cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45437770

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Fediverse ALT issue.

Some people are annoyed by posts without Alttext, & others get reminded¹ to add it.

The core question is: How can we improve accessibility?

Proposal: ☑️ Add a user filter to hide media posts without AltTag ☑️ Reduced engagement on hidden posts would encourage adding Alt text ☑️ People who need accessibility wouldn’t have to encounter unlabeled media

If this gets traction, I’ll open a Mastodon GitHub issue (maybe on others too?).

¹ https://mastodon.social/@madeindex/113996311493021102

  • Cris_Citrus@piefed.zipEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    While I understand the potential value of that, it is worth also acknowledging that ai will never understand the human, social, contextual meaning of things its providing alt text for, and theres a fair argument to be made that folks with disabilities deserve those things

    Id welcome perspectives from folks with relevant disabilities who use or depend on alt text :)

      • Cris_Citrus@piefed.zipEnglish
        1·
        15 hours ago

        Yep, which is why I acknowledge that thats not my ingroup and while I think we should be considerate of potential issues with ai as a accessibility solution, its important to listen to people who actually depend on things like alt text. I’ve heard from people who are frustrated that ai gets treated as a standin for other humans caring about accessibility and find it unable to fill their needs, and I’m sure there are also people who find it really helpful. I couldn’t claim to know what perspective is more common among folks with visual disabilities 🤷🏻‍♂️

        But I do think its worth considering and not just saying “ai solves this problem, let’s just give visually impaired people ai descriptions” without trying to discuss what that means for people and listen to folks on whether thats what’s needed or wanted