Disclaimer: We may earn a commission if you make any purchase by clicking our links. Please see our detailed guide here.

Follow us on:

Google News
Whatsapp

Twitter testing new accessibility features to make image descriptions easier to access

Rahul Bhagat
Rahul Bhagat
Rahul Bhagat is a Digital Marketer and strategist with more than 7 years of experience in Marketing, SEO, Analytics, Marketing Automation and more.

Join the Opinion Leaders Network

Join the Techgenyz Opinion Leaders Network today and become part of a vibrant community of change-makers. Together, we can create a brighter future by shaping opinions, driving conversations, and transforming ideas into reality.

Micro-blogging site Twitter has announced that it is testing new accessibility features to make alt text descriptions significantly more useful and prominent for everyone on the platform.

With the change, images that have descriptions will be given a badge that says “alt” and clicking on that badge will show the description.

The change has been a long time coming, but that’s not necessarily a surprise — Twitter didn’t have a dedicated accessibility team until 2020, reports The Verge.

According to Twitter, around 3 percent of users will get to try out the new features for a month, and it will roll out globally at the beginning of April.

Until then, it seemed like most people still will not have access to alt text descriptions unless they’re using a screen reader or are willing to jump through a lot of hoops.

As Twitter noted at the end of its thread, users have waited a while for this functionality. Image descriptions were introduced in 2016, but they haven’t been particularly prominent on the platform — it’s relatively easy to miss the button that lets you add one.

That may be because of how Twitter handled accessibility features in the past, the report said.

Up until late 2020, employees had to volunteer to work on them alongside their regular jobs, and there wasn’t a team dedicated to making Twitter easier to use for those who needed it most. Since the team’s creation, Twitter has added live captions to voice tweets and videos, it added.

Join 10,000+ Fellow Readers

Get Techgenyz’s roundup delivered to your inbox curated with the most important for you that keeps you updated about the future tech, mobile, space, gaming, business and more.

Recomended

Partner With Us

Digital advertising offers a way for your business to reach out and make much-needed connections with your audience in a meaningful way. Advertising on Techgenyz will help you build brand awareness, increase website traffic, generate qualified leads, and grow your business.

Power Your Business

Solutions you need to super charge your business and drive growth

More from this topic