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2025-10-13 12:09:38

Tarnport@mastodon.green

Alt-Text your images for:

- reboosts, increasing reach
- accessibility for image readers
- accessibility for low-speed connections
- auto-translation options for image text
- clarity and explication
- searchability

#AltText

2025-10-13 12:21:53

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Tarnport

Alt-Text your images for:

- clarity and explication

Alt-text must never include explanations or other additional information that is not available in the post text or the image!

Why?

Because not everyone can access alt-text. Sighted people need a mouse/trackball/touchpad/trackpoint to access alt-text or a touch screen if the UI allows for that.

And in order to operate that, they need at least one working hand. But not everyone has working hands. Just like not everyone has working eyes, which is why you describe your images in the first place, right?

For those who can't access alt-text, any information only available in alt-text and neither in the post text nor in the image itself is inaccessible and permanently lost. They can't open it, they can't read it. Ever.

This means: Explanations and additional information must always go into the post itself where everyone can access them!

Here are three relevant pages in my (very early WIP) wiki about image descriptions and alt-text:

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #Disability #A11y #Accessibility