Draft:Captions
 A lot of info might still be missing and the page might change at any time. |
A media caption, also known as AltText or simply alt, is a textual representation of the content of a media file attached to a Fediverse post. Most Fediverse software has a caption feature, so you don't have to describe the media in the post body, but in a separate text field. The text can then be read out loud by screen readers, instead of just noting, that there is a media file, and it can be seen when hovering over the file.
Why is this important?
When to write a media caption?
How to use the caption feature?
Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams), Forte
On Friendica and Hubzilla, adding alt-text to images requires editing the image-embedding code in the post; on (streams) and Forte, this may be necessary as well. See the guides here.
How to describe the media?
#Alt4Me and #Alt4You for more inclusivity
If, for whichever reason, you cannot describe your images yourself, you can ask the community for help. Just add the hashtag #Alt4Me and/or #AltText4Me to your post.
Similarly, if you discover a post with undescribed images, you can reply with #Alt4Me and/or #AltText4Me. If the post is hidden behind a content warning, but you can still see the image(s), make sure that there isn't an image description in the post.
If you have provided an image description for someone else's undescribed image(s), it is a good advice to tag your post #Alt4You, #Alt4U, #AltText4You or #AltText4U.