Post #4137040

2026-07-26 18:49 UTC

Here's a resource for writing descriptive alt text: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-make-posts-more-accessible-to-blind-people-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/ There's also the tried and true method of listening to blind folks on your timeline and other folks who need alt text! They will tell you what they need and want in alt text. And here's some nuance (though by no means all the nuance): I know that there are disabled people who are not able to add alt text to their images. On some days I am one of those people. On some days I'm the one who needs the alt text, not the one who can write it. (My disability is dynamic: how severe it is differs from day to day, and some days are Very Bad.) On days when I cannot write alt text, I choose not to post images and wait for a day when I can. I know that for some people there are no days when they can. Another choice is to ask for help writing alt text, using #Alt4Me or otherwise. I also know that in desperate moments alt text can seem like too much, even for people who otherwise could write it. I implore you to reclassify alt text as not an extra, but as a central part of messaging, and ask for help: #Alt4Me (Edit: corrected #/Alt4You to #Alt4Me for asking for help with alt text (sometimes my brain switches stuff like that). Thank you so much to @ahimsa_pdx@disabled.social for the correction!) 3/4 #ALT4Me #alttext #solidarity #solidaritymeansalttext #disabilityliberation #anarchism

Replies (2)

@calendsofapril@kolektiva.social 2026-07-26 18:49

If you're working on how to write alt text and an example is helpful, here's how I alt-texted this image, and why I wrote the alt text the way I did. Alt text: Solidarity means alt text. Hand-lettered message in bold uppercase framed by vines and flowers. The words "alt text" are large and prominent. The "A" in the word "means" is circled, forming a circle-A for anarchism. The circle-A is centered in the image. The frame illustration is made of simple line drawings of wavy vines with flower buds and leaves. The letters and floral frame are white on a black background. The illustration is signed in a lower corner of the frame with the handle calends of april. Explanation: There's a lot going on here! Here's a breakdown: 1) Inverted pyramid structure: start with the most important thing to convey about the image, then add some detail, then finish up with supplemental info. In this case the words are the most important part of the illustration, so the message itself goes first, followed by further description of the visual elements of the words. There is also a description of the floral frame and even the colors used if folks want to know more and choose to read on. 2) This alt text is formatted both for screenreaders and for folks who click the button to read the alt text visually (like I need to on bad visual processing days). Breaking the text into paragraphs and adding quotation marks can help those latter folks parse the info. (There are cases where I would use the words "quote" and "unquote" around a word or phrase for a screenreader, but this isn't one of them.) For screenreaders, I try to choose phrasing that will be the most parseable when read out loud with no visual cues – and I literally read alt text out load before posting. 3) I can get wordy, but I try to keep my alt texts reasonably short while still conveying the pertinent info. Even shorter than this would also work, like this: "Solidarity means alt text. Message framed by vines and flowers." This would suffice! Please do at least this! When it's me who needs the alt text, though, I prefer having more detail, so I usually add it to my own alt text. The inverted pyramid model means that folks can choose to stop reading early and still get the most important info. And solidarity means alt text. Please use it. 4/4 #altText #solidarity #solidarityMeansAltText #disabilityLiberation #anarchism

Open ##4137041
@ahimsa_pdx@disabled.social 2026-07-26 21:06

@calendsofapril@kolektiva.social I thought #Alt4Me was the hashtag to use when asking for help with alt text? (sometimes #AltForME but I think that one's fading out) And #Alt4You was used when adding alt text in a reply to a post with an image/GIF/video that has no alt text? Maybe either one works? I might have it wrong.

Open ##4137042