FuzzyspoonMar 16
Rab Bruce’s Spider
Social media for the blind:
Bluesky, hardly any Alt Text. To understand an image, you must open the post, tap on the image and hope your screen reader can describe it, or spend a minute or so scanning it.
X, hardly any image descriptions. The built-in AI will try to describe the images which is a major improvement, but you need to wait until the screen reader finishes reading all the info about the post.
Mastodon, loads of image descriptions. What a pleasure it is to browse my timeline here.
Mar 15 at 8:07amWeb
Show threadJames TweedieMar 15
@RabBrucesSpider1 Providing #AltText makes you think about the photos or images you're posting. And what the actual stand out features are. I try to avoid descriptions like "Tree on a hill" (I've seen quite a few like that 🤔)
Show threadDer böse Hexe Njähähä 🧙‍♀️🪄⚡️Mar 15
@RabBrucesSpider1 That's very encouraging—together we'll keep on working to make it the norm. #altText
Show threadAxomamma, Antifa from birthMar 15
@RabBrucesSpider1 AI alt text is bullshit.
Show threadRab Bruce’s SpiderMar 15
@Axomamma Aye, but it copes adequately if the image contains text. It can usually read most of the text. For anything else, yes it’s crap.
Show threadFlash Mob Of OneMar 15
@RabBrucesSpider1 And even cooler: It's humans writing them just to be nice people.
Show threadWillow "Wolveric" CatkinMar 16
@FlashMobOfOne @RabBrucesSpider1
A ""fun"" experience I have personally, is attaching a GIF with GBoard sometimes, which has automated alt-text by default, which sucks the majority of the time, and has no clue what it's looking it...  (I end up wishing it just didn't the majority of the time, because it's so bad, I typically have to go out of my way to delete it before writing my own by hand anyway...)
Show threadmilla🧷Mar 15
@RabBrucesSpider1 I didn't even know about the existence of alt text before becoming active on Mastodon. Bluesky also has an option to "remind" you of a missing alt, I don't know why more people don't use it. It's such a handy feature, especially on micro blogging sites because I can add so much context into the alt if needed!
Show threadBunRab Is Old And TiredMar 16
@RabBrucesSpider1
People join Mastodon because the other people there are nice, and readily adopt the ethos, which includes alt text. One will get (polite) pointed comments if one forgets. On some servers, it's even a written rule, not just an unwritten one.
Show threadDer böse Hexe Njähähä 🧙‍♀️🪄⚡️Mar 16

@AnyaKarl @blogangela @Macnutzer94 @RMa
Look, no matter how hard a few trolls may try to make a spectacle of themselves—that’s the reality. Of course, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep standing up to them. Apparently, though, many more people take it for granted, thereby helping to normalize it.

In fact, even more and more accounts that used to ignore the request or made a huge fuss about it now use alttext as a matter of course.
@RabBrucesSpider1

Show threaddot.mgMar 17
@RabBrucesSpider1 Unfortunately, I see more and more posts on Mastodon where, instead of posting plain text, they just post a screenshot of texts from somewhere. Reminder such as yours needs to be relayed more often to keep the good habits among the fediverse.
Show threadStephen Cox AuthorMar 18

@RabBrucesSpider1

Bluesky you can enable alt text so you have to give it. which means not providing it is definitely your choice.

Show threadRab Bruce’s SpiderMar 20
@stephenwhq Yes, but Bluesky should have that turned on by default. Most users don’t know they can turn it on. I suspect many folk would turn it off, but at least everyone would know it is there. But I do know that many folk choose not to add Alt Text. I won’t speculate as to their motives.
Show threadStephen Cox AuthorMar 20

@RabBrucesSpider1

I completely agree it should be on. Certainly my timeline was full for months of people raising awareness of this need.

Show threadRab Bruce’s SpiderMar 20
@stephenwhq Yes, some good folk did try to promote it. Sadly, it had little effect. A few people did start using it but the majority still don’t add Alt Text.
I spent years trying to get people to use Alt Text on Twitter. Again, hardly anyone ever bothers.
Good example is Ruth Davidson, former Tory MSP and now in the Lords. She was asked to take part in an awareness raising campaign, & she posted 1 pic with Alt Text, saying how wonderful it was. Since then, nothing.