Mastodon users, new and old:
You can add a caption, or alt-text, to images you toot!
These captions make your toots more accessible, by giving people who can't see the image a description of what's in the image.
Just hover over the image over you attach it and type a description in the spot that says "Describe for the visually impaired" before you hit the TOOT! button.
Please also encourage Mastodon app authors to add caption functionality. And please boost. Thanks!
@zigg Absolutely behind you on this when it comes to photos, but what do you think about artworks? Does it really make sense to describe drawings and paintings, which really only exist to be seen?
Can a visually impaired person enjoy a written description of a painting or is it a vain effort?
@acrazymind I am not an expert on this topic by any means, but I would suggest a simple description (e.g. "a drawing of X") that would serve to remove doubt in the reader's mind that they are missing anything that they could appreciate.
I think that would be okay, though I would welcome the advice of someone with more experience here 🙂
@acrazymind If they’re people I interact with, I’m not aware of them.
I did once work with a legally-blind man who used a screenreader to work extensively with Unix. The technology has improved considerably since then, I know.
@zigg Clarifying what it is is a good point, thanks.
Are you aware of any visually impaired users on here?