Today, I participated in a webinar on this topic and was overwhelmed by the amount of information I didn't know about. Sure, I knew all about captions, assistive technology for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, but I didn't know or even consider what the needs would be for those who are color-blind, can only use a keyboard, or have dyslexia. It's fascinating!
At my new job, I am learning so much about what pleases the eye as I am working on print/web ads and blog posts. I had no idea there was so much I didn't know. Sure it's overwhelming but also exciting. This pertains not only to my work life but also my personal life as a Deaf person and one who wants to be inclusive to all disabilities.
One huge takeaway was the importance of Alt-Text. Now, I had seen that phrase before but had no idea what it meant until today. Alt-Text is where you would write a description of what a picture is. For example, a picture of a lion chasing a zebra. In order to be truly inclusive, you would write, a yellow/tan lion running at full speed after a young zebra across a tall grassy meadow vs. a lion running after a zebra. The more adjectives you use, the better sense a person who is blind or color-blind can really sense the picture especially if it's important to your message.
I'm looking forward to learning more about design and accessibility. Thank you Lord for providing this job. I'm finally learning something I want to learn about!
This is cool! This may be a stupid question, but is the Alt-Text description read by technology to the blind person, or would a friend/family member just read it to them? I've seen a lot more alt-text in Instagram posts recently.