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Providing text alternatives to make the forum more accessible

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yorkie

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I thought this was worth picking out as a new thread:
Hi all,

I'm a blind rail user who uses a screen reader to navigate web sites.....
...I also want to give a shout out to all those forum posters who take the time to describe images that they post - it really does make a difference to people like me and makes these forums a very inclusive place.


Thanks,

John
I'd like to also say thanks to everyone who does this and I know many others do appreciate it; it does make a big difference! :)

When this forum was originally created we did not have this rule (and I was as guilty as anyone of not doing this!), but over time we realised how important this is and when we carried out our rules consultation a few years ago, a requirement to include a link and text alternative was suggested and incorporated into our rules.

Some may think we are being a pain when we ask for text alternatives (in the form of a quote, description or summary, as appropriate, depending on what is being referred to, which could be anything from an article to an image), and I apologise if it seems onerous at times, but it's there for a genuine reason and it's great to hear that this makes a big difference to some people!

If anyone spots a post which refers to an external source that doesn't have a text alternative please do click the report button, so we can arrange for it to be fixed, and ensure the forum is accessible as possible :)
 
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Whilst very much supporting the principle (as my wife is blind), it is important to take into account the advance in screen reader technology in recent years. For example, pdfs used to be unreadable, but are not now. There's also no inherent reason why a link to an external article would be inaccessible, unless the linked-to site has wider accessibility issues.
 

Blindtraveler

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I am also grateful for this however it's worth pointing out that a lot of the time now you can ask your screen reader to describe an image to you and it does this for the degree of accuracy including picking up most of the text that might be contained within that image. I'm definitely not saying change the rules because I was a great advocate for them in the first place but for the odd occasion when it's not possible or it does slipped through the net there are alternatives. Keep up the good work
 

yorkie

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Whilst very much supporting the principle (as my wife is blind), it is important to take into account the advance in screen reader technology in recent years. For example, pdfs used to be unreadable, but are not now. There's also no inherent reason why a link to an external article would be inaccessible, unless the linked-to site has wider accessibility issues.
A few reasons for providing a quote include:
  • Hyperlinks can be broken (the chances of this increase over time)
  • Opening an external link and navigating to the appropriate paragraph(s) can be time consuming; it may not be obvious where the relevant parts are
  • Some external sources may contain adverts or other material (such as menus etc) and this can make navigating to the relevant part particularly difficult at times
  • People may be viewing the forum from a location (e.g. a workplace during a break) where the external URL may be blocked (I'm told by some that their employer can be strict regarding which sites are allowed but some rail industry workplaces make an exception for this forum); this can be a particular issue if the material is hosted on a website categorised as 'social media', 'news sites' etc.
Just a couple of relevant paragraphs will often suffice.
 

Mojo

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It’s worth mentioning for those who have pictures of text a recent update to iOS allows you to copy and paste the text off a picture and have it converted to computer text.

Do xenforo have any potentially useful extensions or add-ons?
What did you have in mind - an add on to do what?
 
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