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2025-10-18 18:57:46

Ainsley

pirarucu@flipping.rocks

On tumblr there’s kind of a running debate about alt text vs. in-post descriptions so I’m curious how Fedi users *who regularly use alt text for any reason* feel.
If a picture has no alt text or non-descriptive alt text (ie. “picture” or “bird”) but the post itself thoroughly describes the image (either in the context of the post or in a discrete image description), do you consider that better, worse, or equivalent to alt text? Or should both be used, either at once or in different contexts? All feedback is appreciated.

#alttext #accessibility

In-post descriptions are BETTER than alt text

0 Stimmen | 0%

In-post descriptions are WORSE than alt text

3 Stimmen | 33%

No preference.

1 Stimme | 11%

Both are useful (simultaneous or situational?)

5 Stimmen | 56%

9 Stimmen insgesamt
Umfrage ist beendet

2025-10-18 21:22:11

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Ainsley Both have their use.

On the one hand, unless you're on a Mastodon server with a very low character limit, the post gives you much more room for a detailed description. A description in the post text is easier to navigate with a screen reader: It can jump back a few words or a sentence or so whereas, when reading out an alt-text, it can only jump back to the beginning of the alt-text. And if you have to explain the image or its description, something that keeps happening to me again and again, you can only do that in the post text, not in the alt-text.

On the other hand, if you want to be safe from the wrath of Mastodon's alt-text police, you must add an accurate and sufficiently detailed alt-text to every last one of your images, regardless of image descriptions in the post itself.

Whenever I post an original image, I always describe it twice, both in the alt-text and in the post text. The description in the alt-text never contains any explanations, and it often doesn't contain any text transcripts either if there is too much text to transcribe. The description in the post always contains both (transcripts only if there's any text within the borders of the image).

When I post a meme, I only describe the visuals and transcribe the text bits in the alt-text. The post still contains all explanations, partially as external links if possible.

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

2025-10-19 00:12:01

Ainsley

pirarucu@flipping.rocks

@jupiter_rowland Thanks for your input. I did not realize that screen readers treated alt text like that, that does sound rather inconvenient. The mastodon instance I use has a fairly forgiving character limit (5000), so I may try your method, with an alt text plus a more detailed description in the post.

2025-10-19 11:47:15

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

2025-10-19 10:58:54

Aydan

cxxvii@aus.social

slightly long

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