Alt Text as poetry

I’m always on the lookout for tips and the latest thinking from content designers and accessibility guru’s like Ben Luby, Sarah Winters and Mary Sherrill. A recent post from Ben (thanks!) pointed me to the brilliant Alt Text as poetry project. It's a dynamite collab between Shanon and Bojana, both disabled artists and activists. The duo say, “Alt Text is often disregarded altogether, or understood only through the lens of compliance”. ?So their work reframes Alt Text as a type of poetry - to help anyone working in this space practice writing it and to get talking about it. They don’t just want alt text users to access visual content online, they also want them to feel a sense of belonging in digital spaces. ?

I can’t think of any reason why anyone would want to ignore this.

Here’s a summary of the ways you can upskill on all things Alt Text with Shanon and Bojana:

?? Download their practical workbook, or listen to it on soundcloud

?? Book a workshop with your team?

?? Explore their tools page for a bunch of helpful links to resources

?? Follow their blog, Alt text study club

?? Tap into a rich Ecosystem of artists and thinkers in this space

Finally, Ben urges us to remember:

• Alt text is content
• Start now, improve with practice
• No need to say “image of”
• Keep it brief and clear
• Only include what you would write if the image was removed

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