargron I do hope that one of the improvements is that when one adds an image, the alt-text box automatically and immediately opens with the cursor in the box, ready to enter the alt text. This will finesse three problems:

1. not knowing about alt text
2. knowing about alt text but not knowing how to enter it
3. knowing how to enter it but forgetting in the moment

Making it the natural default removes the structural bias against entering it.

@Leisureguy @Gargron That sound like a client problem. What they just releases is the server edition I believe.

@droidboy @Gargron

I useMastodon using my browser. I assumed that the basic structure of the web interface came from Gargron, with the individual instance able to customize it to some degree (e.g., maximum post length). That, I assumed, was why the overall web interface was much the same from instance to instance.

My suggestion was aimed at the web interface template that the instances receive.

Perhaps my mental picture of this is wrong.

@droidboy @Gargron

Droid Boy, take a look at this article in Verge:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/21/23884312/mastodon-search-onboarding-cross-server-interactions-4-2

The article makes clear that Mastodon's user interface in a browser is indeed a part of the Mastodon implementation.

And I believe that interface should make alt text entry the default instead of discouraging it (as described in my earlier post).

Mastodon 4.2 improves search, onboarding, and cross-site interactions

Mastodon 4.2 has a bunch of changes, including improvements to server code and the web interface that file down some of the platform’s weirder rough edges.

The Verge