How to describe images in the Fediverse: Home
But first...
Disclaimers
First disclaimer: I did not make the rules in the pages on this wiki! I gathered them from dozens of websites about image descriptions and alt-text. If anything, I adapted them to the Fediverse, the influence of Mastodon's culture on the way images are described and expected to be described and the technological possibilities which the various Fediverse applications have in contrast to the Web and to other social media. As for the latter three, I gathered information about this by simply watching what's going on on Mastodon.
Second disclaimer: I do not run this site! I have little power over the layout and no power at all over the general style! This wiki is running on a Fediverse server application named Hubzilla as part of my channel: @jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu. The main developers of Hubzilla are Mario Vavti (@mario@hub.somaton.com) and Harald Eilertsen (@harald@hub.volse.no). The main administrator of this website is Mark Nowiasz (@buckaroo@hub.hubzilla.de). If you find this site to be lacking in terms of accessibility, complain to them (in a PM; they probably won't notice public out-of-the-blue mentions) and not to me. I am only an end user. I have no influence on the style.
About this wiki
The basics
- Who needs image descriptions or alt-text?
- What is alt-text, and what does it do?
- What is a screen reader, and how does it work?
- Why is alt-text important in the Fediverse?
- How are alt-text and image descriptions in the Fediverse different from other places?
- Aren't "alt-text" and "image description" the same?
- "I've already described the image in the post! Do I still need an alt-text?"
- When does it make sense to describe an image in the message text?
- What does "caption" mean, and is it the same as alt-text?
- "But I've read somewhere else that you should do it differently!"
- Don't always blame frontend developers!
- Other resources on image descriptions and alt-text
About this wiki
- Why was this wiki made?
- Why a wiki and not one article?
- Who is working on this wiki?
Image descriptions in general
- Mind your audience!
- Use plain, everyday language, avoid technical language and jargon!
- Don't use things like "shows" or "can be seen" or "is visible" in image descriptions!
- How detailed must an image description be?
- Whether and how to mention the location shown in an image
- How to describe positions
- How to describe shapes
- How to describe sizes and dimensions
- How to describe colours
- How to use abbreviations in image descriptions
Describing people
- Whether to identify people
- What to include when describing people
- Whether to mention people's body shape
- Don't mention people's race!
- Don't assume people's gender!
- How to describe people's outfits
Text transcripts
- When to transcribe text
- How to transcribe text
What you must generally avoid in image descriptions
- Don't use all-caps in image descriptions!
- Don't use emoji in image descriptions!
Alt-text in particular
- How long can alt-text be?
- Can everyone access alt-text?
- Isn't alt-text handled the same all over the Fediverse?
What you must not do in alt-text
- Don't explain things or give other information only in alt-text!
- Don't use alt-text to write around your character limit!
- Don't use "image of", "picture of" or "photo of"!
- Don't use line breaks in alt-text!
- Don't use the quotation marks on your keyboard in alt-text!
- Don't use hashtags in alt-text!
- Don't put links into alt-text!