Twitter is working on a new accessibility feature that will help users to better understand the content in an image. The feature will use the alt text descriptions that are provided by users while sharing an image on the platform. The move was announced by the Twitter Accessibility team in an official post. “We’ve gotten a lot of feedback about how to improve the image description (or alt text) experience on Twitter. Today, we’re launching 2 features to 3% of Twitter across Android, iOS, and Web: the public ALT badge and exposed image descriptions.” the post read.
“If you have access to these features, a black rectangle with the white letters A L T, spelling ALT, will appear on images with an image description. This is also called alternative or alt text.” the Twitter thread read further. With the new feature users will be able to see an option at the bottom right corner of the screen. By tapping on it, users will be able to see the image description. Adding image descriptions allows people who are blind, have low vision, use assistive tech, live in low-bandwidth areas, or have a cognitive disability, to contribute on Twitter.
How to add alt text or image description on Twitter
“If you have access to these features, a black rectangle with the white letters A L T, spelling ALT, will appear on images with an image description. This is also called alternative or alt text.” the Twitter thread read further. With the new feature users will be able to see an option at the bottom right corner of the screen. By tapping on it, users will be able to see the image description. Adding image descriptions allows people who are blind, have low vision, use assistive tech, live in low-bandwidth areas, or have a cognitive disability, to contribute on Twitter.
How to add alt text or image description on Twitter
- On the Twitter app, select the image that you want to share.
- After selecting the image, tap on +ALT icon at the bottom right corner of the image.
- Type your image description. It is worth noting that image descriptions can be up to 1000 characters long.
- Tap on Done at the top right corner of the screen.
- Share the tweet whenever you are ready.
Twitter is also reportedly working on a ‘leave this conversation’ button. As the name suggests, the button will allow you to leave a Twitter thread. For those who do not know, a Twitter thread is a chain of conversations that begins when someone replies to a Tweet.
