Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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How do I Make my Memes Screen Reader Friendly? (self.Blind)
submitted by Ok_Potato9704
Hi! This is my first post here. I was hoping for tips on writing alt text for my memes when I post on Facebook. I've done some classes on accessibility but they didn't cover social media. Anyways, I manage a couple pages and want to make sure the content is screen reader friendly. Should I Just put the text description above each meme? Or is there a way for me to use software on my computer to see how it's read, so it doesn't get confused with the automatic underlying text from facebook?
Marconius 5 points 1y ago
1. Add a photo to your post with the photo/video button when creating your post.
2. Next to the added photo, you'll find "Edit Photo", "Make 3D", and "More" buttons. Hit the More button.
3. A Contextual menu will appear that contains the Edit alt text option. Hit that and add your alt text.
4. Et voila!
This is for the iOS Facebook app, but the process should be similar if posting from a browser.
2. Next to the added photo, you'll find "Edit Photo", "Make 3D", and "More" buttons. Hit the More button.
3. A Contextual menu will appear that contains the Edit alt text option. Hit that and add your alt text.
4. Et voila!
This is for the iOS Facebook app, but the process should be similar if posting from a browser.
Ok_Potato9704 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thank you so much!!! This is very helpful 🙂 smiley face
Marconius 1 points 1y ago
Sure thing, but you also might want to really consider your use of memes. Most memes have a purely visual context that blind and visually impaired users may not understand since it's based either on visual knowledge of the cultural context of the image and the juxtaposition of that image with text. If a reader doesn't have that visual context, then a meme really doesn't serve any purpose whatsoever other than just being a forgettable image with alt text or general clutter to be ignored. Unless the meme is informative in some way to what you are posting, I just wouldn't use them at all if you are concerned about overall inclusion.
Samanthia_Farthing 3 points 1y ago
I’m not sure how to do that on facebook, but if you want to use a screen reader to test it out to see what it would sound like, Windows has a built in screen reader called narrator that you could use. However, many more blind people use a screen reader called NVDA. It is free to download. Here’s the website.
https://www.nvaccess.org/
https://www.nvaccess.org/
Ok_Potato9704 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thank you this is awesome!
Samanthia_Farthing 1 points 1y ago
You are very welcome. Thank you for being willing to go the extra mile for accessibility. It is very much appreciated.
zersiax 2 points 1y ago
There should be a way to set the description on the image directly, that way you override the automatic descriptions, as those only happen for images that weren't explicitly described. I don't know how this is done, but there should be a person on Youtube who shows it up :P
r_1235 2 points 1y ago
Not using Facebook currently, but, I think it's wonderful that you are thinking of making your content accessible.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
Ok_Potato9704 [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thanks so much!
DHamlinMusic 2 points 1y ago
Facebook will allow you to set your own text description that will supersede the automated one, I don't entirely remember how you go about it but you edit the image I believe once it's posted.
TechnicalPragmatist 1 points 1y ago
Describe thoroughly and try to explain what is written and how it relates to the picture it describes maybe help the readers with the visual cultural context.
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