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{"id":9789,"date":"2022-07-13T14:53:18","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T14:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/07\/13\/the-volunteer-run-bots-that-make-twitter-more-accessible\/"},"modified":"2022-07-13T14:53:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-13T14:53:19","slug":"the-volunteer-run-bots-that-make-twitter-more-accessible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/07\/13\/the-volunteer-run-bots-that-make-twitter-more-accessible\/","title":{"rendered":"The volunteer-run bots that make Twitter more accessible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23188769\/twitter-alt-text-bots-accessibility-screen-readers<\/a>
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In a recent viral photo<\/a> from the popular Twitter account Bodega Cats, a black cat is peering into the camera from its perch behind a shelf at a corner store. Surrounded by hanging packages of Sour Patch Kids, Haribo gummy bears, and other brightly-colored treats, the cat is invisible except for its two watchful green eyes, narrowed slightly and glaring from the shadows. There\u2019s no text in the post, but the joke is obvious: choose your snack wisely.<\/p>\n

The picture has been liked and retweeted thousands of times. But for people using screen readers, as many blind or low vision users do, the content is imperceptible. The person running the account hasn\u2019t added alternative text \u2014 or alt text \u2014 to the photo. <\/p>\n

If the post were retweeted or shared on Katie Durden\u2019s timeline, it would read, simply, \u201cImage.\u201d If it\u2019s a collection of four pictures, that would be, \u201cImage image image image.\u201d <\/p>\n

Durden has been blind since the age of four and uses a screen reader to browse Twitter. With no description in the tweet and no alt text added, any humor, delight, or joy would be flattened. Their screen reader would read out the handle of the account, display name, timestamp of the tweet, but nothing else other than the fact that there\u2019s a photo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s utterly useless to me,\u201d Durden says. \u201cI have no idea what is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

To people who can\u2019t read the internet visually, it\u2019s delivered to them orally. But it\u2019s accessibility features like alt text that allow screen readers to recognize what\u2019s in a picture \u2014 from a news outlet debunking fake screenshots<\/a> of Bill Gates\u2019 account getting suspended, to a scene from a nightclub<\/a> where a man and a woman smile blissfully unaware, lipstick smeared over both of their faces.<\/p>\n

The Alt Text Reader bot<\/a> is one of several accounts that have popped up in recent years, largely run on a volunteer basis. The accounts work in a variety of ways, from private reminders to public prodding, but they have the same goal: to fill in accessibility gaps on the platform.<\/p>\n

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