Twitter is rolling out a new feature to assist the visually impaired. This feature is the addition of descriptions – also known as alternative text (alt text) – to images in Tweets.
According to Twitter, “With this update, we’re empowering everyone to ensure content shared on Twitter is accessible to the widest possible audience.”
Twitter believes that photos have been at the center of some of the biggest moments on Twitter. As a core part of the Twitter experience, it’s important that images shared on its platform are accessible to everyone, including those who are visually impaired.
Anyone can enable this feature by using the compose image descriptions option in the Twitter app’s accessibility settings. The next time you add an image to a Tweet, each thumbnail in the composer will have an add description button. Tap it to add a description to the image. People who are visually impaired will have access to the description via their assistive technology (e.g., screen readers and braille displays). Descriptions can be up to 420 characters.
To ensure publishers and third-party clients also have the capability to add alt text to images, Twitter has extended its platform products to both the REST API and Twitter Cards.
