Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Can your screen reader read emojis? (self.Blind)
submitted by luke_in_the_sky
I'm describing images on a website and I found that emojis have names, so I'm using their naming convention to the alt images.
I'm wondering... can I just put the emoji in the alt attribute so the screen reader will just read the emoji name instead of having to type them?
I tried with Mac VoiceOver and it worked. The VO read the emoji ⚠️ as "warning sign".
Can your screen reader read emojis? Their names are useful to you?
If I was going to describe a warning sign with a skull-and-crossbones symbol, could I use these emojis?
> "☠️ on ⚠️"
I'm wondering... can I just put the emoji in the alt attribute so the screen reader will just read the emoji name instead of having to type them?
I tried with Mac VoiceOver and it worked. The VO read the emoji ⚠️ as "warning sign".
Can your screen reader read emojis? Their names are useful to you?
If I was going to describe a warning sign with a skull-and-crossbones symbol, could I use these emojis?
> "☠️ on ⚠️"
Laser_Lens_4 1 points 3y ago
Every screen reader I've used can read them. Seems a bit odd using emoji as alt text. Almost seems like it would be more effort than just typing out a quick blurb but hey if you wanna give it a go nobody's holding you back.
luke_in_the_sky [OP] 3 points 3y ago
I’m working with a CMS and I really want to provide accessibility but the publishers that use the website are lazy.
I’ve tried an AI to transcribe the image, but it was slow and unreliable. So my line of thinking was to prompt the user to click a few emojis every time an image is uploaded, so the alt should say “This image contais 🍚🌮🍤”
I know it’s far from ideal but I’m wondering if it’s better than nothing.
Thank you for the feedback. I think I’ll not use the emojis on the alt attribute directly, but I’ll translate them to text to prevent any incompatibility and it would be better for SEO.
I’ve tried an AI to transcribe the image, but it was slow and unreliable. So my line of thinking was to prompt the user to click a few emojis every time an image is uploaded, so the alt should say “This image contais 🍚🌮🍤”
I know it’s far from ideal but I’m wondering if it’s better than nothing.
Thank you for the feedback. I think I’ll not use the emojis on the alt attribute directly, but I’ll translate them to text to prevent any incompatibility and it would be better for SEO.
ilivetofly 2 points 3y ago
There are a lot of emoji but I don't think that even translating them would be enough to describe a picture. How would you emoji-describe something very specific like this one specific building or say a NSFW image? The best you could get was maybe a genetic skyscraper or a love hotel + specific vegetable. If users can upload random stuff they will. Browse imgur and see if you can emoji-describe the pics there? Way too hard.
bscross32 1 points 3y ago
Most of them read emoji, yes.
WarHamster40k 2 points 3y ago
Most current ones, anyway. If you're using a version that's a few years old, they don't always update their terms dictionary. It can't always understand context, so sometimes things fall through the cracks. "That sounds hilarious! 'League of Legends' That's when I told my nephew to stop clicking "update dictionary" if he's using my desktop account.
bscross32 1 points 3y ago
I can't say I've ever seen a screen reader that has an online terms dictionary. Maybe that is a new feature of Jaws? I've moved away from that one and haven't used it in nearly 10 years.
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