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MS Word Alt Description - is this new?

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From: John E. Brandt
Date: Oct 4, 2017 8:35AM

I was just preparing some training documents for a presentation on
accessible PDFs. Using the latest version of MS Word in MSO365, I noticed
that when I added an image/picture there was a space superimposed on the
image showing a "suggested Alt description." When I clicked on it, it
brought up a dialog box that says: "How would you describe this picture and
its contents to someone who is blind? (1 - 2 sentences recommended). Then it
gives that recommended Alt description (not very sophisticated, I might add)
which you can edit.



I've posted the screenshots in the following links.



https://jebswebs.net/blog/2017/10/microsoft-adds-automatic-alt-description-t
o-ms-word/



This is new to me. When did Microsoft start doing this?



I suspect it is associated with MSO365 and is using some AI from the Cloud.
Will investigate further to see if it is in the Mac version and other MSO
apps.



~j



John E. Brandt

jebswebs.com



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