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2025-05-30 06:50:41

GroupNebula563@mastodon.social

I think this post on #alttext by @jwz is worth a read. Not because I enjoy it, but because it’s a differing opinion and it’s good to have those so you don’t create an echo chamber: https://www.jwz.org/blog/2025/02/on-blocking-mastodon-hoa-edition/

That said, I find it incredibly disrespectful to:

a) The people that need alt text to use the #Fediverse
b) The people that write alt text for folks that need it under the wonderful #ALT4you hashtag

2025-05-30 06:51:39

Furbland's Very Cool Account™

GroupNebula563@mastodon.social

…that said, it has given me some new excuses for my alt text page: http://bluepixelcomputing.com:8141/fedi/alt_text.htm

2025-05-31 22:58:45

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Furbland's Very Cool Mastodon™ So the more detailed it is, the better? Would you say it's possible to describe an image in too many details, regardless of circumstances (e.g. what the expected audience may be curious about)?

Also, what about the rule that any and all text within the borders of an image must be transcribed 100% verbatim? There is text on the T-shirt, that's why I'm asking. I myself am someone who always transcribes every last bit of text within my original images. That said, the transcripts usually only go into the long description in the post itself (the character limit here is so high, it's fully negligible; but my original images always get two descriptions each). Most of the time, there simply isn't enough room for them in the alt-text (or what of it Mastodon, Misskey and their respective forks let through at full length).

I'm also asking because I plan to write my own wiki on alt-texts and image descriptions specifically for the Fediverse. It will be a wiki because it will be too detailed for only one article or page.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta

2025-05-31 23:03:18

Furbland's Very Cool Account™

GroupNebula563@mastodon.social

@jupiter_rowland I think that allowing the reader of the text to effectively picture the image mentally is usually sufficient, but more detail can’t hurt. I just wrote this page because there was no documentation on it really, I would also ask some people who maybe need it more than I do. :)

2025-05-31 23:25:57

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Furbland's Very Cool Mastodon™

but more detail can’t hurt.

I think we aren't thinking in the same dimensions.

How about 1,500 characters of alt-text for each image, 900 of which are image description, plus over 20,000 characters of description, explanations and transcripts for two images in the post itself?

How about 1,500 characters of alt-text, 1,400 of which are image description, plus over 60,000 characters of description, explanations and transcripts in the post itself?

In case you're on a phone: If the above looks like links, that's because it is links. The links lead to two of my image posts which, while not originally on Mastodon, are still in the Fediverse, and copies of both can actually be found on mastodon.social. The first one can be found under the hashtag #OSG17B; it's the third one (or fourth, counting this one) from the top. The second one can be found under the hashtag #UniversalCampus; it's the one at the bottom.

I just wrote this page because there was no documentation on it really,

Oh, there's plenty of documentation on alt-text and image descriptions. For example:

https://www.accessible-social.com/images-and-visuals/writing-image-descriptions
https://www.cooperhewitt.org/cooper-hewitt-guidelines-for-image-description/
https://veroniiiica.com/media-accessibility/alt-text/ (this has loads of pages about alt-text and image descriptions, and the author is visually impaired herself)
https://www.sandstormdesign.com/blog/website-accessibility-101-5-best-practices-writing-alt-text-images
https://www.uml.edu/brand-communications-creative-strategy/resources-guidelines/web-accessibility/image-accessibility.aspx
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/write-alt-text/
https://www.continualengine.com/blog/alt-text-on-images/
https://www.tpgi.com/short-note-on-coding-alt-text/

Beware, though: They may contradict each other.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta