As someone who is totally blind, the Fediverse is the only place where I have ever been able to follow people such as photographers, artists, or even those who post pictures of their cats or the food they ate. The reason is that most of them use alt text. They take the time to describe the images that my screen reader can't recognise. Some write the descriptions themselves, and others use tools such as altbot. Some worry that their descriptions aren't good enough, especially when they are new at this. Let me assure you, not only are they good enough, they are extremely appreciated! If the rest of the world thought as you did, it would be a much better place. Don't hesitate to ask if you're unsure of something, but never think that we don't notice your effort.

#appreciation #accessibility #altbot #alttext #blind #blindness #fediverse #gratitude #images #inclusivity #peoplewhocare #pictures #technology

@[email protected] something Iโ€™m never sure about is how much text in alt-text is too much. I generally stay as coincise as possible by describing whatโ€™s actually interesting in the image for the conversation, which may include written texts or not. Do you think vision-impaired readers may prefer a more complete description?
@fdrc_ff @dandylover1 I tend to write longer alt-text because I love details, but I wonder the same thing!

@lydiaschoch I find that I will put extra information in the alt text. Joke that's not in the post itself, perhaps. Pointing out what's strange in the picture. Explaining the joke. Something like it's a SPOILER tag you're only going to get if you check the alt text.

If web comics can do it, why not everyone?

Besides, the character count on alt text is HUGE.

@fdrc_ff @dandylover1

@xinit @fdrc_ff @lydiaschoch Wow! What a wonderful idea! Please forgive my ignorance, but is alt text something that sighted readers can see, or is it only available to screen readers? If so, this is one of the few times in which we actually get to have something that the rest of the world doesn't. If not, it's a great way to encourage sighted people to pay attention to the importance of alt text.
@dandylover1 all the client applications i see allow anyone to see alt texts, there's a little "alt" button in the corner of the images. i think that does helps a lot for people to remember to put alt texts
@dandylover1 if i didn't define my posts in english but in another language would you able to understand them?

@zy Some Mastodon sites offer to translate a post into the reader's language, which also translates the ALT text. As someone who likes to read posts in languages I'm not fluent with, it helps a lot to understand the pictures as well (e.g. memes or comic strips).

@dandylover1

@shred i don't mean translation, i mean the language parameter every post has. if i put a post in french, will the screen reader try to read the english post as if it was french?
@shred the language of this post is french for example

@zy

You have to write the post and alt text in the language you specify to get both correctly translated.

Here is an example:
https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/112032360645638338

@shred

Stefan Bohacek (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image Reminder: If you properly describe your images, it helps translate any text in them. Original post: https://fedifreu.de/@chpietsch/113895634046608325 #ImageDescription #AltText #accessibility #a11y #translation

Stefan's Personal Mastodon Server

@zy @shred
@dandylover1
When I get a message in German, the alt text is also in German (for example). It makes it easy to copy and paste into an internet translator.

I have found it helpful when the words are embedded in the picture too. Just go to the alt text and cut and paste.

I'm so happy that it helps people with vision problems.

(I had no idea German would be so important in 2025, but here we are.)