In the digital age where everything is always going faster, users want to see, learn and understand the information given to them in the blink of an eye. It is for this reason that in April 2022 and after numerous tests, Twitter announced the launch of its feature : adding alternative texts for visual content.
In the form of a small badge, this novelty was designed by the social network following numerous requests from its users. Now fully developed on the platform and on the way to being implemented in the spirit of the twittersphere, Maison Made in offers you a short guide to understand and make the best use of this feature, which is as fun as it is necessary.
We say it very often, a picture is worth a thousand words and it is not the codes put forward by Twitter that will make us say the opposite. With tweets limited to 280 characters, illustrating your words with an image seems the best way to make your communication complete and attractive on social media. It is at this precise moment that the alternative text comes in, a quick tool to use which will make it possible to optimize the reading of the images.
In a few words, we could define the textual alternative as a text or a sequence of words directly associated with the graphic content highlighted, which will allow its decryption in an instant. In other words, the alternative text is a medium that should not be used sparingly but by following a few simple rules. When writing it, you have to think about three main axes: the nature of the photo, what it represents overall and what differentiates it. In this way, the person who reads your tweet will be able to identify the objects present in the image, what people are doing, but also if it is a screenshot or a monochrome close-up picture, for example. A succinct and above all objective description of the visual accompanying your tweet remains the key words for an Alt text produced according to the rules of the art.
To find out how to add your textual alternative when publishing a tweet, it’s simple! Once your image has been imported, all you have to do is click on the +ALT button at the bottom right of your photo. A dedicated field is displayed for the description of the photo, you write it within a limit of 1,000 characters and voila! For the user, a small ALT icon systematically appears at the bottom left of the photo when it has an alternative text, so that he can be informed and then easily access it.
With 206 million daily active users, Twitter is a platform overflowing with textual and pictorial information of all kinds, the flow of which never stops. The social media with the little blue bird is positioned as a privileged place of exchange, where users enjoy appropriating and then sharing the latest meme that has amused them. So for people who take advantage of the richness of the platform using a screen reader, the alternative text takes on its full meaning. Blind people or visual impaired users are the first target Twitter seeks to reach with this essential feature. In the context of ever more developed access to information and entertainment, the text alternative allows blind or visually impaired users to read and instantly appropriate the images shared by the Twittersphere.
If your image is described according to the standards of alternative text, with a description that is neither too long nor too concise and which accurately describes what the image shows, the user will immediately know what the image and your tweet is about. In the event that he faces a longer loading time than usual, he can easily imagine the visual and may want to wait for it to appear. Arousing the interest of its prospects is essential and this requires all the elements and tools that Twitter is able to offer.
Alternative texts are among the pioneers of SEO and respond to different issues that are just as important as each other. Accessibility is now at the heart of Twitter’s priorities and this technology is really establishing itself as an essential support for ease of reading, whatever the problem encountered by the user in the context of his research. At the start of the school year, the social media also deployed a reminder feature for alternative texts, in order to further encourage its users to set them up. However, this option is not activated by default at the moment, so you have to go to the settings to receive these notifications.
If you want to develop your communication on Twitter to create relevant content adapted to your brand strategy, Maison Made in offers you its expertise in social media and supports you in the success of your objectives. Let’s discuss it during a personalized exchange: contact.
Photo Credit – Unsplash : Alexander Shatov
