It's crazy how, with all the #AI hype, no one has yet developed a system that generates good #AltText for images. Seems like one of the few things AI could be good at and actually improve the world for once.

#AltText A grey and white cat paws out in front eyes closed performing the lesser known yoga pose, downward cat. Sat on a red and white rug, eyes closed. Enlightenment achieved.

@evelynefoerster and I were on #Vacation on to a very special occasion to #Austria 🇦🇹 two weeks ago. We enjoyed it very much and had a really great time. 👍🤣

Here are some impressions of the #Landscape. Hope you like them. 🤣

I’ll make this a 🧵 due to the 4-image limit. Also, please excuse the fact that images in this thread do not contain a useful #AltText this time. I can’t comment individually an all images in the thread.

🧵: 1

#LandscapePhotograpy #Photography

Well that was fun & satisfying. So it compares very well with the figure of 70% (conservatively I'd anticipated 65%) of autistic people have an astigmatism (or the other term). Throughout the poll it fluctuated around that number. It was reassuring to confirm I hadn't been exaggerating statistics.

Still this simple bit of data might help alleviate your imposter syndrome (I hope it does) or convince a skeptical "professional" that you are in fact autistic. The statistic is used in a standard university textbook. It's simply that they either didn't read it, acknowledge it or remember it.

During the poll I spoke with an autistic friend & healthcare worker if they had one. An unequivocal yes. Spoke with an autistic geneticist & asked them to estimate they said 0.7 or 70% without any knowledge of this correlation. Simply because they know the prevalence of genetic conditions in autistics.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I'll delete the poll now for maximum anonymity but hope to build on this further.

#AltText #AskingAutistics I want to test a percentage accuracy of a statistic I learned. If you are officially diagnosed or self-diagnosed as autistic do you have or have you had & later corrected an astigmatism? This may be minor but a slight deviation in the direction of one eye. Poll results will be posted. Anonymity assured as best as possible. Will delete poll after. First fedi poll. Nervous. #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #Science

An intro to astigmatisms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astigmatism?wprov=sfla1

I feel like it's even worse, in a way, when someone includes #altText but merely describes an image rather than conveying its contents.

The main purpose of alt text is to convey the same information as a picture to people who can't see the picture well enough.

I've just seen an ad for research participants with alt text reading something like 'an ad for research participants'. It was an image containing quite a bit of text, but probably not too much to fit in an alt text box. No link was given.

I'm not someone who absolutely needs alt text. Am I wrong to find this more annoying than no alt text at all?

Thanks, #accessibility folks!

@kathhayhoe I can't quite read this. I wonder if you could add alt text?

Thank you!

#altText #accessibility

@emmeline Du kannst den #AltText nachträglich ändern. Du musst einfach Deinen Toot editieren (siehe Bild). Dann klicke auf die drei Punkte und drücke auf “Edit” oder “Delete & Redraft”. Danach kannst Du sowohl den Text, als auch die Bilder anpassen, und zwar inkl. Beschreibung.

Sonst poste solche Fragen gerne mit dem Tag #NeuHier. Irgend jemand erklärt das dann sicher. 👍

@OutOnTheMoors Níor cheart go mbeadh cead ach ag daoine a úsáideann #AltText taitneamh a bhaint as an magadh seo. #MastoDaoine

@Lost_World photo of woman sitting at the base of the great pyramid, which is made of rectangular stone blocks, very weathered and rough. the top of the first row of blocks is just above her (seated) head. the rows of blocks proceed upwards, uncountably high, seemingly to infinity
#AltText

@evelynefoerster In general: https://fedi.tips

But to answer your specific question, see:

https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-make-posts-more-accessible-to-blind-people-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/

Also: follow @feditips

#Fediverse #FediTips #CamelCase #AltText

Hope this helps. 🤣

Thinking of a podcast on Autistic Time...

It started as a comment on the Muskrat site. But folks started writing me anbout it. So I thought...

Why not?

Possible illustration. Bob Pepper of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" inspiration. There's detail about the image in the #AltText.

Here's the nugget of the thread that started the convo...👇👇👇

I'm autistic...

I don't measure time by the clock...

Or the distance between events...

I seem to measure time by the quality of my experience...

Nothing more.

And when I re-experience something ... time collapses. As if there were no time between similar experiences.

When I see a friend after years?

No time has passed. Joy just flows.

When I'm bored? Time stops flowing. Maybe even reverses. It's hell...

@actuallyautistic @actuallyadhd
#ActuallyAutistic #AutisticAcceptanceMonth #Neurodiversity #AutisticAdults

@derPUPE

This is amazing.

I'm going to try to elaborate on your #AltText a bit.

A gif of someone pouring hot liquid into two mugs.

The mug on the left shows Uhura, Spock, Kirk and the Doctor from original series Star Trek, standing on the transporter pad. As the mug heats up, the four crew members start to disappear from the bottom up, as if they're being transported.

The mug on the right initially shows four large dark shapes against a red sky. As the mug warms up, the dark shapes slowly change into the same four characters, as if they're being transported to this planet (which has large rocks and apparently a breathable atmosphere).

@dgar I really like your examples. My approach to #AltText is the same. Different details are relevant for different purposes.

The thing that frustrates me the most is when someone's alt text is missing an element that's key to understanding the joke.

I think I'm learning the unspoken rules of #mastodon

1. Boost anything, nobody gives a toot.

2. Toot a meme minus #AltText Dream on!

3. Toot a good meme with #AltText maybe three ⭐

4. Give a helpful, or funny reply. You'll get traction.

5. Mention #StarTrek you're moving on up.

6. Toot a photo to #CatsOfMastodon YOU WIN!

So with that knowledge here's a photo of Harry who loiters outside the supermarket.

He Catptured ™© me much to the bemusement of people passing & my utter delight.

@GrimmReality Wish this had #AltText boosted anyway as it's too good 👍

@nothe @hollie These are really lovely & perhaps more than any other image are deserving of #AltText because I imagine they are visual art that the visually impaired could enjoy. A braille for art in a way.

@ravensrod Totally agree but word of advice. Here on mastodon your memes will get very little traction without #AltText

(#AltText is a way to make your toots more inclusive.

When you post an image or a gif, you can click Edit and then add a description of what it is you see. I aim to include everything that is necessary for a person who can't see the image or gif to understand what it is and why I'm posting it.

There are tools to help you remember to add alt text, like @PleaseCaption, and I think there's a "remind me" setting somewhere in preferences too.

If you have trouble writing alt text yourself, you can ask for help with the #AltText4Me hashtag.

(If I've done unsolicited alt text on your toot, it is because I want more people to enjoy it.))

When you do your #AltText and there's a series of images in unnumbered rows and columns, what order do you describe the images in?

@selzero image description: men and women in old-timey dress, walking around on a lake with brown balloons aloft, tied to strings that are helping them float on their feet and keep their balance. in the middle, one man is on a paddle-wheel unicycle #AltText