This article was published on January 4, 2018

Twitter lets you describe your pics for the visually impaired


Twitter lets you describe your pics for the visually impaired

Did you know Twitter has an option that lets you add a description to pictures, to help the visually-impaired? Well, now you do.

The accessibility option has been there for some time, but it’s nevertheless an important one. And, as Twitter user Rob Long pointed out, it’s easy to use.

This post points to an option in the accessibility menu, called “Compose image descriptions,” which allows you to “describe images for the visually impaired.” The option links to a Twitter support article which details how the image descriptions help and how they can best be implemented.

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When you upload an image to Twitter via iOS or Android, you have the option to add a short description to the pictures. When you do so, users who have voiceover turned on can hear the description read out along with the tweet.

Images aren’t as big a part of Twitter as they are of Instagram, for example, but they do play a large part of some posts and can provide crucial context that visually impaired users might miss. For example, this tweet doesn’t make sense unless you know the image is of my dog looking at me expectantly:

Putting an appropriate description on this pic took me five extra seconds — in other words, I spent more time cropping my half-empty plate of Chinese takeaway out of this photo than I did adding a helpful caption to it.

h/t Rob Long

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