Only 21-22% of images posted to Bluesky include alt text, which make images accessible to blind people and people with low vision! Please help get this percentage up. If you have any questions about what alt text should include, ask them! I will always help!
Here's a bit of a a big one going back over the past 6 months of alt-text usage on the network.
Pre-launch we were floating around 24-25%, then on launch day we dropped down to 10% (lowest I've seen)
We bounced back after that and have slowly got back to 21-22% alt-text usage.
A good way to make sure you don't forget is to turn on the setting that will stop you from posting an image if you didn't include alt text. That setting saves my ass so freaking often, I swear.
It's under Settings->Accessibility, "require alt text before posting". You might have to set it once for every device you use Bluesky on. Once you set it, the site won't let you post anything with an image unless it's got alt text. Saves my ADHD ass so damn often.
I am frequently frustrated by that setting forcing me to put in alt text, which is a good thing, because it makes me consider how much more frustrating it must be to be excluded because some asshole didn't put in alt text
Yes! A lot of my "ugh, effort, but I *guess* I'll do it anyway" mild irritation went away when I realized how much it's leveled up my skills at conveying meaning, content, *and* vibe. I love alt texting my cat pics because it's genuinely *fun* now.
I think this is a per-device setting rather than an account setting, so I believe it's stored in a cookie or local storage so if that gets wiped I think the alt text setting gets reset?
I'm really curious what would happen if that setting was on by default. Would alt text utilization go up? Would the number of pictures posted go down? Would utilization of the site go down and complaints go up?
It'd be an interesting A/B experiment.
How detailed should I be with my alt text? For example, if I'm posting a picture of a book, is it enough to include the name of the book and the author, or should I describe what the cover looks like? The design and colors? Whether it's a hardcover or paperback?
The principle I use is, "if I were on the phone with someone while scrolling my timeline and I made a noise in reaction to the image, and my friend asked what I was looking at, how would I describe the image to them?" So, like, it's super contextual with how you're presenting it.
A while back I wrote a guide to contextual alt text that may help: denise.dreamwidth.org/71796.html So, like, if the point of including the book cover is "here is the book I'm talking about", author and title is just fine!
If you're an author posting a cover reveal and the context is "oh my god look at this amazing cover, it's so perfect!" you'd want to get into the details like layout, color, prominent features, maybe even typeface, etc.
If you're discussing how badly the cover suits the book, maybe get into some examples of why, like "the art style is cartoony and the colors are pastel, but this is a book about terrorism" or whatever. The important part is conveying the details that are why you used this specific image.
Make sure alt-text actually describes the image, don't just put junk stuff in there to be funny.
Though, alt-text can be both funny and informative (sorry for Twitter link, but USCPS isn't here yet) x.com/USCPSC/statu...
To POST ALT Text - upload your image, then CLICK it - a space appears and you type your text there. Simple. Set it up as a default in your Setting, that way you never have to think about it:
settings > accessibility > require alt-text for images
Are there any video clips showing someone using a reader? Impress on folks that it makes a difference to someone and how it does. Just spitballing any prongs of attack, get that # up.
I really try to always include an alt text. But I always wonder, does anyone see/read it? Is it helpful? Maybe for someone that had vision before but if someone never had vision is the post not enough then?
I really would like some feedback on my alt text to improve if possible.
Like @ygalanter.bsky.social I read alt text almost all the time -- it can help me with context and also often calls my attention to details of the image I didn't notice on a quick glance!
It's hard for me to give you feedback on your alt text because it's annoying to try to translate it on my phone (which reminds me to make a suggestion to Bluesky about that), but I will try to remember to take a look when I'm on my laptop and copying/pasting is easier!
alt-text doesn't only help people with visual impairments. Sometimes an image is posted - and I have no clue what it is - it could be something from an obscure fandom, or a movie I didn't see. Having alt-text in those really helps.
Also there a cases where images won't load (you're on a very slow network, Bluesky is glitching etc.) Image won't load, but alt-text always will, so posts with alt text remain useful.
same! it’s also really helpful for adding context (like the identity of someone pictured in a meme… i don’t recognize every single person who ever lived, you know?)
I like it! Sometimes there’s a meme or inside joke that I don’t get that’s illuminated by the alt text. Sometimes I can’t quite tell what an image is and it’s helpful then. Sometimes I see a picture without them that I don’t fully understand and I think “dang, wish they had added an alt text.”
I mentally reframed it as an exercise in practicing good writing, and feel like that helped me get over the sometimes-annoyance of the setting _and_ actually improve my extemporaneous descriptions.
I wish my phone would add my alt text back to image metadata but that breaks the sandbox so ok.
ALT TEXT is a great idea BUT - when you read a post, you have no idea if it's present and have to click in hope...
It could really help if the UI had an indicator to show when it's there. That's perhaps useless for unsighted readers - but it might encourage take-up ?
