Look, I will ALWAYS support adding Alt Text to art, I always do it myself, but “its easier than making the art” sometimes just is not true, and ignores disabilities that effect a lot of us, sometimes days of work crafting a piece IS in fact easier than writing a paragraph of descriptive text, - ThreadSky

sith-art.bsky.social • 14 days ago

Look, I will ALWAYS support adding Alt Text to art, I always do it myself, but “its easier than making the art” sometimes just is not true, and ignores disabilities that effect a lot of us, sometimes days of work crafting a piece IS in fact easier than writing a paragraph of descriptive text,

Reposted from Red Cobra VT

A THOUSAND TIMES THIS. It always sucks to see amazing art with no alt text cause no matter how great it is, I won't repost something without alt text.

Oh, and I do check it after I saw alt text that said "Alt text" to try getting around this. It's easier than making the art, put something proper in

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sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

Its why my alt-text tends read more narratively than descriptively, because I simply struggle at purely descriptive text.

Often the aggressive demands for it can be just as ableist as the outright dismissal of using it, caring about some disabilities whilst ignoring others.

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

Like genuinely where do I even begin writing descriptive text for The Curse of Karthakk?

Theres almost too much going on. 😅

meriahkeyes.bsky.social•14 days ago

Oooh I didn’t think of that!!! I want to make more of an effort to use alt text and this could be a good way to do it

samyazapanoptes.bsky.social•14 days ago

In my story I have an OC with dyslexia, and based it off real people I know in life.

They cannot type even if their life depended on it. *real person not OC

But I have issues with typing some days, and chronic pain doesn’t just vanish whenever I need it to. lol.

samyazapanoptes.bsky.social•14 days ago

Also they choose to not share alt textless posts… that is on them. They claim they cannot share stuff, but they made that choice.

I am for folks using the text if they want to use it, but against the bully bs over it.

redcobra.bsky.social•14 days ago

That's a fair point, and I think my attempt to shrink my thoughts down to fit into a single post meant I left out some important aspects. But even with those included, I genuinely didn't consider that art could be easier than writing. That's a blind spot in my experiences I failed to consider.

redcobra.bsky.social•14 days ago

To hopefully help correct that, a couple things I've found around that can help. The first thing that I think has the broadest amount of help is the tag Alt4Me, that way whatever makes it difficult to make alt text can be worked around by bringing people who can make the alt text in their free time.

redcobra.bsky.social•14 days ago

If the primary issue is not being sure how to make it, posts like this can be found in a few places that offer info and guides to make it easier.

https://bsky.app/profile/elfyelfears.bsky.social/post/3lc7vzvx3ps2i

redcobra.bsky.social•14 days ago

Ultimately, I never have an issue with someone who can't do something not doing that thing. My posts are meant to draw attention to helpful features for people who need it, and in the process I made a careless statement that ignored a group of people. I apologize for that and hope this helps some.

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

I appreciate you listening, and hope I didn’t come off too strong in my criticism.

I’ve seen a lot of people treating alt-text as a purely black and white moral issue, when there is often more to it than people just being inconsiderate, this topic is one of my few issues with Bluesky’s community. 😅

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

Some people are just really aggressive about it, and it can feel like they’re advocating for some disabilities while being completely ignorant and dismissive of others. (Not saying you’re doing this, but some people definitely do.)

redcobra.bsky.social•14 days ago

Nah, you are 100% right and I'm glad you brought my attention to it. It can be too easy to think like everyone knows everything you do, or to forget you don't know every important bit of info, even more so when you're trying to trim your thoughts. This will help me keep that perspective in mind ❤️

baradoralred.bsky.social•14 days ago

Dude, if describing through words was easier than drawing, I wouldn't draw in the first place !
I don't mind adding alt text but man, the drawing is supposed to speak for itself, it's not my fault if someone can't properly see
Also, if they can't properly see it, how are they supposed to read ?

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

To be fair one can copy-paste alt text into a narrator, but I have an issue where I cannot visualise from descriptive text, if I have to draw something I NEED visual references, so despite being legally blind, alt text does not help me at all, I include it for others,

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

But people, often perfectly able bodied people who DON’T need it get so uppity about it and it lowkey pisses me off having others speak for disabled people. 😅

baradoralred.bsky.social•14 days ago

Not that drawing is easier than writing or vice versa.
I should say more than it's my preferred method of artistic expression.
Also yeah, the issue for people who need alt text is valid but what about dyslexic artists ? You can't give them shit because they have trouble writing or reading

samyazapanoptes.bsky.social•14 days ago

Actually struggled with language due to being unable to hear out of one of my ears growing up, and art was a way to communicate my needs/wants often.

I was born with the hearing loss, and on top of my chronic pain issues. It is ableist tbh.

samyazapanoptes.bsky.social•14 days ago

Makes me want to slam my head into a wall. They think bullying and harassing is being inclusive… the exact opposite in fact.

But people choose to not share stuff. I don’t make them not share my stuff. They chose to make up a silly rule to dictate who gets “good boy” points lol.

practicingbushiho.bsky.social•14 days ago

SERIOUSLY LMAO like yall...the reason I went into illustration is because of how actually draining it is to write anything resembling academic or descriptive text.

They engage DIFFERENT SKILL SETS.

practicingbushiho.bsky.social•14 days ago

If people want this site to have unambiguous alt text on every image, I obviously support that! But folks better be willing to volunteer more time to provide it when artists can't, or we won't have it. it's that simple.

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

Exactly! It’d be one thing if they volunteered, wrote an alt-text in the replies for example, but a lot of the time they come at it aggressively and demanding, with no thought for the fact that, just as some people struggle with seeing, some struggle with writing. And I struggle with both! 🥲

practicingbushiho.bsky.social•14 days ago

bingo. I have a vision impairment and cognitive disability around reading and writing specifically-- Users can either help out or shut the hell up as far as I care.

practicingbushiho.bsky.social•14 days ago

In the end It doesn't matter if it's demanding- when someone chooses to call something out instead of just being the change they sincerely believe is best, it's wasting time we could be using to help the ones who lose the most from this meandering diatribe-- the people they are advocating for!

sith-art.bsky.social•14 days ago

Exactly, it just turns into slacktivism, expecting OTHERS to make the changes you want.

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