Why YSK: If you want to make Lemmy a more accessible place for all, you need to know how to add labels (aka: “alt text”) to embedded images
As many of you are already aware, you can embed images in comments using the following markdown: .
That works, but the image will be left unlabeled which leaves screenreader users out of the conversation. This may seem like a theoretical problem, but it’s not – Lemmy already has an active blind community: https://rblind.com/
So, here’s what you can do to add labels when embedding images:
That’s it! Any text within the [] becomes “alt text”, which is what screenreaders use for describing images. It’s a small thing, but it makes a world of difference.
Remember: Reddit took something from many of us here. For some, it was a mobile app. For others, it was the ability to operate their own communities. Comment with solidarity; use alt-text.
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Someone called me out on this yesterday. On a thread about rblind, so deservedly so. I had no idea this is how it works though. Thanks!
That was me, and my bad. As a blind person myself, I’ve never tried to post an image. I knew including alt text was possible, but I didn’t realize the method was undocumented, and Lemmy doesn’t prompt for it. If I had, I would have offered help, not just snark.
No worries! I never really considered blind people browsing apps, I only became aware of the technical details since the API changes at reddit, so it’s still far from a reflex to think about.
Thanks for pointing it out though.
Follow up: did I do it correctly here?
Lemmy should do it similar to how I have seen this done on Mastodon. When you upload an image an overlay shows up to remind the user to describe the image before submitting. The typical user is not going to remember to do this.
An excellent suggestion! I hope you don’t mind, but I went ahead and created a feature request for this just now: lemmy-ui#1759
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This message is officially approved by RBlind. Thank you.
You are all making the open web a better place.
This is wonderful advice, it should be in all introduction material.
Hmmm seems like the text doesn’t show up on Jerboa
The text isn’t supposed to show up. It’s alternative text for viewers that can’t see the image (or otherwise need it described).
In web browsers, you often can long press the see alt or title text, though. As an aside, title text is kinda similar to alt text, but shows up on hover in desktop (on mobile, it’s also long press). It’s not meant for accessibility and not usually friendly for it. It’s usually for supplementary information and not to describe the image. Eg, an acronym might have title text that defines what the acronym stands for.
Is there a way to embed the actual image itself and not have to rely on a third party like Imgur?
You can click the little image button when commenting or posting, but it uploads it to the instance you’re on, which costs them space, so it’s probably limited in most instances
