🦯 🦯 🦯 Advocating for Inclusivity: A Call to Action. Please boost for more reach.
A few days ago, I was commenting on a few posts from National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) calling out the lack of #AltText on photos they post on their social media accounts. I feel that they must be made aware as they are promoting inclusivity and yet, photos they are posting are not inclusive to blind people reading there post. to those of you who doesn’t know, Facebook lets users add alt text on the images they post on the platform.
Let’s break it down: Alt text (short for alternative text) is like a secret doorway to accessibility. When users add alt text to the images they post on Facebook or any other social media platform that allows it, they’re essentially providing a description of the image. This description is then read aloud by screen reading software, allowing blind individuals to understand what’s happening in the image.
Now, here’s the catch: alt text is invisible to sighted users. It doesn’t clutter up the visual experience for them, but it makes all the difference for those blind people like us relying on screen readers. Imagine being able to “see” a photo through words—vivid descriptions that paint a mental picture.
Anyways, enough of the explanation thing. I got a reply from them (please see the screenshot). I’m hopeful that they’ll follow through on their promise. And to all blind people who are following them or any other organization for persons with disability, most specially blindness organizations, let’s hold these organizations accountable. They are promoting inclusivity, so the small steps should be coming from them.
So, my message to the NCDA and to all my friends sharing images online, most specially blindness organizations promoting inclusivity (you know who you are), Let’s make our content truly inclusive! Adding alt text is a small but impactful step toward ensuring that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can fully engage with the content we put out there.
Add comment