I've just seen someone post an image of a piece of text. The alt text for this was a transcript of the text in the image. I'm sure the person meant well, but they've just made unnecessary work for themselves.

@seanddotmedotuk It is a lot of work but a visually-impaired person won't be able to read the text in an image.

@BeebsyMcA Why not just post the text in the first place. Why is an image needed?

@seanddotmedotuk I get that but I suppose the image is evidence of a source.

@BeebsyMcA I'm not convinced. Is still nice that accessibility was considered important though.

@seanddotmedotuk Yeah I know. I think it's tricky but we're probably not the best judges.

@BeebsyMcA @seanddotmedotuk I think it’s only a (small) issue if you (as a sewing person) see the alt text. Personally I prefer not to see it by default.

Unfortunately, people are increasingly abusing alt text to add extra commentary. Some folks think that hiding a bit of an extra joke in there is what it was made for. Some people are trying to explain the image, rather than describe it. This is the most egregious thing, IMO.

@BeebsyMcA @seanddotmedotuk Should have been “seeing person”, not “sewing person”!

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