Maybe someone can answer me this accessibility question, especially blind or visually-impaired users as well as Mastodon’s alt-text police, just be safe:

When I mention in an image description that a 3-D avatar is wearing a herringbone-patterned tweed jacket and full brogue shoes, do I have to describe in detail what the herringbone fabric pattern and full brogue shoes look like, in general and/or specifically in this case?

I mean, I will mention the colours of these jackets and shoes, I will mention the size of the herringbone pattern, and I will mention that at least the herringbone pattern does not come with any actual surface structure.

But do I have to explain and describe what a herringbone pattern is? And do I have to give a detailed description of the shape and the structure of the toe cap that defines a full brogue shoe in general and these particular full brogue shoes in particular? And if I do so, do I have to also explain the relevant parts of a shoe (main body, toe cap, lace panels, heel cap)?

Or don’t I have to describe all this because nobody will need to know it anyway? Because it’s commonly known? Because it doesn’t matter? Or because absolutely nobody actually cares? Can I actually get away with name-dropping “herringbone pattern” and “full brogue shoes”?

(For the record: Such detail descriptions will probably not go into the alt-text. They will rather go into a long image description in the post itself where I don’t have any character limits to worry about.)

@accessibility group @a11y group

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Blind #VisuallyImpaired #Inclusion #A11y #Accessibility

  • scope filter@a11y.social
    0·
    24 days ago

    @jupiter_rowland Mastodon has probably given a large space for alt text for people with artwork or complex graphics, it doesn’t mean it’s a blanket rule that should be applied constantly. I think you should consider the needs of users who need alt text before the preference of any social media platform for SEO or other reasons. If the image can be described in a sentence or two, great. But if it’s a complex image or an image of text you need more words to describe it adequately.