@alttexthalloffame@mastodon.social
2025-09-07 15:04 UTC
Replies (15)
-
@christophegueret@mastodon.green 2025-09-07 15:38
@alttexthalloffame also, machine learning algorithms in need for both a text and an image for joint learning.
-
@sir_toootenstein@det.social 2025-09-07 15:41
@alttexthalloffame That's so good. 😂
-
@jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu 2025-09-07 15:59
@Alt Text Hall of Fame "People wondering WTF they're looking at" need an explanation. But: Explanations do not go into the alt-text! Ever! That's because not everyone can access alt-text, just like not everyone can see the image in an image post. And yes, this may be due to a physical disability. Any information that's only in the alt-text, but neither in the post text nor in the image itself, is inaccessible and therefore permanently lost to these people. Explanations always go into the post text body where everyone can access them! Money quote-posts from someone who actually does have a physical disability that keeps her from accessing alt-texts: Deborah wrote the following post Mon, 10 Jul 2023 17:56:06 +0200 @jupiter_rowland “Done right also means accessibility for people who might not know much about your image's subject matter either.” The person who posted this is simply flat out incorrect. Alt text is INACCESSIBLE to many disabled people. If the extra text is important, it needs to be in visible text. Deborah wrote the following post Mon, 10 Jul 2023 23:30:45 +0200 @jupiter_rowland I have a disability that prevents me from seeing alt text, because on almost all platforms, seeing the alt requires having a screenreader or working hands. If you post a picture, is there info that you want somebody who CAN see the picture but DOESN’T have working hands to know? Write that in visible text. If you put that in the alt, you are explicitly excluding people like me. But you don’t have to overthink it. The description of the image itself is a simple concept. CC so that everyone in this thread will read this, even if they're on Mastodon: @Amy Maybe @{christophequeret@mastodon.green} @Sir Toootenstein @Orion Ussner kidder #Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta
-
@jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu 2026-04-28 19:23
@Leonardo Giovanni Scur First of all, it isn't about my requirements. Just like, surprise, surprise, Mastodon's alt-text police is not blind. It's about general accessibility. And it's about Mastodon users acting inclusively towards blind or visually-impaired people and, at the same time, ableistically towards people with other physical disabilities. Just because they cling hard to the extra 1,500 characters that alt-text gives them per image to their meagre character count for posts. Except for professional Web accessibility experts, literally nobody on Mastodon seems to know what alt-text really is for. Alt-text is meant to be a 1:1 stand-in for an image, in case the image can't be perceived for whichever reason. Alt-text is not meant to be an additional source of information beyond what information the image conveys. Mastodon's use of alt-text for extra information beyond the post character limit is just as much alt-text misuse as cramming alt-text with keywords for SEO on websites. Unfortunately, it is so deeply engrained into Mastodon's culture that even the Mastodon devs have played along and added that "ALT" button which most Mastodon users think is the default and the standard Fediverse-wide now. But let me tell you something: Mastodon and its forks are most likely the only Fediverse server applications with an alt-text button. And they're far from making up the whole Fediverse. Misskey and its various forks don't have an alt-text button. AFAIK, Pleroma-FE and Akkoma-FE don't have an alt-text button, and neither has Mangane. Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams), Forte, they all don't have an alt-text button. Lemmy doesn't have an alt-text button. /kbin and Mbin don't have an alt-text button. PieFed doesn't have an alt-text button. WriteFreely doesn't have an alt-text button. Plume doesn't have an alt-text button. WordPress doesn't have an alt-text button either. Blogs in general don't have an alt-text button. Forums don't have an alt-text button. Static websites don't have an alt-text button. Twitter/𝕏 doesn't have an alt-text button. Facebook doesn't have an alt-text button. Instagram doesn't have an alt-text button. Threads doesn't have an alt-text button. Tumblr doesn't have an alt-text button. Flickr doesn't have an alt-text button. Pinterest doesn't have an alt-text button. And so forth. The W3C doesn't mention alt-text buttons. The WCAG don't mention alt-text buttons. Why not? Because they're all way behind Mastodon in accessibility? No, but because their developers know that alt-text is not an additional source of information for sighted people. Literally the only place anywhere in the Web where alt-text both counts and is actively used as an additional source of information for sighted people is Mastodon. Plus its forks. How I handle that? I put all needed extra information into the post text. But I'm not on Mastodon. I'm on Hubzilla. My character limit is over 30,000 times higher than on Mastodon. Seriously, if missing alt-text is sanctioned as ableist, if useless alt-text is sanctioned as ableist, if inaccurate alt-text is sanctioned as ableist, if too lacking alt-text is sanctioned as ableist, then putting exclusive information into alt-text must be sanctioned as ableist just as well. To those on Mastodon who oh so desperately need more than 500 characters: Move someplace in the Fediverse that has more than 500 characters. There's Fediverse server software from 3,000 characters to over 24,000,000 characters that, nonetheless, is federated with Mastodon. #Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #NotOnlyMastodon #FediverseIsNotMastodon #MastodonIsNotTheFediverse #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #CharacterLimit #CharacterLimits #CharacterLimitMeta #CWCharacterLimitMeta #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta
-
@askans@bonn.social 2025-09-07 16:13
@alttexthalloffame yes, but it always means extra effort. I hope it is worth it. I have no idea if my ALT text is being used by anybody
-
@forestine@sunny.garden 2025-09-07 16:29
@alttexthalloffame visual processing issue here, i'm kind of a venn diagram of the orange and red shirts
-
@forestine@sunny.garden 2025-09-07 16:36
@alttexthalloffame oh another use is if your server has a translate function, you can translate the alt text for memes and comics into your language, which is pretty neat
-
@arlon@harpia.red 2025-09-07 16:42
@alttexthalloffame Also people that are learning a given language :amaze:
-
@palladiumasteroid@app.wafrn.net 2025-09-07 16:49
Alt text is also useful/needed for: People with dyslexia and similar conditions People with visual processing disorders People with migraines Colorblind people People who can't read
-
@lukas@bark.lgbt 2025-09-07 17:05
@alttexthalloffame bottom right is a feel
-
@nlupo@amikejo.xyz 2025-09-07 17:14
@alttexthalloffame I'm usually the person on the bottom right, because sometimes I have a bad time recognizing what is on the picture. I'm not sure whether I have some neurological condition.
-
@awoodsnet@phpc.social 2025-09-07 17:22
@alttexthalloffame I’d like to see this drawn as a group hug 😁
-
@devolute@mastodon.social 2025-09-07 17:25
@alttexthalloffame I know it's terribly unfashionable to say so, but also #SEO
-
@jplebreton@mastodon.social 2025-09-07 17:34
@alttexthalloffame also great for searching! "what was that funny image of a cat i posted last year?" etc
-
@richpuchalsky@mastodon.social 2025-09-07 17:47
@alttexthalloffame Alt text is useful for some projects because most Mastodon servers will let you put a lot more text in the alt text than in the actual text. https://mastodon.social/@richpuchalsky/112022669158621670