@hannah@social.alt-text.org
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

hannah

@hannah@social.alt-text.org

Retired Founder, Alt-Text.org. Trans and permanently disabled by brain cancer.

But Here We Are. Stay Kind.

(she/her)

Bio pic: Me giving a talk, the slide behind me is "The problem(s) with AI: It doesn't understand context"

Header: "Alt-Text.org", white on a library green.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

Important partial retraction:

I thank @jcsteh for the correction on the @mozilla image description AI plans criticized by me in these last few days. I and many others, most of whom I saw celebrating, believed that those plans included providing such tools to all users writing alt text in the web browser. They don't.

I retract my criticism of Mozilla, because they are already doing what I was asking.

I maintain my criticism of alt writer AI tools, and I think Jamie has validated my concerns.

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I built possibly the earliest same-tab tool for getting AI image descriptions in Aug 2022, using a then newly updated Microsoft AI API. I listened to Disabled folks about it. I've payed close attention to the subject since.

My criticisms of @mozilla plans for Firefox built in AI alt text generation aren't because of knee-jerk AI hatred or some ignorance. They are because I understand this to a breadth and depth extremely rare and I want acknowledgement of major issues being ignored 🧵…

Boost? 💜

blog entry link. custom graphic of me in a red polka dot dress and a custom complex blue background above: Public good Hannah Kolbeck on Online Accessibility The first Insider Blog Series post ft. Hannah Kolbeck and her work with accessibility on Twitter Read more
Mastodon post by Alt-Text.org - English, @en: Writing good relies on a crucial thing: context. That context has layers, whether it's the text on the post next to the image, the immediate conversation in which it appears, or the social conversation that it is a part of. All of that context informs what details are the most important to include and how those details are described. has none of that context, and usually just lists things in the image. It can be a tool, but it's not good enough alone.
Me behind a lectern on a stage motioning with my hands, a slide on a large screen behind me reads "the problem(s) with AI description: it doesn't understand context"

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I hear from many who need alt text that to have easy access to AI descriptions of images is valuable, I agree and always planned to provide easy access.

I hear great appreciation from many who think basic usage of AI in writing alt text will make the web more accessible, but the largely VI people who need alt text and have seen active AI usage actively raising alarms are being largely ignored or treated as ignorant.

AI can be a part of a useful tool, but one prioritizing describers is harmful.

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I have opened an issue on what I think is the appropriate GitHub repo, and hope to speak directly to those working to provide AI image generation tools in Firefox about potential for harm. I have offered free consultation, and would love to bring in folks that rely on alt text to those conversations if possible.

https://github.com/mozilla/checkvite/issues/1

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I've had several conversations with people about using AI generated image descriptions for alt text recently, especially around Mozilla's recent announcement. It seems worthwhile to put together a relatively short but easily linkable summary of the issues being called out by screen reader users and their advocates.

I have what are basically long notes, but am disabled from laying them out and cleaning them up. I'd love to co-author a short article on this with a VI person, please reach out. 💜

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

Hi folks,

My surgery last Wednesday went as well as it could, and so far its impact on my language abilities has been minimal, much better than expected. While I am still very much in recovery, they've invited me to work with Scribely to move the Alt-Text.org project forward and I can't wait.

Hannah 💜

P.S. Surgical pictures below

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

Hi friends,

In a last minute meeting between pre-op appointments preparing for my major craniotomy tomorrow, Scribely and I have agreed on terms to hand off the http://Alt-Text.org project.

The code will remain open source, and the project will become a 501(c)(3) with support from Scribely. Should the project be successful its operating costs will likely be considerable and I believe connections to industry are necessary to sustain its contributions to web accessibility.

💜 Hannah

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I posted about brain cancer and hope to find people to pick up the torch on my accessibility projects that I think could help make the web better. I have a major surgery May 29th and time is short. I will only become less able.

Summaries and links can be found here: https://github.com/alt-text-org/in-need-of-adoption

I'm happy to answer any questions, or just discuss things, but I do ask that kind words on cancer not be posted here, despite my appreciation for them.

Boosts and sharing elsewhere appreciated.

💜 Hannah

hannah, to accessibility
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

Hi friends,

The http://alt-text.org alt text library project needs a new leader, because I have brain cancer.

I would like to connect with the dev community, something I have never figured out, probably in part for neurodivergence reasons. I want to hand the project off to a team or a leader if anyone is willing to take it over.

Github: https://github.com/alt-text-org
WIP MVP: a site designed for writing alt text with a private library: https://my.alt-text.org

Boosts appreciated

hannah,
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I've made another post with a link to a more shareable and complete description of the project and needs. It also includes descriptions of other smaller projects in need to adoption alongside or separately

https://social.alt-text.org/@hannah/112396092237603547

💜 Hannah

hannah, to accessibility
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This is pulling data from an image of a table into a browsable table. It definitely seems promising. Far from perfect, but this is a proof of concept after all. Huge thanks to @jakobrosin for the idea of using a table.

Based on my previous tweet, this could very well be novel. If anyone who relies on a screen reader could try it out and give me any feedback, it'd be so appreciated.

https://2d-ocr.glitch.me/

hannah,
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

@miki Hmm, I'm not a big fan of AI as it exists today, so I'm not really sure what it would be fixing. Could you expand on that?

hannah,
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

@miki I think there's potential there, but there's some definite lower-hanging fruit. It has coordinate data for every character, but the API is grouping them across lines. If someone more familiar with image processing wanted to step up and write a quick "find all the dividing lines in an image", that would do wonders.

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I'm working on a proof of concept for a future https://my.alt-text.org plugin. it could enable folks to navigate images of tables with the arrow keys. Questions:

  • Is this available elsewhere? I have experience in this area, but this took me all of 4hr to write so far. It seems like it could be useful

  • Is there a better navigation tool folks can think of over arrow keys?

  • Ideas for an algorithm to traverse between the chunks? When a user presses down, how should the next block be decided?

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

Inaccessible UI/UX is the Undefined Behavior of the languages that form the modern web.

jalcine, to random
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I don't see people judging people for having accessibility needs? https://universeodon.com/@FreakyFwoof/110802345358811873 yeah the process isn't the most accessible but that's more reason to contribute knowledge of improving accessibility to do so.

And this still does the communities who are trying to help liberate those from Big Tech because it not erases those who have accessibility concerns who have made the switch from the conversations but also assumes it's not a concern.

Human centered technology centers humans. Profit centered technology centers profits. Both can be accessible. In fact the latter currently gets it faster because it abused the rights and autonomy of people for profit.

hannah,
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

@grrrr_shark @jookia @jalcine "Baked in" seems like an appropriate choice of words, I've been saying lately that so many of these problems are in part rooted in the ingredients of the modern web having inaccessibility baked in.

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

> Favoring new features over a11y work is the heart of why the web is so inaccessible. I realize why it's that way, I've been a corporate developer, but that doesn't mean you can't push back on that prioritization. Always pushing a11y work onto the community is not a sign that you value it.

Pickin' fights on https://github.com/orgs/mdn/discussions/430

hannah, to accessibility
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

I'm thinking about short form copy for describing how to write good alt text, and I'd love feedback on:

"Good alt text communicates ideas, information, and experiences equitably. What about the image does a person need to know to be a full user of your site or participant in the conversation?"

hannah,
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@siderea Those are both exceptional, and flow so much better than my cold formulation

hannah, to random
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

It seems destructive that the "Accessibility Concerns" section of every MDN HTML element page is almost at the bottom. I almost used a <datalist> without knowing that the text in them doesn't zoom because it's so buried.

This is, as far as I'm concerned, the standard web development documentation. Putting accessibility almost last means most people won't see it.

Let's see if anything comes of this: https://github.com/orgs/mdn/discussions/430

hannah, to accessibility
@hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

Some accessibility improvements in flight, which will be released when https://my-alt-text-org.glitch.me is moved to its forever home, hopefully in the next few days. As you might notice, there are some styling issues 😅

I added a command Alt-R, which opens a central, searchable menu of every important command on the site. I've also started adding other direct key-combo commands, here Alt-T is demonstrated to run text extraction.

Screen recording of work in progress my.alt-text.org. It opens to a bare setup, then a menu appears in the middle of the screen. The user types "op" then hits enter, invoking "open file", which opens a file chooser. The user selects a file that's a mastodon screenshot, then invokes another command to begin text extraction. The extraction button lights up in an animated rainbow, then an extracted copy of the text appears, with focus on the textarea

NatureMC, (edited ) to mastodon
@NatureMC@mastodon.online avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    hannah,
    @hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

    @NatureMC Howdy, I'm working on a project I thought you might find interesting. You can get an admittedly still under development look here: https://alt-text-org.github.io/my.alt-text.org/

    The idea is that even mastodon with its OCR capabilities doesn't provide an optimal alt text composer, so we're trying to. Right now it's a static website, soon it will be browser extensions.

    If people are interested in the project, help with testing and development are so welcome.

    hannah, to random
    @hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

    Now that https://my-alt-text-org.glitch.me is alpha-released, I want to renew my call for contributors. I'm particularly looking for folks interested and skilled in:

    • Frontend accessibility
    • Technical writing
    • Translation
    • UI/UX Design
    • Raw Javascript programming
    • Knowledge of the ActivityPub protocol
    • Reactive design

    Check out https://github.com/alt-text-org/my.alt-text.org to get involved.

    hannah, to accessibility
    @hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

    I'm happy to announce the alpha release of https://my-alt-text-org.glitch.me/

    It's a composer built for writing , with a number of features still to come. Highlights of the alpha release:

    • An archive of everything you've composed with it, searchable by text or image
    • OCR with 100+ languages supported
    • Text splitting

    I don't have the skills to make it . If you'd like to help with that or more generally there's a link to the GitHub on the page

    cc: @DemocracySpot

    hannah, to random
    @hannah@social.alt-text.org avatar

    I'm happy to announce the alpha release of https://my-alt-text-org.glitch.me/

    It's a composer built for writing alt text, with a number of features still to come. Highlights of the alpha release:

    • An archive of everything you've composed with it, searchable by text or image
    • OCR with 100+ languages supported
    • Text splitting

    I don't have the skills to make it accessible. If you'd like to help with that or more generally there's a link to the GitHub on the page.

    Try it out. Let me know what you think.

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