People who need or use Image Descriptions (ID), where is the best place to put them?
ID in Alt Text
ID on post beneath image
ID both in Alt Text and on post beneath image
Secret fourth answer that I will put in the tags
I’m able bodied but curious (and will quietly reblog 👀)
See ResultsPeople in this demographic, please let me know how to tag to get a hold of you as someone who doesn’t need Image Descriptions!!
Alt text! ALWAYS alt text, because in the HTML page structure, it’s PART of the image element’s attributes.
If it’s not, it gets separated and, particularly with the way modern content management systems render text (often as weird separate chunks), can’t be easily found.
Putting “image id” text in front of a description is NOT standard accessibility practice. Using ALT text is supported by all browsers and screen reader software.
DO NOT duplicate alt text and visible text, because then a visually impaired user has to listen to it twice.
If you need visible captions paired with images, use the HTML figure and figcaption elements - you can use different alt text there to add information a visually impaired user needs, and the figcaption to explain the meaning for all audiences.
Also, learn to write helpful image descriptions! And generally, only write alt text for images that are informative, not decorative.
XKit Rewritten (available on firefox and chrome) has a setting to display alt text under images, so if you need or want to see the description, this makes it automatic.
Once you install the extension, open its menu, find and enable AccessKit, then click on it to open the list of accessibility settings. “Move alt text to captions below images” is the setting you’re looking for.