coffee4danzMastodon has introduced me to the joy of reading descriptive #alttext. I take in the image then read the text as icing on the cake. It can really add extra personality to images.
Jimcolwell
#BlindAltBotI'm blind and for me alt text is the Big Special Thing about Mastodon. If someone posts a meme, I'm in on the joke. Someone shares beautifiul moss, or their cat, I'm in on the beauty or fun or whatever. I'm now 62, and this is the first time I entered a community and a culture where people grant me this kind of access and community. So grateful for people who do alt text.
@anantagd Facebook seems to be almost entirely shared images and memes and if they really wanted to expand their user base, they’d make #alttext a feature and encourage it heavily. When I joined Mastodon and saw people using and encouraging alt text use I quickly realized its importance. My Toot! app is set to stop me from posting without it now.
Schafstelze 🎗🖤@coffee4danz @anantagd I'm beyond encouraging, i demand alttexts. From followed people, from mutuals, from everyone. If someone persistently refuses to make them, i mute or block.
Alttexts are not a 'nice to have' but a human right.
Alttexts are not a 'nice to have' but a human right.
@Dingsextrem @anantagd I take care not to boost images lacking alt text
Sarah W@Dingsextrem @anantagd speaking of human rights, I was once in the British Museum and saw a man running his hands over a marble pedimental sculpture while his companion described it. My first reaction was shock because touching things in a museum is generally not allowed. Then I realized what was happening and I was glad. That museum is for everyone regardless of ability, and it’s all just stolen loot from other civilizations anyway.
TerrorBite 🦁@Dingsextrem @coffee4danz @anantagd I add descriptive alt text to every image I post as a matter of principle.
mesa keith 
@coffee4danz @anantagd Most popular social media uses auto-generated alt text that are invisible to most users (except when you have unstable connection).
Mastodon/Fediverse lacking one made it the best places for manual alt text.
Mastodon/Fediverse lacking one made it the best places for manual alt text.
@anantagd also, your toot just warmed my heart.
cobalt going beige today@anantagd @coffee4danz I’m so glad this working for you! This is the first community I’ve been in that encourages alt text.
Tony Novak@anantagd Thanks for this reminder.
@stevewfolds@anantagd @coffee4danz Saw this yesterday, may be of interest.
Blind pianist gets $300 glasses that reads via camera, Meta & audio.
I did this irl for partner who lost her sight in 2003. She would point & I’d read or describe the scene.
Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Cutting Edge Of Technology”
In #Flancia we'll meet@anantagd @coffee4danz thank you for sharing!
Do you have thoughts on @altbot ? I've been using it and it seems amazing to me, as it writes way better descriptions than I used to and it seems ethically run; but because of how it works you need to read its reply instead of having the alt text in the same post.
Le Radiophare@flancian @anantagd @coffee4danz
If i use @altbot i copy the replied text instantly in the image via the edit function of mastodon.
If i use @altbot i copy the replied text instantly in the image via the edit function of mastodon.
Tom Klaver 
@anantagd @coffee4danz Thanks for sharing that. I’m studying to become a digital accessibility auditor and messages like yours make it so clear that simple things like writing good alt texts are the right thing to do.
Irina@anantagd @coffee4danz That's so much more wholesome than chiding people for not doing alt text. Thank you.
uwuhaeckse@anantagd @coffee4danz @schrottkatze some clients (Ivory on iOS) have alt text reminders that will tell you if you’re attempting to post media without alt text. Its been good to have on!
G.I. Robot 
Bytebro 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇬🇱I know that personally I have been lazy about doing the alt-text stuff, but I am now motivated to make it a mission.
Thank you for the kick up the thingy.
@bytebro @anantagd I work on a monthly magazine. We’ve neglected alt text for the website version. My boss suggested using a plug-in to automatically generate it for all images. I was appalled. Most of the columns use stock images that really add little to the content. But our covers and feature stories are things we take care with and I think they deserve alt-text. It’s a subject for a future meeting with the editor but personally, I’ve just now started adding it there thanks to responses here
econads@coffee4danz @bytebro @anantagd
There are a couple of bots here which although they technically have alt text, it's fucking useless. Its usually just a repeat of the title of the work that's already written in the post. I might have to stop following them because it frustrates me even though I'm fully sighted. We need to go another level up and say don't boost unless the alt text is useful.
There are a couple of bots here which although they technically have alt text, it's fucking useless. Its usually just a repeat of the title of the work that's already written in the post. I might have to stop following them because it frustrates me even though I'm fully sighted. We need to go another level up and say don't boost unless the alt text is useful.
WoollyMel
Sablebadger@anantagd @coffee4danz I do alt text for you. And others like you.
Brett R@anantagd Hi! I teach web development. I'd like to quote this post (attributed) to my students to highlight how accessibility can make a difference, is that okay with you?
Jessamyn@anantagd @coffee4danz I'm so glad it works well for you and that helps you be included here. I'm sighted (and always use alt text - it's a skill that's fun to practice) and I often find it helps me either understand jokes or cultural references that I might otherwise not understand.
quixote@anantagd @coffee4danz As with so many of the accommodations for those with different needs, they turn out to make life a lot easier for everyone.
Alt-txt has been a godsend for me too. Now when I'm puzzled about why something was posted, the alt-txt explains. ☺️
Le Monolecte 😷🤬🐧 
Encore mieux : comme tu peux préciser dans quelle langue tu publies chaque post, la traduction s’applique aussi au « alt » de tes photos. Comme cela, même si nous ne parlons pas les mêmes langues, tu peux aussi profiter de mes images.
Démonstration :
Graham Sutherland / Polynomial@anantagd @coffee4danz this put a big smile on my face.
Pxl Phile@anantagd @coffee4danz thank you for speaking out. Even as non-blind person I benefit from alt texts.
I wonder what your thoughts are on alt texts that drift from "yep that the image" to "I add weird, even wrong yet unhelpful texts" in one go at the end (supposedly to fight AI scrapers and AI modeling)?
Sonikku
bituur esztreym@anantagd @coffee4danz
thanks to you all in this conversation to tell us, and remind us, and demand Alts also. thanks for the details each one of you shares.
thanks to you all in this conversation to tell us, and remind us, and demand Alts also. thanks for the details each one of you shares.
@bituur_esztreym @anantagd I am thrilled with all the conversation one little toot with a hashtag generated.
@anantagd @coffee4danz How can you"state you move away from mastoden? and then mastoden culture with alttekst is so special for you? you are claiming to be blind and a photographer at the same time?
enmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉@anantagd
It's posts like this that remind me why I add alt text to my images and don't boost other people's posts without them. It's encouraging to see how everyone doing a little can do a lot to make this a better place.
@coffee4danz @gerrymcgovern
It's posts like this that remind me why I add alt text to my images and don't boost other people's posts without them. It's encouraging to see how everyone doing a little can do a lot to make this a better place.
@coffee4danz @gerrymcgovern
Emmanuelle Skaly@anantagd @coffee4danz
This is why I make sure to describe all of my handmade jewelry in detail as I have many blind and visually impaired followers to which I'm very grateful. ❤️
This is why I make sure to describe all of my handmade jewelry in detail as I have many blind and visually impaired followers to which I'm very grateful. ❤️
s1m0n4@anantagd @coffee4danz I always include alt-text, but most of the times it's just a few words to let the users understand what the media is about. When I'm less lazy I give a description of the sky and all the elements in a photo.
This is however rarely happening for videos and animated gifs. There's so much going on that it would take me a lot of time to describe everything, so the caption is just "cheerleaders performance at university".
I hope it's still useful.
Author-ized L.J.@anantagd @coffee4danz It's literally the least you deserve! Either we act like blind & visually impaired people (plus neurodivergent people, low-bandwidth users, and others who benefit) are valued members of this network or we don't. No double-talking on "We value blind users BUT..." Alt text from those who can, support for those who can't, no ifs or buts.
Code of Amor 💘@anantagd @rysiek @coffee4danz Alt text is awesome. It's a little extra work for me at times, and sometimes I'm not sure how I want to express an image or what to include or exclude in my description, but I think I do pretty well with it.
Rasmus Lindegaard@anantagd @coffee4danz mastodon makes it so easy to do alt text, and thing is that because it's so easy, I feel like i am skipping something important if i dont. And so, i do.
self-made skeleton@coffee4danz I'm really happy for it too. It normalising it for me has made me do it more reliably, and it lets me describe things people might have missed in my art
I now save a text file for each artwork I make so I can copy paste the alt text for each platform. and I've made it impossible for me to click post on bluesky when alt text is missing, so I can't forget to do it. I like that feature
It's helped me understand my aphantasia more too. Turns out this is how I do art, I describe it to myself
Curious: does your accessibility software read the content warning part and stop there or does it read the whole post regardless? I content warning long posts because I don't want to assault peoples notifications with a text wall haha
Jupiter Rowland@The Yangsi Michael Dillon Speaking of meme posts, how do you prefer them explained, if at all?
Neither the meme nor the topic?
The meme not at all, the topic with links, if possible, otherwise not at all?
The meme not at all, the topic with links, if possible, otherwise extensively in the post?
The meme not at all, the topic extensively in the post?
Both with links, if possible, otherwise not at all?
Both with links, if possible, otherwise extensively in the post?
Both extensively in the post?
I'm asking because my meme posts tend to be about very obscure topics such as virtual worlds that not even 50 people in the whole Fediverse know or the Fediverse beyond Mastodon. On the one hand, I've got the impression that many people would love to have everything explained in such a way that no special prior knowledge is necessary. On the other hand, I know that they nope out when I tell them how long a full set of explanations can be.
I've actually tested a full set of explanations with this post. By the way, that place is very much part of the Fediverse. I ended up with a whole of nine explanations. One for the image itself. One for the meme template. Five in order for people to understand the meme template and the explanations for the meme template. One for the topic. One in order for people to understand the topic.
I've served people just about all information they may need to get the image, but it took me over 25,000 characters to do so.
CC: @coffee4danz
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Memes
Neither the meme nor the topic?
The meme not at all, the topic with links, if possible, otherwise not at all?
The meme not at all, the topic with links, if possible, otherwise extensively in the post?
The meme not at all, the topic extensively in the post?
Both with links, if possible, otherwise not at all?
Both with links, if possible, otherwise extensively in the post?
Both extensively in the post?
I'm asking because my meme posts tend to be about very obscure topics such as virtual worlds that not even 50 people in the whole Fediverse know or the Fediverse beyond Mastodon. On the one hand, I've got the impression that many people would love to have everything explained in such a way that no special prior knowledge is necessary. On the other hand, I know that they nope out when I tell them how long a full set of explanations can be.
I've actually tested a full set of explanations with this post. By the way, that place is very much part of the Fediverse. I ended up with a whole of nine explanations. One for the image itself. One for the meme template. Five in order for people to understand the meme template and the explanations for the meme template. One for the topic. One in order for people to understand the topic.
I've served people just about all information they may need to get the image, but it took me over 25,000 characters to do so.
CC: @coffee4danz
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Memes
Alex 🍜@anantagd @coffee4danz It is nice to hear from somebody who is dependent on alt-texts. Thanks for your comment.
Nowadays it is possible to auto-generate alt-texts by using powerful image classification and #llm
What is you opinion? Sould alt-text be generated by the creator of a post, also in the future, or is this better done in accessibility tools like screen readers?
JerameeThank you for this.
It's good for us sighted folks to have reminders about how this makes your life better, so we don't feel like we're wasting our time.
(((JaneinNJ)))@anantagd @coffee4danz Happy to be of service. I love writing Alt Text bc it forces me to winnow my thoughts down with precision.
woollypigs@anantagd @coffee4danz I hope my alt texts is good enough and helpful. Sometimes I'm a bit stuck on what to write. It's often down to what do I think is important to tell others about and do I need to go into details and how deep into the details. I hope what I write is helpful
@woollypigs @anantagd just taking the time to describe the image is helpful.
Panic at the Trishco 🕊️@anantagd @coffee4danz
Posts like these keep me alt-texting. This isn’t just a void, but a community!
Posts like these keep me alt-texting. This isn’t just a void, but a community!
Hywel Mallett@anantagd @coffee4danz Decent Alt text on a photo is a sign of a considerate poster. We should be more demanding of it.
Philippe De Jonckheere@anantagd You bet. We try.
Clinton Anderson SwordForHireIf I may be so bold as to "Yes And..." for a second....
#AltText absolutely
And #CamelCase the Hash Tags
Trevor Gerzen@anantagd just in case you like dogs I thought I’d share Yoyo. I’m glad this community has taken the time and effort to include you!
