I boost art (as long as it has image descriptions)!

[artemis@dice.camp]

It IS okay to ask for help with image descriptions! That's what the Alt4Me hashtag is for! There are people out there who are happy to help make Fedi accessible for all people, so if this is hard for you, please ask for help.

[artemis@dice.camp]

And please remember, if you didn't provide an image description & someone replies to your post with one of their own, they are not attacking you & they are not trying to show you up or make you look bad (or at least they shouldn't be).

When someone offers you an image description for something you post, they are saying that they see value in what you posted & want more people to be able to interact with it.

So don't take offense—it's a good thing!

[humanadverb@dice.camp]

@artemis You did free labor to help what I said reach more people?

How very dare you.

[staringatclouds@mstdn.social]

@artemis I post alt text a lot, I really hope I haven't upset any people doing it

[artemis@dice.camp]

@staringatclouds
Fortunately most people don't take offense, & it is really helpful for an accessible Fedi!

[staringatclouds@mstdn.social]

@artemis Well no one's ever shouted at me for it but mutes & blocks are invisible

[melioristicmarie@tech.lgbt]

@staringatclouds
i also toot alt text if it's something i want to boost. 💜 sometimes people add it or something of their own, and then i boost.
@artemis

[diondokter@fosstodon.org]

@artemis Social media should show counters for how many times the alt text was looked at.

I try to add it to all/most of the images I post. But it has 0 visible payoff for me.

Am I writing it for it to disappear into the aether with no mortal eye ever having seen it? Or is it actually useful?

I know the answers are no and yes respectively, but it doesn't feel like it.

[silvermoon82@wandering.shop]

@diondokter @artemis
There are more blind/low vision people on fedi than corporate social media, in my experience, not to mention all the other people who use alt text for whatever reason.
If you're posting it, there's a really good shot it's being seen and appreciated by someone. I know I always appreciate it when I see it.

[cstamp@mastodon.social]

@artemis So far, folk have been great when I reply with alt text. They usually thank me and add it in. :)

[ulan_ka@social.tchncs.de]

@CStamp @artemis Also my experience, with *very * rare exceptions. (Where I generally decided to mute. I see no reason to get huffy at anyone who is of a differing opinion about alt texts.)

[rantingcanuck@mstdn.ca]

@staringatclouds @artemis

As someone with ADHD I sometimes start something online, get distracted, and then when I comeback to it forget to add the alt text... so I would never take offence when someone adds an alt text, in fact I appreciate it

[diondokter@fosstodon.org]

@silvermoon82 @artemis maybe! Probably!

I did ask 2 years ago: https://fosstodon.org/@diondokter/109947325125137824

Not a really satisfying answer...

[diondokter@fosstodon.org]

@silvermoon82 @artemis oh lol, I had the counter idea then too haha

https://fosstodon.org/@diondokter/109947360077147723

[afewbugs@social.coop]

@RantingCanuck @staringatclouds @artemis thanks for sharing that. I do sometimes boost without alt text and add my own, most people either ignore it or thank me but I have had one person be a bit shirty so it's good to hear it's appreciated!

[gumnos@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@artemis I wish this were more broadly known—if I notice missing alt-text (or rubbish/generic/AI-generated alt-text) on something I want to share, I'll provide better alt-text first as a follow-up comment.

I wish there was a better way to do this in a clear "I'm trying to be helpful, not attack what you posted" way. 😞

[gumnos@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@diondokter @artemis

Part of it (for me) is the satisfaction of just doing it correctly. So that means that even when I'm sending an image via DMs to someone who I know is sighted, I still include alt-text on the image. Maybe they don't get my humor or what I was trying to draw attention to and the alt-text helps them. Maybe there's a network glitch and the image doesn't actually load. So it feels a bit weird in those cases, but I still do it :)

[bojanlandekic@mastodon.social]

@artemis This also applies to spelling and grammar. :)

[bojanlandekic@mastodon.social]

@gumnos @artemis There should be a "edit alt text upon a boost" option in mastodon. How do we get it made? For example, if a photographer shares a photo of a blue jay bird without alt text and I want to boost it, I should be able to add/edit the alt text for my boost's included picture.