Image Descriptions Finally Possible for Desktop Tweets

In March, Twitter enabled users of its mobile apps the option to add a text description (alt text) when tweeting images. Last week, the Twitter A11y Team announced this functionality is available to users of its desktop website too.

screenshot of the Twitter a11y tweet announcing desktop support for image descriptions, alt tags

To enable this feature, go to the Profile > Settings > Accessibility screen using the desktop version of twitter.com. Check the box for “Compose image descriptions,” then click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Screenshot of the Twitter accessibility screen

You’re all set! The next time you insert an image into a tweet, you’ll have the option to compose a description, which will be added as alt text for screen readers.

Click the ‘Add description’ option at the bottom of the attached image.

Screenshot of a new twitter dialog box with the option to add an image description

Type a useful image description into the form field and click ‘Apply.’

screenshot of the image description screen for an image attached to a tweet

Here’s the image description as alt tag in the HTML.

<img data-aria-label-part="" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjzeFsQVEAAOQyk.jpg" alt="close up of a tabby cat's face" style="width: 100%; top: -84px;">

If an image is not given a text description, an empty alt attribute is used instead.