I read alt-text: partly because this phone is not good for images, but mainly because different cultural backgrounds mean I don't understand some of the images (unless they're photos of animals).
There's a recent spate of alt-text which is obviously incorrect. Is it bot-generated? Would anyone do that and not check the output? It is so very clearly wrong.
Or is this a trendy joke?
I hope not because that would be cruel.
Some people use automated alt text because their feed is run or shared by a bot. Sometimes that's better than nothing.
If alt text is terrible or misleading, I don't Boost those images.
Overall, the quality of alt text varies wildly, from a few words to a mini essay.
Recently one poster elaborated on a comic image and it was still mystifying as I didn't get the niche reference.
I occasionally add missing text using #alt4you
What would you do?
@srfirehorseart
I have boosted without alt-text, but fedilabs points out an image missing a description so it's easy to avoid now (I ignore the warning if there's a description in the body of the message).
If I had to use a generated description, I'd read it before letting it out in public. Translators and text-to-speech apps are useful for that, though help from friends is best.
The text which prompted this toot was so obviously wrong that I really thought it might be deliberate.
People have deliberately misdescribed pictures, thinking it is funny, but Google offers to describe them for you. Usually too vague or just wrong.
I wish more people understood why alt text is important.
sunflowerinrain
Firehorseart Lives!
Tiggy