Caroline Desrosiers

Founder & CEO of Scribely, a content accessibility solutions company specializing in alt text, captions, and audio description.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

And lastly, when you're describing emotion, it often feels subjective and like it doesn't belong in alt text. In this case, it's helpful to use words like "seems like" or "appears to be" to call out that you're making an interpretation.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

For GIFs, it's helpful to use action words that convey movement. Stay present and describe the motion like it's happening right in front of you. When in doubt, work in as many gerunds as you can. Gerunds = verbs that end in "ing" like splashing, leaping, reaching.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

Invite users to imagine being a part of the image. This is esepcially helpful when you're trying to convey the size or scale or something, or when there's a subject of an image and something is happening around them.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

Appeal to senses beyond sight. Depending on the image, sometimes it's almost like you can touch, smell, or hear it. Picture a macro shot of raindrops or an extremely fluffy puppy. Choose words that convey those tactile visual messages.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A6 I love this question and have a ton of recs I can drop in this thread. Images are part of the story and do have an emotional impact. There are lots of writing techniques that can be helpful to keep in your back pocket for this... #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@NeilMilliken It's cool that the alt text automatically pops up when an image is added. This is a good model for others to add / moderate alt text in the moment when the image is posted.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A4 A lot of social media platforms like IG and FB are using AI descriptions when users leave alt text empty, either inadvertently or for all reasons discussed. Again, it would be helpful for platforms to make it easy for users to review the AI alt text before posting. #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A5 This is critical for inclusion and helps takes the guesswork out of alt text. I encourage organizations to develop an alt text style guide directly informed by AT user feedback. And this feedback should be collected early on in the development process. #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@AkwyZ Agree. Total fail. Alt text should never be hidden or a few clicks away. People posting on social media are moving fast and the process for alt text should be aligned with their process.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A4 We need more support for users who manage posts outside of social media platforms (via DAMs or schedulers). Instagram still hasn't established API integrations for alt text with social media schedulers. This means manual workarounds on IG for alt text. #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A4 We need social media platforms to establish more API integrations with image source providers like @GIPHY who have alt text and can pass it when GIFs are shared from their platform. How is this not a thing yet? #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@AkwyZ @Adobe This is a great idea for @Adobe accessibility team. The alt text dots are connected within Adobe programs, but what about outside these programs? Use IPTC metadata or establish an integration with platform partners.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@AkwyZ AI could help us get started, but we need humans to moderate and make sure alt text is accurate and helpful. Assistive technology users use alt text to understand visual content. It should measure up to the same level of quality as all the other content on a webpage #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A3 And... when GenAI tools make a mistake about what's in an image, they will still attempt to interpret the results and describe it. We don't have a good sense of the level of confidence. An incorrect description sounds exactly the same as a correct description. #AXSChat#

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A3 AI may be getting better at "seeing" images but the describing part is still a challenge. Using AI doesn't change the accessibility requirement for alt text. We still need content publishers to provide an equivalent text alternative to the image. #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@DestekSolutions Using systems that don't save your work makes the work feel impossible! It's no wonder we still have so much missing alt text on the web.

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@AkwyZ BUT... we definitely need popular content authoring platforms and tools supporting this. If you add an image to @Microsoft Word and @Google Docs it will not import the embedded alt text. #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

@AkwyZ There are also a ton of DAMs supporting the accessibility properties. Shout out @BrandFolder, @MediaBeacon, @MediaValet. We need more DAMs and CMS providers supporting these properties to help their users manage alt text #AXSChat

[Caroline Desrosiers @cdayrose]

A2 Luckly, there's a solution. We now have @IPTC's photo metadata property, Alt Text (Accessibility). This means we can embed alt text in image files so it travels with the image between systems. Original press release: https://t.co/k1h4btPycJ #AXSChat#