I Write Like
The art of a noodle paw.
#caturday
Mar 7 at 7:19pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadstephaniepixie 🏳️‍🌈Mar 7

@iwritelike Adorable kitty photo! You’ll find that more people will interact with your posts when you include alt text for accessibility to everyone including people who are blind and maybe use screen readers.

Many in the Fediverse won’t boost photos, gifs, or videos unless it includes alt text to describe what is going on. We like to make everyone feel welcome here and this is a way to do that.

Photo description can be just a line or two like “close-up of an adorable tabby cat’s sleeping face with the paw curled over the eyes”. Just something you’d tell a friend over the phone if they couldn’t see what you see.

You’ll find that over time it gets quicker and easier to describe images and that many people are very appreciative of the little bit of extra effort.

https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-make-posts-more-accessible-to-blind-people-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/

How do I make my posts more accessible to blind, deaf and deafblind people on Mastodon and the Fediverse? How do I add alt texts? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

Show threadI Write LikeMar 7
@stephaniepixie Stephanie, thanks so much for saying that! It does look rude of me. As I took the photo with my phone, I thought I'd give the app a test-drive and post from it for the first time. A few seconds in I felt dizzy from all the tiny letters, tiny windows and tiny options. The "Publish" button glowed like a rescue. I'll try to correct it now.
Show threadstephaniepixie 🏳️‍🌈Mar 7

@iwritelike Understandable.
If ever you don’t have it in you to include alt text you can also add the hashtag AltForMe (with the # in front) at the bottom of your post and someone will come along to reply with the alt text wording that you can cut and paste and edit the original post to include it (at the very least others can see that you made the effort and can scroll down to the response to read the alt text even if you don’t edit your post).

There are many helpful folks online who follow that AltForMe hashtag to post a reply with AltForYou.

I really appreciate your openness.

Show threadI Write LikeMar 8
@stephaniepixie Things are so different here. The mere concept of such a tag brings a smile to my face. I think I'll just stick to desktop and type all texts this way. Thank you for helping me!