Right. There's been a lot of talk about #AltText and it's place here on the fediverse of late.
Whether you're blind, deaf or sighted, I'd be curious to not only have you fill out the relevant choice, but feel free to respond to this with more detail if you like.
Do you make use of, benefit from or even find alt-text useful, whether for images or audio?
Only 90 blind people say they benefit from alt-text. Can't we get that to at least 100? If you haven't voted, please follow this thread back and do the thing. All the things. It'd be 91 but you can't vote in your own polls don't ya know?
@FreakyFwoof I bloody love alt text. You see why a person shared an image, what they find important about it, and if I'm out and about I might switch off images to save data use, then I still get to 'see' them.
@Tattooed_mummy@Seirdy@FreakyFwoof Additional benefit: Cloudflared resources refuse to load in my client, but alt-text allows me to get the gist of the point despite the host instance's bad technical decisions.
Stats as follows:
Poll with 4957 votes.
I'm deaf/blind and I do benefit from alt-text with 140 votes.
I'm deaf/blind and I don't benefit from alt-text with 16 votes.
I'm sighted and I do benefit from alt-text with 3902 votes.
I'm sighted and I don't benefit from alt-text with 899 votes.
Thanks to all participants and those who responded in-thread as well. Some very thought-provoking discussions sprung up as a result of this.
@FreakyFwoof I love reading and writing alt text. I have suggested a few times that we hand out "Alt Text Awards", because some people write it so beautifully. It's a rare and interesting thing to me; we're finding out what someone else thinks is important about an image.
As a painter, I think I'm going to write future alt text for my work, right on the back of the canvases.
@holyramenempire Absolutely love this. Go you. Hidden text on the back-side of something that nobody would see unless they knew to look for it. Easteregg.
@mastodonmigration Mastodon makes me proud. Look at this poll about #AltText and the wonderful, thoughtful responses in-thread I've had to it. Would never have happened on the ridiculously named x. It would just be full of trolls, toxicity and hate instead of the really interesting discussions that have happened as a result.
Thank you so much Andre for calling attention to this amazing wonderful thread. What a beautiful thing. This is the Mastodon we love and care for. This is our community, and why we are here. We are building open social media, and we are kind and inclusive. We are the future, and the future is bright.
@mastodonmigration I will tell you I am genuinely surprised by 1, the amount of respondents, and 2, just how many sighted feel that adding alt-text is good for the world. I appreciate them all. It makes me feel like i'm on a level playing field being blind.
Just overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and compassion exhibited in these conversations. Whereas other social media sites tend to be platforms for celebrities, Mastodon is genuinely inclusive by the nature of the people here. This quality could not be on better display than by the widespread use of alt-text to make content accessible for all members. It basically says, we appreciate everything you have to bring to the conversation. You are an important part of the community.
'A laptop is sat open with four people on the screen conducting a video call.'
The laptop itself is sat?
Are the people sat on the screen?
Curious minds want to know.
@FreakyFwoof I would say that the way phrases are commonly used, most people would understand this to mean simply that the laptop was open and placed on a surface.
What's much less clear from the phrasing is: does it display a videoconferencing call with four other people, or is it showing a video of four people making a conference call?
@http_error_418 Most people is not all people. I'm a native English speaker, I get it, but if you're not, who's to say how you would interpret that? It's poorly worded to be honest. And yes, I'm being all kinds of pedantic about it because the way it was written amuses me. It could be better.
@FreakyFwoof Would it be good with "a laptop sits open"? I remember hearing "x sits open" somewhere (probably in audio description), but I don't know if it would apply here.
@FreakyFwoof Well, at least it is understandable. My favourite sort of bad alt text is when the post is about, say, an announcement or a sign, and the alt text only says such, without mention, or even summary, of the text.
@sukiletxe It's understandable if you're very good at English. If you're not, you might well read it as if people were literally sitting on the laptop. It's quite poor really.
@FreakyFwoof 4 people sat on the screen conducting a video call. Looks like Apple made a crucial mistake in deciding end of line for the 27inch iMac. Sorry folks, you want a computer that can comfortably seat four, it's going to be old and obsolete.
@FreakyFwoof Here’s what I didn’t expect: adding alt-text to photos of plants and insects has made ME, a sighted person, a more careful observer. It’s also improving my ability to take visual information and turn it into verbal information, which is a personal weakness. I’m grateful for that!
Also, when I share these photos, it’s because they give me joy and I want to share that. Sharing it with people who otherwise wouldn’t have access gives me extra joy.
For images, good alt text also helps establish context I might be missing, or identify something subtle but crucial that I might have failed to notice in the image. So sometimes an image that I might not have understood is one that I do understand thanks to alt text filling in he gap.
For video/audio, I have auditory processing difficulties, particularly with speech. I always turn on subtitles/closed captions when I have the option.
I’m sighted and alt-text has a higher character limit so I often find interesting background info or details I overlooked in there. I’ve learned technical terms of insect anatomy, space missions, mushroomology and archaeology that I would’ve never come across otherwise. I guess it’s great if you learn a foreign language, too.
And I’ve come to like describing my own photos. It makes me meet them again in a new way. An enriching experience!
@FreakyFwoof As a sighted person, alttext provides a way to read what poster sees and wants to be seen in their post. It's an alternate, subtler way to get to know someone.
@FreakyFwoof I’m mostly posting photos of birds and usually add alt text. I try to make it as descriptive as possible because when I see “a picture of a sparrow” describing a picture of a sparrow it makes me wonder why they even bothered
@FreakyFwoof Sighted here, I already beneffited from alt text but the other day I found a new use for it: I have the app set so images won't auto-load, so when I find an alt text in French, German, Italian or some other language I used to know but not anymore I play "how much can I get right before loading the image" 😌
@FreakyFwoof
I want to clarify. I said I don't benefit but that needs some adjustment. Occasionally I need the alt text to get the name of a famous person most would know. I try to only boost alt text . I make a 4% exception if feel the information is important and I am not in a position to add a alt text comment due to time or similar.
@FreakyFwoof I am sighted, bit I find alt text often provides important context cues that I'd have otherwise missed, or points out what it is I'm supposed to be looking at. I am also ND, not sure if that has any bearing. Either way, it makes me feel more included.
I'm not blind, but I have very impaired vision. Sometimes an image refuses to "gel" for me unless I know what I'm looking for. Alt text is very helpful when this happens.
Important data point, 100% of those identifying as deaf/blind (3% of the total)selected that they do benefit from ALT text. There were zero responses from this group saying it did not help. #alttext
I visited my dad in hospital the other day. It’s a long building with the entrance more to the left, and a flight of steps leads up to the entrance from the road. On the right, there’s the car park, and a looooong ramp leads from that corner up to the entrance, parallel to the pavement.
1/2
In an unofficial observation of mine, 3% of users were in wheelchairs, needing a ramp, having a right to a ramp, and expecting it. 0% were in a wheelchair and used the steps. 18% were walking and used the steps, because people not in wheelchairs don’t benefit from ramps. And nearly 80% had no wheelchairs and used the ramp anyway, because ramps are simply cool.
@FreakyFwoof I am sighted, and I do benefit from alt-text but not for the reason you are thinking. I benefit because I know that I can reach and hopefully enrich a person who is impaired. There is also a rich history with Mastodon and the impaired, so I feel I am honoring that as well. And also, I like to hide secrets in my Alt-Text so those who don't need it can also be surprised. Alt-Text YES!! Generally I look at those who can't be bothered...as ones not to bother with. 😉
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