Twitter Accessibility’s Tweets

Aug 2

August #TwitterA11yStatus Limited release: - Image description reminder In progress: - Accessibility settings updates Up next: - Closed captions toggle Exploring: - Spaces live captioning - Closed captions customization - Profile photo descriptions - Image description OCR

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Aug 1

Twitter for Android users: we've identified a bug that causes the ALT badge to not display. The fix should land tomorrow.

We hope this feature makes your Twitter life that much easier. And we want to see the number of Tweets with image descriptions quintuple! As always, let us know what you think. (6 of 6)

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While adding image descriptions to your Tweets is important, there’s more you can do to make your Tweets accessible. Here are some ideas: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. (5 of 6)

Accessibility features of Twitter | Twitter Help

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There’s a debate about whether bad, or inaccurate, image descriptions are better than having no descriptions at all. Our recommendation is to always write great image descriptions. Here's how: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. (4 of 6)

How to write great image descriptions | Twitter Help

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We want it to be easy for folks to make their Tweets accessible. Image descriptions are a simple way to expand info access to people with disabilities, and everyone who wants more context. Here’s how to add descriptions to your images: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. (3 of 6)

How to add image descriptions | Twitter Help

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Topics to follow

Carousel

If you forget to add image descriptions, turning on the reminder will be a big favor to your future self. And to everyone on Twitter. Actually, if everyone turns it on, everyone would be helping everyone. Here’s how to turn on the reminder: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. (2 of 6)

Screenshot of the Accessibility tab in Twitter Settings and privacy on iOS. The four categories on-screen are Vision, Motion, Hearing, and Images. The toggle next to Images is on and the description is: “Receive image description reminder. Enables a reminder to add image descriptions before a Tweet can be sent.”

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We’ve been talking about it. You’ve been asking for it. We’ve been working on it. Today, we launched it: the image description reminder! It’s live to 10% of global Twitter across Android, iOS, and Web. 🧵 (1 of 6)

Screenshot of the image description reminder modal. The text says: Don’t forget to make your image accessible. Good image descriptions are concise yet detailed. Be sure to summarize or write out any text in the image itself. Your description makes Twitter accessible to people with disabilities, and everyone who wants more context. You can turn off this reminder in Accessibility Settings. The first button says Add descriptions. The second button says Not this time.

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Jul 7

July #TwitterA11yStatus In progress: - Image description reminder - Updates to Accessibility Settings Up next: - Media closed captions toggle Exploring: - Live captioning in Spaces - Closed captions customization - Profile photo image descriptions - OCR for image descriptions

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Twitter Support

Jun 23

The choice is now yours: the closed caption toggle is now available for everyone on iOS and Android! Tap the “CC” button on videos with available captions to turn the captions off/on.

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Twitter Support

· Apr 22

Video captions or no captions, it’s now easier to choose for some of you on iOS, and soon on Android. On videos that have captions available, we’re testing the option to turn captions off/on with a new “CC” button.

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Haben Girma

@HabenGirma

Jun 9

Yes, blind people are on Twitter. But most sighted people don’t add alt text to images, excluding us from conversations. For years I’ve used alt text knowing the sweetness of full inclusion. Now, I'm able to partner w/

@MicrosoftEdge

to show #AltTextAddsMore #MicrosoftPartner

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wanted to show how important Alt Text is to a blind user's experience on Twitter Blind users often use screen readers to read Twitter, but not images. Alt text describes them. On Twitter, a photo is worth 1,000 characters. #AltTextAddsMore #MicrosoftPartner

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Jun 1

June #TwitterA11yStatus In progress: - Image description reminder Up next: - Media closed captions toggle Exploring: - Live captioning in Spaces - Closed captions customization - Profile photo image descriptions - Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for image descriptions

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May 31

This is going to be an interesting conversation.

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Brett Lewis

@BrettLewisJudo

· May 31

Join me for a discussion with @aaronlev on the past, present, and future of ARIA Set a reminder for my upcoming Space! twitter.com/i/spaces/1OwxW

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Brett Lewis

@BrettLewisJudo

May 24

Join me for a discussion with Rob Gallo. We will be reminiscing about developing screen readers for Windows, our experiences working with ARIA in the early days, and our journeys with accessibility over the years. Set a reminder for my upcoming Space!

May 23

Did you miss our special #GAAD event on

@TwitterSpaces

? Check out the replay to learn about the Accessibility Experience Team, how we work, and more information on our recent/ upcoming projects.

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May 20

The second installment of the #LearningA11yDesign Spaces series will discuss audio interfaces with a designer and researcher.

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Lauren Race

@Lauren_Race

· May 20

We are hosting our second #LearningA11yDesign space on Monday 5/23 at 12:05 pm EST with special guests @c_at_work and @Mr_DannySingh. All are welcome! twitter.com/i/spaces/1OwxW

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We had to include an example of a Twitter account that’s nailing image descriptions.

consistently delivers with clear, focused image descriptions that add value to the Tweet content they publish.

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Twitter Support

· May 18

What’s that Space bar at the top of Home? It shows Spaces that people you follow are speaking in/listening to. Tap in to join or scroll down on the TL to dismiss the bar. Choose who can see your Spaces listening activity from Settings & privacy > Privacy & safety > Spaces

Two iOS phone screens. The screen on the left shows the Home timeline with the Space bar at the top with icons for three live Spaces. The screen on the right shows the settings page for Spaces listening activity –– "Allow followers to see which Spaces you're listening to" is toggled on.

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If you’re not into cats, check out

@WeRateDogs

featuring funny and well-described fluffy, adorableness.

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WeRateDogs®

@dog_rates

· May 19

This is Hongseol. She just started blossoming. Not sure what's going to happen next but she welcomes it. 13/10

a small, fluffy white pomeranian sits on a white blanket surrounded by fallen flowers. five white cherry blossom flowers are emerging from her fluff, including one from the very top of her noggin. her expression conveys a cautious concern and perhaps slight confusion. a small globe of light placed on the blanket in front of her casts an upward shadow, giving her an extra powerful aura.

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small, fluffy white pomeranian with five cherry blossom flowers in her fur gazes up and to her left. a glowing light in front of her casts majestic shadows on her face. a cherry blossom tree in full bloom can be seen in the background along with the gray skies of dawn or dusk. the pup looks ready for whatever happens next.

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@JortsTheCat

has delightful image descriptions about delightful cats.

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Jorts (and Jean)

@JortsTheCat

· May 15

Jean is happy to brainstorm, but she WILL give honest feedback. She is not here to be anyone’s yes-cat

A tortoiseshell cat is laying on her side with her front paws outstretched. Next to her is a small wad of yellow paper, possibly a post-it note.

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@amdev

always has delicious image descriptions because he often Tweets images of his (mis)adventures making homemade pizzas!

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Amro Mousa

@amdev

· May 1

I made pizza with my kids today. Unfortunately, I left the chimney cap on and the oven got very near 1000F. Crispy pies as a result, tasted good tho! Customary gratuitous animation

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In honor of #GAAD, we’d like to highlight some examples of incredible image descriptions. These descriptions are plainspoken, thorough, evocative, and/or hilarious. 🧵 (1 of 5) #TwitterGAAD22

Twitter has shifted left and accessibility is becoming a fundamental part of how we research, design, write, and build products. Our Accessibility Statement sets the stage for everything we’re doing: help.twitter.com/en/resources/a. #GAAD #TwitterGAAD22

Accessibility

Image descriptions can be poetic, funny, plainspoken, and infused with personality. When you write descriptions for your images, you’re making Twitter more accessible for everyone. So what’s your image description style? We can help: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. #GAAD #TwitterGAAD22

How to write great image descriptions | Twitter Help

You may have noticed the black badge with white text that says ALT in the corner of certain images in your Timeline. These images have a description added to them. When you select the ALT badge, that description pops up. Try it. help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. #GAAD #TwitterGAAD22

How to use the ALT badge and GIF label | Twitter Help

Based on our research, .06% of images on Twitter are accessible. You can make images on Twitter accessible by writing a description (or alt text) for your images. Here are the four steps to adding a description to your images: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. #GAAD #TwitterGAAD22

How to add image descriptions | Twitter Help

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How will Spaces feel? Check out our Spaces Sensory Guide.

Spaces is a place to come together, built around the voices of the people using Twitter, your Twitter community.

About Twitter Spaces

Automatic captions are fine when that’s the only option, but manually-created caption files are the best. You can upload your own caption file to your videos on Web. Here’s how: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt. #GAAD #TwitterGAAD22

How to upload caption (.srt) file to Tweets | Twitter Help

The accessibility features of Twitter are constantly increasing. We wanted to share the work we’ve done, and the work you can do, to make Twitter accessible for everyone. #GAAD #TwitterGAAD22

Accessibility features of Twitter | Twitter Help

Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day (#GAAD)! Today, we’re going to tweet about ways to make your Tweets accessible. At 9:30 EDT, we're hosting a Space to intro the team and chat about our work. Follow along at #TwitterGAAD22 and use this image to celebrate #GAAD2022.

#GAAD in black letters on a white background in the middle of the card, with blue speckles in the background. On the right-hand side is a strip of blue with white textured lines. A white Twitter bird is in the upper right-hand corner.

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May 18

Join the Twitter Accessibility Experience Team for a special #GAAD conversation. Meet the team, hear about our projects, and learn more about accessibility at Twitter.

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May 12

Update: Expecting improvements to start with Android v9.42 next week.

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· Apr 22

Update: Parts of this has been resolved for Android, but we are still working on some remaining issues. More updates coming soon. twitter.com/TwitterA11y/st…

May 2

Bug update: Providing alt text for GIF's added to DM's on the web has been restored.

Apr 22

Update: Parts of this has been resolved for Android, but we are still working on some remaining issues. More updates coming soon.

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· Apr 12

Bug update: The bug that caused Timelines to auto-scroll to the top in the Android app has been addressed. The fix will go out with version 9.39 on April 19th.

Apr 15

A quick explainer about the differences between closed captions, open captions, and subtitles.

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Alexa Heinrich (she/her)

@HashtagHeyAlexa

· Apr 15

Because I feel like not everyone knows this: Closed captions are captions that you can turn on and off. Open captions are permanently burned or embedded into a video and cannot be turned off. Subtitles are language specific captions. They can be closed or open.

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Apr 12

iOS bug updates: The bug causing unlabeled buttons on the focal status will be fixed in version 9.7. The bug causing VO to truncate image descriptions in timelines will be fixed in version 9.8. Dates for the releases are TBD.

Apr 12

Bug update: The bug that caused Timelines to auto-scroll to the top in the Android app has been addressed. The fix will go out with version 9.39 on April 19th.

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Apr 7

As promised, the ALT badge and exposed image descriptions go global today. Over the past month, we fixed bugs and gathered feedback from the limited release group. We're ready. You're ready. Let's describe our images! Here's how: help.twitter.com/en/using-twitt

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· Mar 9

We've gotten a lot of feedback about how to improve the image description (or alt text) experience on Twitter. Today, we're launching 2 features to 3% of Twitter across Android, iOS, and Web: the public ALT badge and exposed image descriptions.

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Screenshot of a published Tweet with an image of a cup of espresso. The exposed image description appears above the ALT badge and says: A small white mug with a tiny loop handle, with a shot of deep brown espresso and a light brown crema on top. The mug sits on a small white saucer on a medium brown wooden table.

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Mar 22

Join

@DakotaAter

, VP of Software and Corporate Business Development, and

@brettlewisjudo