TIL... how to do picture descriptions in twitter for blind/sight-limited
October 14, 2019 9:02 PM Subscribe
@RobotHugsComics has created a twitter thread [threadreader] full of great information on how to write image descriptions in twitter for those with visual impairments who are using text readers to engage with the site. It's full of in-depth tips on how to write image descriptions which will be useful for those who cannot see the images, in a way which makes them a part of the tweet content.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher
Aaaaaand today I just discovered that Tweetdeck/Tweetduck has this ability as well. I never knew! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
posted by chrominance at 9:14 PM on October 14, 2019
posted by chrominance at 9:14 PM on October 14, 2019
When this is successfully automated, I will know that AI is here for good.
posted by hat_eater at 12:09 AM on October 15, 2019
posted by hat_eater at 12:09 AM on October 15, 2019
When this is successfully automated,
About that...
Using AI to give people who are blind the “full picture” - Chrome Accessibility team
Machine-generated description for this image: "Appears to be: Fruits and vegetables at the market."
Machine-generated description for this image: "Appears to be: Person playing guitar on the sofa."
A long way from *perfectly* automated, but it's a substantial step forward on that front.
posted by CrystalDave at 1:36 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
About that...
Using AI to give people who are blind the “full picture” - Chrome Accessibility team
Machine-generated description for this image: "Appears to be: Fruits and vegetables at the market."
Machine-generated description for this image: "Appears to be: Person playing guitar on the sofa."
A long way from *perfectly* automated, but it's a substantial step forward on that front.
posted by CrystalDave at 1:36 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
OK, let me try the long version: when AI progresses from telling what's in a picture to recognising what's actually important in a given context, I'll know it's here for good.
The task of meaningfully describing a picture, as shown in these tweets, requires surprisingly deep insight.
posted by hat_eater at 2:31 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
The task of meaningfully describing a picture, as shown in these tweets, requires surprisingly deep insight.
posted by hat_eater at 2:31 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've been adding alt text on Twitter for a while (when I remember) but these are some useful tips for the best way to describe images.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:00 AM on October 15, 2019
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:00 AM on October 15, 2019
This is great advice and should stand for all images on the web, not just tweets.
posted by tomp at 6:00 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tomp at 6:00 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also, if you are using hashtags, please capitalize each word.
#screenreaderscanttellwhatthewordsareinthis
#ButTheyCanReadThisNormally
posted by Etrigan at 6:23 AM on October 15, 2019 [22 favorites]
#screenreaderscanttellwhatthewordsareinthis
#ButTheyCanReadThisNormally
posted by Etrigan at 6:23 AM on October 15, 2019 [22 favorites]
Reminder that one nice thing about Mastodon, is that this is a built in feature. Along with content warnings and spoiler boxes to block/black out images and/or text. It's something I wish was adopted by all social media spaces.
But good to know tweet deck has this feature. I wasn't aware. Mind you I've been mostly off of twitter, but still good to know it exists.
posted by Fizz at 6:55 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
But good to know tweet deck has this feature. I wasn't aware. Mind you I've been mostly off of twitter, but still good to know it exists.
posted by Fizz at 6:55 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
[Screenshot of a bunch of dumb text that should really be a link]
posted by aubilenon at 8:25 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by aubilenon at 8:25 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
today I just discovered that Tweetdeck/Tweetduck has this ability as well. I never knew!
Twitter was incredibly slow to roll this out on their platform which was aggravating to people who, say, could add alt text images when using the web interface but not (iirc) Tweetdeck. Or possibly it was the other way around. At one point you had to enable your ability to do it which was likewise a pain. You can now add alt text in Instagram which I find to be pretty worthwhile. The other thing which I think RobotHugs didn't mention is describing animated GIFs if you're replying to someone using only a reaction GIF which doesn't allow alt text. Many people will just add the description as a tweet along with the image. This can, however, sometimes ruin a joke, so sometimes people will make a mini-thread with the description of what is happening in the GIF. If you want a friendly bot to remind you to do this, follow PleaseCaption which can send you notes if you're posting images to Twitter without alt text.
Most content management systems make this pretty simple (I use WordPress and it's easy to add alt text) One notable hold out to alt text is Medium which could easily implement this and doesn't. I've taken to just using the image caption/description section underneath to describe the images I've included. I have a newsletter that I sent out via TinyLetter (easy to use at text for everything) and copy over to Medium and I let people know that one version isn't as accessible as the other.
That said, I run MLTSHP and we don't have alt text functionality on our image sharing site and it's one of the bigger things on our todo list right now and I'm flat out embarrassed we didn't build it in originally.
posted by jessamyn at 8:27 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Twitter was incredibly slow to roll this out on their platform which was aggravating to people who, say, could add alt text images when using the web interface but not (iirc) Tweetdeck. Or possibly it was the other way around. At one point you had to enable your ability to do it which was likewise a pain. You can now add alt text in Instagram which I find to be pretty worthwhile. The other thing which I think RobotHugs didn't mention is describing animated GIFs if you're replying to someone using only a reaction GIF which doesn't allow alt text. Many people will just add the description as a tweet along with the image. This can, however, sometimes ruin a joke, so sometimes people will make a mini-thread with the description of what is happening in the GIF. If you want a friendly bot to remind you to do this, follow PleaseCaption which can send you notes if you're posting images to Twitter without alt text.
Most content management systems make this pretty simple (I use WordPress and it's easy to add alt text) One notable hold out to alt text is Medium which could easily implement this and doesn't. I've taken to just using the image caption/description section underneath to describe the images I've included. I have a newsletter that I sent out via TinyLetter (easy to use at text for everything) and copy over to Medium and I let people know that one version isn't as accessible as the other.
That said, I run MLTSHP and we don't have alt text functionality on our image sharing site and it's one of the bigger things on our todo list right now and I'm flat out embarrassed we didn't build it in originally.
posted by jessamyn at 8:27 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sounds like the PleaseCaption bot on Twitter isn't working anymore 😞
posted by exogenous at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by exogenous at 11:07 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
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