#ableist — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ableist, aggregated by home.social.
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Oh great, @loopearplugs just did a paid sponsorship with #Kaelynn Partlow after all the problematic stuff she has said. Nobody asked for an #accessibility tool company to fund a literal #ableist, especially one that attacked both accessibility pins and communication boards.
#Autistic #Neurodivergent -
@DopeGhoti @Andrew How many characters would be sufficient for Mastodon to not count as ableist anymore?
If you say, 1,500, who or what says that 1,500 characters are sufficient to describe any and all images, but a lower limit is not?
For comparison, look at my cover photo. The one with the weird building. I have a post with just about the same image in it; here's the link.
In this post, the image has two separate image descriptions. One is in the alt-text. The alt-text is exactly 1,500 characters long, a bit over 1,400 of which are image description. And that's the short description. It doesn't even have room for any text transcripts. It actually isn't much more than an "alibi description". It's only there because many people on Mastodon demand there be a 100% accurate and sufficiently detailed image description in the alt-text of each image in the Fediverse.
Only that "sufficiently detailed" isn't always possible even in 1,500 characters.
That's why there is an additional long description in the post text. It's sufficiently detailed, as in, fully detailed. An image like this requires a fully detailed description. It comes with transcripts of all bits of text within the borders of the image, and it comes with all explanations necessary to understand the image and the description. It's over 60,000 characters long.
Yes, over 60,000 characters in one post. Your character limit is 500. Mine is over 16 million.
Oh, and yes, it's guaranteed to be 100% hand-written. It took me two full days, morning to evening, to research for and write the long description with literally absolutely no help from any AI whatsoever. In fact, I've described details that no AI on the planet will ever be able to see in the image.
So ideally, all Fediverse server platforms should have two image description fields for each profile image, one being the alt-text behind the image, one being a long description next to the image. The latter should not have an arbitrarily-chosen character limit.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #CharacterLimit #CharacterLimits #CharacterLimitMeta #CWCharacterLimitMeta #500Characters #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta -
@DopeGhoti @Andrew How many characters would be sufficient for Mastodon to not count as ableist anymore?
If you say, 1,500, who or what says that 1,500 characters are sufficient to describe any and all images, but a lower limit is not?
For comparison, look at my cover photo. The one with the weird building. I have a post with just about the same image in it; here's the link.
In this post, the image has two separate image descriptions. One is in the alt-text. The alt-text is exactly 1,500 characters long, a bit over 1,400 of which are image description. And that's the short description. It doesn't even have room for any text transcripts. It actually isn't much more than an "alibi description". It's only there because many people on Mastodon demand there be a 100% accurate and sufficiently detailed image description in the alt-text of each image in the Fediverse.
Only that "sufficiently detailed" isn't always possible even in 1,500 characters.
That's why there is an additional long description in the post text. It's sufficiently detailed, as in, fully detailed. An image like this requires a fully detailed description. It comes with transcripts of all bits of text within the borders of the image, and it comes with all explanations necessary to understand the image and the description. It's over 60,000 characters long.
Yes, over 60,000 characters in one post. Your character limit is 500. Mine is over 16 million.
Oh, and yes, it's guaranteed to be 100% hand-written. It took me two full days, morning to evening, to research for and write the long description with literally absolutely no help from any AI whatsoever. In fact, I've described details that no AI on the planet will ever be able to see in the image.
So ideally, all Fediverse server platforms should have two image description fields for each profile image, one being the alt-text behind the image, one being a long description next to the image. The latter should not have an arbitrarily-chosen character limit.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #CharacterLimit #CharacterLimits #CharacterLimitMeta #CWCharacterLimitMeta #500Characters #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta -
I can be quite ruthless with actively removing people I've known, been friendly with for many years - when they eventually reveal that they were half-assed about having strong personal ethics/values/moral codes. I'm not someone who cares WTF you say. I'm someone who cares if WTF you say doesn't align with WTF you choose to do/not do. For me non-action is an active personal choice as much as visible action is a personal choice. I'm not someone who takes anyone's #antiableist words seriously, when they're regularly demonstrating #ableist crap.
Same goes for folks who call themselves #antifascist or #anticapitalist but are regularly engaging in fascist & capitalist boosting personal choices.GTFO with that hypocrisy, with me. It's not tolerated. Not with folks I've known for decades. Certainly not with complete strangers either.
I'm not your shallow, weakass audience for that BS. I'm quite mean towards folks who are hypocrites, like described above. I am not hiding how I treat hypocrites like above described; I've been very public about it. I don't feel bad about being mean to wankerbutternoodles who try to troll me, knowing how public I am with my core values. -
I can be quite ruthless with actively removing people I've known, been friendly with for many years - when they eventually reveal that they were half-assed about having strong personal ethics/values/moral codes. I'm not someone who cares WTF you say. I'm someone who cares if WTF you say doesn't align with WTF you choose to do/not do. For me non-action is an active personal choice as much as visible action is a personal choice. I'm not someone who takes anyone's #antiableist words seriously, when they're regularly demonstrating #ableist crap.
Same goes for folks who call themselves #antifascist or #anticapitalist but are regularly engaging in fascist & capitalist boosting personal choices.GTFO with that hypocrisy, with me. It's not tolerated. Not with folks I've known for decades. Certainly not with complete strangers either.
I'm not your shallow, weakass audience for that BS. I'm quite mean towards folks who are hypocrites, like described above. I am not hiding how I treat hypocrites like above described; I've been very public about it. I don't feel bad about being mean to wankerbutternoodles who try to troll me, knowing how public I am with my core values. -
I can be quite ruthless with actively removing people I've known, been friendly with for many years - when they eventually reveal that they were half-assed about having strong personal ethics/values/moral codes. I'm not someone who cares WTF you say. I'm someone who cares if WTF you say doesn't align with WTF you choose to do/not do. For me non-action is an active personal choice as much as visible action is a personal choice. I'm not someone who takes anyone's #antiableist words seriously, when they're regularly demonstrating #ableist crap.
Same goes for folks who call themselves #antifascist or #anticapitalist but are regularly engaging in fascist & capitalist boosting personal choices.GTFO with that hypocrisy, with me. It's not tolerated. Not with folks I've known for decades. Certainly not with complete strangers either.
I'm not your shallow, weakass audience for that BS. I'm quite mean towards folks who are hypocrites, like described above. I am not hiding how I treat hypocrites like above described; I've been very public about it. I don't feel bad about being mean to wankerbutternoodles who try to troll me, knowing how public I am with my core values. -
I can be quite ruthless with actively removing people I've known, been friendly with for many years - when they eventually reveal that they were half-assed about having strong personal ethics/values/moral codes. I'm not someone who cares WTF you say. I'm someone who cares if WTF you say doesn't align with WTF you choose to do/not do. For me non-action is an active personal choice as much as visible action is a personal choice. I'm not someone who takes anyone's #antiableist words seriously, when they're regularly demonstrating #ableist crap.
Same goes for folks who call themselves #antifascist or #anticapitalist but are regularly engaging in fascist & capitalist boosting personal choices.GTFO with that hypocrisy, with me. It's not tolerated. Not with folks I've known for decades. Certainly not with complete strangers either.
I'm not your shallow, weakass audience for that BS. I'm quite mean towards folks who are hypocrites, like described above. I am not hiding how I treat hypocrites like above described; I've been very public about it. I don't feel bad about being mean to wankerbutternoodles who try to troll me, knowing how public I am with my core values. -
I can be quite ruthless with actively removing people I've known, been friendly with for many years - when they eventually reveal that they were half-assed about having strong personal ethics/values/moral codes. I'm not someone who cares WTF you say. I'm someone who cares if WTF you say doesn't align with WTF you choose to do/not do. For me non-action is an active personal choice as much as visible action is a personal choice. I'm not someone who takes anyone's #antiableist words seriously, when they're regularly demonstrating #ableist crap.
Same goes for folks who call themselves #antifascist or #anticapitalist but are regularly engaging in fascist & capitalist boosting personal choices.GTFO with that hypocrisy, with me. It's not tolerated. Not with folks I've known for decades. Certainly not with complete strangers either.
I'm not your shallow, weakass audience for that BS. I'm quite mean towards folks who are hypocrites, like described above. I am not hiding how I treat hypocrites like above described; I've been very public about it. I don't feel bad about being mean to wankerbutternoodles who try to troll me, knowing how public I am with my core values. -
It has been a little bit since I posted this PSA, but it needs to be said again.
1) Some ppl's neurodivergence make it impossible for them to alt text.
2) Gatekeeping fedi by refusing to include them is ableist.
"But Dio how do we know they're ND?"
You don't. So treat everyone kindly. Assume good intent. And don't exclude anyone. If alt comes easy for u, offer to help instead of being ableist.
"But there are tools that they can use..."
It is not your place to try to force them to fit in.
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CW: sanism, abelist crap, tired of it
I will personally throw any fucker who thinks personality disorders ain't a mental illness deserving of help into the sun
Getting real tired of people thinking people like me ain't deserving of help or ain't considered people in general bc I have """" SCARY """ mental illnesses.
Also can people STOP using narcissism as a catch all for person I personally don't like? Its getting real fucking old, and people need to understand that it's a rare ass mental illness, and not all NPD's act like that.
I will defend every personality disorder period, as none of them deserve hatred for what they can't control.
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Fuck you, Frank.
Block this turd, if you haven't already:
https://fraxoweb.social/@frankMy acapella singing version is on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/MrO2Vf2rnYk#ableist #misogynist #ShitAssTechBro #Antimasker #CovidDenier #POS #FuckFrank #FAFOFrankyBoy
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Fuck you, Frank.
Block this turd, if you haven't already:
https://fraxoweb.social/@frankMy acapella singing version is on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/MrO2Vf2rnYk#ableist #misogynist #ShitAssTechBro #Antimasker #CovidDenier #POS #FuckFrank #FAFOFrankyBoy
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Fuck you, Frank.
Block this turd, if you haven't already:
https://fraxoweb.social/@frankMy acapella singing version is on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/MrO2Vf2rnYk#ableist #misogynist #ShitAssTechBro #Antimasker #CovidDenier #POS #FuckFrank #FAFOFrankyBoy
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Fuck you, Frank.
Block this turd, if you haven't already:
https://fraxoweb.social/@frankMy acapella singing version is on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/MrO2Vf2rnYk#ableist #misogynist #ShitAssTechBro #Antimasker #CovidDenier #POS #FuckFrank #FAFOFrankyBoy
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Fuck you, Frank.
Block this turd, if you haven't already:
https://fraxoweb.social/@frankMy acapella singing version is on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/MrO2Vf2rnYk#ableist #misogynist #ShitAssTechBro #Antimasker #CovidDenier #POS #FuckFrank #FAFOFrankyBoy
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@stephanie I think it's good to expose these #ableist #techbros & shine bigger lights on their #bigotry.
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Oh, cool, #AltText for userpics and covers!
> 150/150 characters
Edit. Context: https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/03/a-redesign-for-profiles/
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I've yet to see any political party in BC or federally that actually gives a true damn about #PeopleWithDisabilities. They all abandoned us. How every single political party dealt with covid(which never ended) was a big eye-opener. All of them went back to being #ableist again.
Not a single politician exists right now, that I'd feel really good, voting for. How can I? When they're ableists & don't truly care about disabled people like me? Political PR doesn't work on me. Seeing genuine #AntiAbleist actions & #solidarity would convince me & many other disabled folks in BC/Canada, a lot more.
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I've yet to see any political party in BC or federally that actually gives a true damn about #PeopleWithDisabilities. They all abandoned us. How every single political party dealt with covid(which never ended) was a big eye-opener. All of them went back to being #ableist again.
Not a single politician exists right now, that I'd feel really good, voting for. How can I? When they're ableists & don't truly care about disabled people like me? Political PR doesn't work on me. Seeing genuine #AntiAbleist actions & #solidarity would convince me & many other disabled folks in BC/Canada, a lot more.
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I've yet to see any political party in BC or federally that actually gives a true damn about #PeopleWithDisabilities. They all abandoned us. How every single political party dealt with covid(which never ended) was a big eye-opener. All of them went back to being #ableist again.
Not a single politician exists right now, that I'd feel really good, voting for. How can I? When they're ableists & don't truly care about disabled people like me? Political PR doesn't work on me. Seeing genuine #AntiAbleist actions & #solidarity would convince me & many other disabled folks in BC/Canada, a lot more.
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I've yet to see any political party in BC or federally that actually gives a true damn about #PeopleWithDisabilities. They all abandoned us. How every single political party dealt with covid(which never ended) was a big eye-opener. All of them went back to being #ableist again.
Not a single politician exists right now, that I'd feel really good, voting for. How can I? When they're ableists & don't truly care about disabled people like me? Political PR doesn't work on me. Seeing genuine #AntiAbleist actions & #solidarity would convince me & many other disabled folks in BC/Canada, a lot more.
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I've yet to see any political party in BC or federally that actually gives a true damn about #PeopleWithDisabilities. They all abandoned us. How every single political party dealt with covid(which never ended) was a big eye-opener. All of them went back to being #ableist again.
Not a single politician exists right now, that I'd feel really good, voting for. How can I? When they're ableists & don't truly care about disabled people like me? Political PR doesn't work on me. Seeing genuine #AntiAbleist actions & #solidarity would convince me & many other disabled folks in BC/Canada, a lot more.
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I stopped watching the latest #SNL during the sketch where they made fun of #LongCOVID by calling it a "Long Cold".
But later in the show there was a sketch about Tourette Syndrome that was even more #ableist.
"THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Mocking a disability is never acceptable. It would not be tolerated for any other condition, and it should not be tolerated by people with Tourette’s."
https://www.tourettes-action.org.uk/news-831-.html
Those are such cheap shots. And the host was so cute on the night.
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CW: Just describe all your images perfectly, everything else is ableist, including thinking or talking about describing images; CW: long (almost 4,000 characters), Fediverse meta, alt-text meta, image description meta, AI mentioned, alt-text police mentioned, ableism meta
I've learned something about alt-texts and image descriptions in the Fediverse again today: You must never talk about alt-texts and image descriptions. Ever.
Oh, sure you're allowed to give all those unsolicited lectures who don't provide alt-texts. Or alt-texts that don't describe the image. Or alt-texts that don't describe the image accurately. Or alt-texts that don't describe the image enough. Or alt-texts that don't describe the image in the right way. Just prepare to be counter-attacked for being an intrusive, mansplaining reply guy, at least in the latter three cases.
But what you must never do, under any circumstances, is attempt to discuss alt-texts and image descriptions. For that's ableist. Even if actually blind or visually-impaired Fediverse users may disagree. But since when does the Mastodon alt-text police listen to them? Or, in fact, to anyone?
You aren't allowed to ever ask if you're doing it right. For that's ableist, too.
You aren't even allowed to think about how to do it right. For that's ableist, too.
Just do it. Literally everything else is ableist.
Oh, but you absolutely must do it the right way. 100% by hand with no AI help whatsoever, even if you're blind or visually-impaired or autistic and unable to turn images into words. Absolutely accurately, at the right level of detail and in the right style. And you must know right off the bat what the right level of detail and the right style is. Without thinking about it.
Thing is: The Mastodon alt-text police have never agreed upon one standard level of detail, depending on the circumstances, and one standard style. Everyone of them thinks that their preferred way is the one and only gold standard, and everyone of them enforces their preferred way as if it's the one and only gold standard. All with no coordination with anyone else.
So you post an image, and you write an alt-text. Just like you think you're required to do. So far, so good.
Then comes Alice from the Mastodon alt-text police and calls you out as ableist because your image description isn't detailed enough. How dare you mention there's something in the image without describing what it looks like? You're supposed to know that you have to do that!
Okay, so you edit it according to Alice's requirements.
Then comes Bob from the Mastodon alt-text police and calls you out as ableist because your image description is too long and too excessively detailed. You're supposed to know that you have to keep your alt-texts short and succinct and only describe what's important within the context of your post! Fun fact: Your original alt-text would have been too detailed for Bob, too.
Needless to say that Alice and Bob have never talked to each other. However, this is not so much due to the Fediverse-wide, Mastodon-imposed ban on discussing alt-texts and image descriptions. It's because both are on Mastodon and only on Mastodon, and Mastodon with its complete lack of support for enclosed conversations, much less groups, is absolutely horrible for discussions.
The only way to get around this is to never post any images or other media. However, if you mention at some point that you don't post images because you're afraid of uncoordinated Mastodon alt-text police attacks because one or some of them find your image descriptions not up to their personal standards, you'll probably be attacked for allegedly trying to weasel out of your responsibility.
Of course, this also means that my WIP wiki about how to describe images and write alt-texts for the Fediverse is pointless. Not only pointless, but its very existence is ableist. And if someone else reads it, they're ableist, too. So don't click or tap that link.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #AltTextPolice #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta -
@Richard Lewis You can really put a whole lot of effort into finding the optimal description for each one of your images. You can sit down and educate yourself by reading through dozens upon dozens of webpages and articles and blog posts about alt-texts and image descriptions. You can spend hours or days or more searching for and reading Mastodon posts, about alt-texts and image descriptions from a Mastodon point of view until you hope you're well-educated enough to know how to optimise your image descriptions for the Fediverse.
You can rack your brains about- what's important in your image in the context of your post and what isn't
- who will or may be in the audience of your post
- what they know about your post/your images and what they don't
- what they may want to know about your post/your images, regardless of whether that's important in the context or not
- whether they're willing to go find the missing information themselves
- whether they could find the missing information themselves if they tried in the first place, or whether they'd have to depend on asking you
- whether having to ask or search for missing information is okay in the culture of your audience, or whether you're required to supply all that information right away
You can educate yourself about many rules of describing images. Like, how to properly describe colours. Or to always put explanations into the post text body and never into the alt-text. Or when and why an additional image description in the post text body makes sense. You can abide by them all.
You can hone your skills and fine-tune your image descriptions at least to near-perfection. You can spend hours or days describing one image, composing and writing it completely by hand with absolutely zero AI support.
Nobody will honour it. It feels like nobody really appreciates your effort if nobody even likes/faves your image posts.
I've done all of the above. All the way to describing each image twice over. Not often because it takes me very long to describe one measly image. I haven't posted a single fully original image since mid-2024. But whenever I do, practically nobody cares.
Granted, it doesn't help that the two channels on which I post my images nowadays (if at all), @Jupiter Rowland's (streams) outlet and @Jupiter's Fedi-Memes on (streams), barely have any reach. And even if they had, most Mastodon users would be scared away by the summary/CW announcing a post that exceeds 500 characters by huge magnitudes. But my original image posts can't do without a long image description in the post text body, and even my meme posts can't do without an appropriate amount of explanations, so they have to be that long. And it feels like I've just wasted the hours or days that I've invested into researching for and writing image descriptions.
If anything at all, someone from the alt-text police will show up and attack you and call you ableist for not describing your images exactly by their personal standards. In fact, you can be called ableist by talking about image descriptions instead of just simply delivering perfect image descriptions right off the bat. By whichever definition of "perfect". But don't you dare deviate from it even only a smidge, for that'd be ableist.
Although, seriously, people getting together and talking about image descriptions and alt-texts and finding a consensus and common definitions for good alt-texts and image descriptions for the whole Fediverse is what we so direly need. But not even the alt-text police coordinate their image description quality standards, nor do they communicate them. You have to know them just like so.
What makes matters worse is that if your alt-text exceeds 512 characters, Misskey will discard it entirely, and accessibility activists on Misskey will think you're too lazy to write an alt-text. This may apply to the various Forkeys as well.
You can't possibly write perfect image descriptions for everyone. But you have to write perfect image descriptions for everyone because everyone demands you write perfect image descriptions for them personally. Or else!
CC: @Nervensäge 💐 @jeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #AltTextPolice #A11y #Accessibility #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta -
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Donald Trump normalises the worst kind of human. Remember him mocking a disabled man, admitting that he can do whatever he likes to women with the infamous "Grab 'em by the pussy" comment, and now posting a video showing the Obamas as monkeys?
Which of these things is a step too far for people in the US? This isn't normal behaviour. Somebody needs to section Donald Trump.
#Trump
#Racist
#Misogynist
#Ableist -
In Donald’s cartoon world there is only the duck’s ass, no us, no we, no USA, no NATO and no Earth. Projection, the most dangerous game of demigods breaking wind ever conceived. Hold Hydra’s Leviathan to account, end the gaming of democracy by Empires! #Projection #GodDelusions #Chauvinist #Racist #Sexist #Ableist #EcocideMobEmpire #TheTotalitarianWorldOrderIsAParasite
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Yet again semi-regular reminder that there are neurodivergent ppl who cannot create alt text. Discriminating against them by refusing to include them, subposting them, treating them as inferior is ABLEIST.
"But there's an AI for that."
Cool. There are prosthetics for ppl born without limbs too. Should they be required to wear for other ppl's comfort?
"But there's a tag for that!"
See above? Also the tag is pretty bad at actually helping.
"I will help!"
As long as they're okay with it, you are bae.
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Semi-regular reminder that if you're excluding ppl fot not using Alt Text, you are being an ableist clout chasing bully.
There are ppl whose neurodivergence doesn't let them put pictures into text.
No, they should not have to accommodate you by finding ways to be "normal." They know about the useless "Alt 4 Me" tsg and the AI alt gen; they're bullied w them often.
No, you should not be excluding them, any more than you should be ostracizing deaf ppl who choose not to wear a hearing aid.
Don't be an ableist clout chasing bully!
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Golly-gee, I'm sorry if having a #signlanguage interpreter doesn't fit with the "image" you want to project.
I'm even more sorry that the image *that* projects is of an #entitled, #ableist asshole.
#WhiteHouse raises concerns about #Trump’s ‘image’ in lawsuit over sign language interpreters - POLITICO https://share.google/SJ0f0XBshKns3ubHp
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@Victor You will still lose lots of reach.
People won't see your image posts because they have technical means of hiding or completely removing any and all posts with images without alt-text from all their timelines.
People will block you upon first strike when finding one of your image posts without an alt-text.
Followers will unfollow you.
You will be lectured. You will be scolded. You will be verbally attacked. You will be called an ableist swine. Even more so if you try to defend yourself.
If you want at least some reach on Mastodon, and if you want to be left in peace, your only choice is to add a hand-written, non-AI-generated, accurate, sufficiently detailed alt-text to every single last image that you will ever post. Immediately when posting it.
CC: @🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta -
Nothing like #Facebook this #ableist garbage in my feed. 🤦Where is the option to turn posts like this being suggested in my feed #Meta? I turned off #political posts from being suggested to me, and this one is clearly political.
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#Apple still refuses to provide an #iPhone that immunosuppressed people can unlock securely, without having to take off their sunglasses and / or masks, or else accept lower-quality security and inconvenience of using passcodes.
This is especially egregious when it comes to locking people out of in-person biometrically-secured tap & go #NFC payment options.
#TouchID is an accessibility feature. #FaceID is inherently #Ableist. https://sfba.social/@steven_aquino/115651525570096731
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A must read article about #AI detection tools and how #ableist those are, and the very negative effects it has against #neurodivergent persons like #Autistics and #ADHD.
Teachers must especially read this!
https://blog.ewancroft.uk/3m6njxcynds2n
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #AutisticActually #AuDHD #education
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A must read article about #AI detection tools and how #ableist those are, and the very negative effects it has against #neurodivergent persons like #Autistics and #ADHD.
Teachers must especially read this!
https://blog.ewancroft.uk/3m6njxcynds2n
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #AutisticActually #AuDHD #education
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A must read article about #AI detection tools and how #ableist those are, and the very negative effects it has against #neurodivergent persons like #Autistics and #ADHD.
Teachers must especially read this!
https://blog.ewancroft.uk/3m6njxcynds2n
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #AutisticActually #AuDHD #education
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A must read article about #AI detection tools and how #ableist those are, and the very negative effects it has against #neurodivergent persons like #Autistics and #ADHD.
Teachers must especially read this!
https://blog.ewancroft.uk/3m6njxcynds2n
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #AutisticActually #AuDHD #education
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A must read article about #AI detection tools and how #ableist those are, and the very negative effects it has against #neurodivergent persons like #Autistics and #ADHD.
Teachers must especially read this!
https://blog.ewancroft.uk/3m6njxcynds2n
@autistics #ActuallyAutistic #Autism #AutisticActually #AuDHD #education
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@🇨🇦Samuel Proulx🇨🇦 In general, when it comes to what to include in an image description, the context matters. But so does the target audience (not as in whom you want to receive your content, but who may stumble upon it this or that way), and so does the existing knowledge of the target audience. And, this is pretty much Fediverse-specific, so do the expectations of your target audience.
I've observed and studied alt-text and image descriptions for some three years now, not only by reading dozens upon dozens of guides all over the Web, but especially by examining the attitude towards it in the Fediverse, that is, actually only on Mastodon because alt-text isn't such a hot topic anywhere else. I've mostly done so in order to up my own image-describing game further and further and further, also because no alt-text guide out there covers my situation, so I had to cobble all that information together myself, enough information for me to have started my own wiki on this topic to share my knowledge with others.
One thing I've noticed is that Mastodon loves long and extensive image descriptions in alt-text. There's no "keep it short and concise"; instead, there are users who keep receiving praise for alt-texts of 800 or 1,000 characters or more.
Also, my impression is that Mastodon does not like having to ask for details and/or explanations, nor does it like to look up what it doesn't know enough about to understand it. If you have to ask someone who has posted an image for a description of a certain detail in an image, this means that the image description is lacking, regardless of whether or not that detail matters within the context of the post. Having to ask for a description of a detail is almost as bad as having to ask for the description of the whole image.
In fact, it was just a few months ago that I read a Mastodon toot that said that any element in an image mentioned in the description must also have its own visual description. You can't just say what's in the image. You also have to describe what it looks like.
Likewise, if there's something in an image description that someone doesn't understand, it must be explained right away. This, by the way, ties in with the rule that image descriptions must never use technical language or jargon, and if they absolutely cannot avoid it, it must be explained when it's used first. And it must be explained in a way that requires no prior special knowledge.
So far, so good. But the reason why I've gone all the way to observe and study alt-text and image descriptions, and why I'm so obsessed with it, is because I'm in a special situation.
For one, I'm in the Fediverse which means that certain alt-text rules simply don't apply to me, not only everything that involves captions, but also the brevity-as-a-hard-requirement rule. However, I'm not on Mastodon, so I'm not as much bound to Mastodon's limitations as Mastodon users. In particular, my character limit is over 16 million, so I can do a whole lot more in the post itself.
Besides, my original images are nothing like what almost everyone on Mastodon posts. They aren't real-life photographs, nor are they social media screenshots. Instead, they are renderings from 3-D virtual worlds, even extremely obscure virtual worlds that next to nobody out there has ever even heard of.
At the same time, my image posts might get people curious enough that they want to go explore this new universe that they've just discovered through my post. The only way they can explore it is by looking at my images and taking in all the big and small details. If they're blind, they cannot do that, but accessibility and inclusion demand they have the very same chance to do it as fully sighted people. In order for them to have this chance, I must go and describe all these big and small details to them, regardless of context. Everything else would be ableist, maybe not by some official W3C definition, but at least by Mastodon's definition.
Speaking of context, sometimes my images are the context of the post. There isn't that one element in the image that matters within the context of the post while everything else can be swept under the rug. No, the entire image matters. The entire scenery matters. Everything in the image matters all the same. This means that I have to describe everything. Again, see further above: I can't get away with just mentioning what's there. If I mention it, I have to describe what it looks like.
This is also justified because I can never expect everyone to already know what something in my image looks like. Again, they don't show real life. They show virtual worlds. In virtual worlds, things do not necessarily look like what they look like in real life. And things tend to look different in different virtual worlds, sometimes even within the same virtual world system.
For example, you, as someone born completely blind, may have come across enough image descriptions to have a rough idea of what cats look like in real life. But that does not automatically give you a realistic idea what a particular cat looks like in a specific virtual world, also seeing as there are infinitely more possibilities for what cats may look like. It could be a detailed, life-like representation of a cat with high-resolution materials as textures. It could be a very simplified, low-resolution model with a likewise low-resolution texture. It could be cobbled together from standard shapes because that was all that was possible when that cat was made. Or whatever. You wouldn't know unless I told you. But who am I to judge whether or not you want to know?
It gets even worse with buildings. You probably wouldn't even know what a specific building looks like in real life unless you have a detailed description, so how are you supposed to know what a specific building looks like in a virtual world that you've first read about a few minutes ago? In addition, there are so many ways of creating buildings in virtual worlds, and they've changed over time with new tools and new features becoming available.
I've come to a point at which I usually avoid having buildings in my images because they're too tedious to describe, especially realistic buildings, but not only these. My last original image post but one was in spring, 2024, about one and a half years ago. I decided to show a rather fantasy-like building. This building, however, is so complex that it took me two full days, morning to evening, to write the long image description that I'd put into the post. This image description is over 60,000 characters long, over 40,000 of which describe the building. The description also covers the interior because the outer walls of the building are almost entirely glass. The long description has two levels of headlines of its own. I've needed well over 4,000 characters only to explain to people where that place is that's shown in the image.
And then there was the short description for the alt-text which I needed as well so that nobody could accuse me of not adding a sufficiently detailed alt-text to my image. I was genuinely unable to make it any shorter than 1,400 characters. It actually took up a lot of characters that I needed to point especially Mastodon users at the long description in the post itself. That was when Mastodon only hid the post text behind a CW, but not the images, so that nobody on Mastodon would have known that there's a long description unless I told them in the alt-text.
One reason why the long description grew so long was that I didn't describe the image by looking at the image. I described it by looking at the real deal. All the time while I was working on the long description, I was in-world. I had my avatar in front of the building, walking through the building, walking around the building. I could move the camera very close to a lot of details. Instead of seeing the scenery at the resolution of the image, I saw it at a practically infinite resolution. This also enabled me to transcribe text that's so small in the image that it's unreadable, even text that's so tiny in the image that it's invisible. After all, the rule says that any and all text within the borders of an image must be transcribed. And I've yet to see that rule having any explicit exception for unreadable text.
Sure, I could have written that certain details got lost and cannot be identified at the low resolution of the image. But that may be perceived as me trying to weasel out of the responsibility to describe these details instead. I mean, how many people who were born completely blind have a concept of image resolution and pixels, and how many think that it's possible to zoom into any image infinitely? Besides, I'm not bound to what the image shows at its fairly low resolution anyway, so why should I pretend I am? The only logical reason for that would be because I'm expected to describe the image. And not the scenery in the area within the borders of the image.
And still, I haven't given full visual descriptions of everything in that scene. I decided against fully describing all images within that image at the same level as the image itself. I decided so because it would have gone too far: At least one image, a preview image on a teleporter, technically shows dozens of images itself, preview images on teleporters again. And some of these images show more images yet again. I would have ended up describing several dozens of images, at least four levels deep, in order to fully describe one image. And then the whole image description would have been rather pointless because Mastodon rejects posts with over 100,000 characters, and the post would probably have ended up with several millions of characters.
By the way, even before I wrote that massive image description, I actually showed @Hat. AuDHD cat 😷n95🍉 💔🌻🔻 one of my image posts, the one with my longest description for a single image to that date. It has two images with over 48,000 characters of long description combined, almost 40,000 of which are for the first image. She actually praised this massive image description and told me that this level of detail in both visual description and explanation is exactly what she needs.
The last time I've posted original in-world images was in July, 2024. I took care not to have too many details in the images this time. Still, I ended up with a combined over 25,000 characters of long description for both images, also because they contain an avatar that had to be described in full detail.
I've been working on the image descriptions for a series of avatar portraits for about a year now, on and off, but still. This time, I gave the images a neutral, completely feature-less, bright white background that won't take up much effort to describe. The plan is to have three or four images with three or four portraits of the same avatar each, always in the same post with only slightly different outfits. I'm still describing the first image, and I've only fully covered the first outfit and started with the second one.
The common preamble for all images in one post already exceeds 17,000 characters, including over 2,000 characters explaining OpenSim and over 9,000 characters explaining what OpenSim avatars can be made of and how they work because that's essential for understanding the visual descriptions. I expect the preamble to grow significantly longer before it's ready because I have to get rid of a whole lot of technical language and jargon and/or explain even more of it. The preamble also contains over 5,000 characters of general visual description that applies to all portraits in all images the same. It includes almost 2,000 characters that describe the shoes, men's casual leather shoes, because to my best knowledge, such shoes don't exist in real life.
Other images will show the avatar wearing full brogue leather shoes. I'm still not sure whether I can correctly assume that everyone out there knows what they are and what they look like, or whether I'll have to give the same amount of detail description again, only that full brogue shoes are much more complex than the shoes I've already described. Also, I'm not sure if everyone out there knows what a herringbone fabric pattern looks like, or whether that requires a detail description and an explanation itself, even though several actually blind users have told me that I can assume it to be familiar.
One problem I still haven't solved is that I simply can't fit an appropriately detailed short image description into a maximum of 1,500 characters of alt-text.
Verdict: There are always edge cases in which an image cannot be sufficiently described in only one short and concise image description in the alt-text. My virtual world renderings are such an edge case, also because they're posted into the Fediverse. Another edge case is @Hat. AuDHD cat 😷n95🍉 💔🌻🔻 who, due to a disability, requires hyper-detailed image descriptions that take hours to read to even be able to experience and understand an image properly.
CC: @Carolyn @Prof. Rachel Thorn 🍉🇺🇦🏳️⚧️🏳️
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta #VirtualWorlds -
CW: @[email protected] being intentionally ableist and defending his ableism; CW: long (over 5,000 characters), quote-post, explicit language, Fediverse meta, alt-text meta, ableism meta
I'm usually friendly. But challenge me, and I'll fight. If you fight dirty, then so will I.
And this time I'll fight for accessibility. Against someone who is actively fighting against accessibility and intentionally acting in most ableist ways.
In the below post, @Mat B explains that he adds content into his alt-texts that isn't available anywhere else in the post.
RE: https://beige.party/@TwoClownsEating/115571481219795582
You may or may not know, but this is actually ableist behaviour because it discriminates against those who cannot access alt-text, for example, people who don't have at least one working hand.
I have explained it in the wiki about alt-texts and image descriptions that I'm working on. For Mastodon users' convenience, here are the links as URLs in plain sight:
https://hub.netzgemeinde.eu/wiki/jupiter_rowland/How(20)to(20)describe(20)images(20)in(20)the(20)Fediverse/Don(27)t(20)explain(20)things(20)or(20)give(20)other(20)information(20)only(20)in(20)alt-text(21)
https://hub.netzgemeinde.eu/wiki/jupiter_rowland/How(20)to(20)describe(20)images(20)in(20)the(20)Fediverse/Don(27)t(20)use(20)alt-text(20)to(20)write(20)around(20)your(20)character(20)limit(21)
https://hub.netzgemeinde.eu/wiki/jupiter_rowland/How(20)to(20)describe(20)images(20)in(20)the(20)Fediverse/Can(20)everyone(20)access(20)alt-text(3f)
See also this post, https://www.kwbell.eu/mastonotes/alt-text-for-mastodon-images/, by @KB.
So I did what I feel is my duty. I told him how and why this is wrong. Thousands upon thousands of Mastodon users see it as absolutely justified to tell everyone to write alt-text, so why shouldn't I tell people how to write proper alt-text as opposed to misusing it?
RE: https://hub.netzgemeinde.eu/item/11550d0a-a8d1-42b6-9924-973ef9cc7652
@Mat B, however, did not accept that he has been wrong all the time. Instead, he chose to attack me to defend his utterly ableist ways.
RE: https://beige.party/@TwoClownsEating/115572513612903964
Obviously, he doesn't know whom he is picking on. I have been in the Fediverse under various guises for about five years longer than Mastodon has even been around. I have spent much more time on Fediverse server software that is vastly more powerful than Mastodon than he has spent on Mastodon.
Congrats, @Mat B, YOU ABSOLUTELY MOTHERFUCKING HORRID STEAMING FERMENTING PILE OF MISANTHROPIC AND ABLEIST SHIT. you left me no other option than to take the Teller-Ulam thermonuclear option.
@Velocirooster adminensis :bc:: @Mat B is an absolute disgrace to beige.party, a Mastodon server that I got to know as a lighthouse of inclusivity and accessibility. He is deliberately and intentionally breaking sever rule number 2, defending his misbehaviour and attacking those who try to educate him about how to actually be inclusive and accessible. In the name of beige.party and the entire Fediverse, I hereby demand he be permanently banned from beige.party, effective immediately.
In addition, I recommend everyone who treasures and fights for actual accessibility and full inclusivity to block @Mat B.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #QuotePost #QuoteTweet #QuoteToot #QuoteBoost #Ableist #Ableism #AbleismMeta #CWAbleismMeta
