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Re: Dealing with Facebook's problematic automatic alt text generation (and other issues)

for

From: Emma Duke-Williams
Date: Feb 13, 2017 10:02AM

Doh! Never thought of that - I thought they'd have put it somewhere
visible to all, rather than just those who know what they're doing.

Emma

On 13 February 2017 at 16:47, Robert Fentress < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Emma,
>
> In Chrome, I simply right-click on the image and choose "Inspect" in the
> context menu that appears. This opens a code view where I can see the alt
> attribute of the image for the rendered page view. Similar functionality
> exists in Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari (if enabled). Hope I
> understood your question correctly.
>
> -Rob
>
> On Mon, Feb 13, 2017 at 11:41 AM, Emma Duke-Williams <
> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>> A quick query - how do you see the suggested alt text? I've never seen
>> it. I use Facebook set to UK English, if that makes a difference - I
>> know they sometimes roll out updates by region.
>>
>> I'd agree, from a pure usage point of view, that it's easier to get
>> descriptions on images in the album creation mode, than in the upload
>> an image.
>>
>> Emma
>>
>> On 13 February 2017 at 16:06, Robert Fentress < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> > Hello, all.
>> >
>> > I'm curious if folks have developed strategies for dealing with
>> Facebook's
>> > automatic alt text generation. As many of you probably know, Facebook
>> now
>> > analyzes images uploaded into its system and automatically generates text
>> > alternatives for those images. This is great for when your average user,
>> > who is unlikely to ever provide an alternative, uploads images. However,
>> > for those who are actually trying to do things properly, this is
>> > problematic, since there is no way (that I've been able to determine yet)
>> > for editing these text alternatives, and they are frequently inadequate
>> or
>> > incorrect, or Facebook just adds alt text saying they couldn't make heads
>> > nor tails of the image.
>> >
>> > Currently, I'm recommending the following and wonder if it comports with
>> > what others are doing or recommending:
>> >
>> > 1. Upload image to an album.
>> > 2. Examine the automatically-generated alt text to see if it is
>> adequate.
>> > 3. If so, you're done. If not, continue to next step.
>> > 4. Add a brief description below the image in the album, where it
>> says,
>> > "Say something about this photo..."
>> > 5. From there, if necessary, share the photo to your timeline. This
>> is
>> > recommended, rather than uploading the image directly from your
>> timeline,
>> > because, if you upload to your album and add the description there,
>> when
>> > you share to your timeline, the description comes over with the
>> image, but
>> > there is still a place for you to add text for your post that is
>> separate
>> > from the description. So, the post text can be different from your
>> image
>> > text alternative and the alternative text is in one place in your
>> album.
>> >
>> > A problem with this is that the actual image alt attribute is still
>> > incorrect or inadequate. Should one say so in the description?
>> >
>> > Another issue I've encountered is that, for Pages, one cannot add alt
>> text
>> > to the cover photo and Facebook automatically sets the alt attribute of
>> > this image to null. This may be the best default solution, since that
>> > cover photo is often purely decorative. However, the problem is that
>> that
>> > image is also wrapped in an anchor tag and is the only content of that
>> > link. This causes the href of the anchor tag to be read. I haven't been
>> > able to come up with a workaround for that one. Ideas?
>> >
>> > Obviously there are other problems with FB architecturally, but I'm
>> > focusing on strategies for content creators/editors and trying to deal
>> with
>> > the things we have some control over.
>> >
>> > Other strategies recommended in that regard, for Pages in Facebook,
>> include:
>> >
>> > - Host any videos on YouTube (captioned, of course, with described
>> > versions, as appropriate) and link to them from within Facebook,
>> rather
>> > than uploading videos to Facebook directly, since, among other
>> things, FB's
>> > video player has poor keyboard support.
>> > - If images of flyers advertising events are uploaded, include links
>> to
>> > accessible PDFs and Word docs (if available) of the flyers as well,
>> and
>> > make sure info in flyer image is replicated in post content.
>> > - Provide an alternate channel for users to access content, such as
>> > cross-posting to an accessible blog.
>> > - In the About section of the Page
>> > - Under Contact Info, add phone, and email, and a link to an
>> > accessible contact form.
>> > Under Story, include something like:
>> > "Facebook Accessibility:
>> > https://www.facebook.com/help/273947702950567/?helpref=hc_fnav
>> > The Facebook mobile app may provide a more accessible experience
>> for
>> > some users.
>> > Content in this feed can also be found on our blog at:
>> > http://our.blog.edu"
>> >
>> > Anything else folks can think of, focusing on what is within a content
>> > creator/editor's control? Thanks!
>> >
>> > Also, assuming I haven't overlooked anything obvious here, if you agree
>> > with me, I'd urge folks to let FB know that they should really add the
>> > ability to edit the alt text of images. It seems very strange that they
>> > devoted so much time and energy to enabling the automatic text
>> > alternatives, but did not provide humans the ability to edit them. Doing
>> > that must be trivial, by comparison, don't you think?
>> >
>> > Best,
>> > Rob
>> >
>> > P.S. Thanks to Queen's University
>> > <http://www.queensu.ca/accessibility/how-info/social-media-accessibility
>> >
>> > for many of these tips.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Robert Fentress
>> > Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
>> > 540.231.1255
>> >
>> > Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
>> > Assistive Technologies
>> > 1180 Torgersen Hall
>> > 620 Drillfield Drive (0434)
>> > Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
>> > >> > >> > >> > >>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Emma Duke-Williams:
>>
>> Blog: http://emmadukewilliams.co.uk
>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/emmadw
>> >> >> >> >>
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Fentress
> Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
> 540.231.1255
>
> Technology-enhanced Learning & Online Strategies
> Assistive Technologies
> 1180 Torgersen Hall
> 620 Drillfield Drive (0434)
> Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
> > > > --
Emma Duke-Williams:

Blog: http://emmadukewilliams.co.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/emmadw