Personally I think alt-text is valuable for everyone, not for just people with visual impairments.
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@Yehuda I struggle with discerning things at low-contrast, or just knowing wtf I'm supposed to be looking at.
The text is important. The image is optional, but usually doesn't provide anything that the text didn't already do. It usually feels like a waste of bandwidth more than anything else.
I show the alt-text first and click through to the images sometimes.
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@Yehuda
At this point, 245 people have taken this survey and only 2% say, "I'm visually impaired & often read AltTxt."I'm surprised it's that low.
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I'm intermittently impaired and often read alt text whether impaired or not. Sometimes I see an image fine but don't understand something about it.
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@Yehuda Yup. No visual deficiencies. Always read it. Always write it.
With memes I tend to keep it short. E.g. I just say "finger guy meme" for the one on this reply. When it's something visual I describe it. When it's one of my cats I like to keep it funny and I use their names, "calico tortie Thebe" or "tuxedo tom Tobi".
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I use it if I'm curious about a location where a photo was taken. It's not always in the alt text however.
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@Yehuda
I love alt text. It often gives me context to images I wouldn't know otherwise. And sometimes people add snarky side comments that make me laugh. Usually, though, it just clarifies why the person posted the image - because their description often focuses on the reason they chose it to post.i like hiding little bits of humor in alt text but i've worried that overdoing it might be annoying to people with actual need for it
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@Yehuda I'm not visually impaired, yet but I quite always read the alt text because being autistic and ADHD i need context.
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️ I'm not visually impaired and I read AltTxt more often than 'rarely' but less often than 'often'. 
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@Yehuda I'm borderline visually impaired insofar as I'm old and often looking at tiny images on my phone screen, so I read alt text to find out what I'm looking at. It's especially helpful if the image has text (cartoons etc).
When I write alt text I mostly aim for context rather than literal visual description of everything in the picture.
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ok wow, 613 poll responses in the first 60 mins - Mvto!
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@Yehuda I dont really read it but i still think its important to have.
But i use subtitles on movies etc even though i speak the language, so yeah these things arent always *just* for the people you might have in mind first.
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@Yehuda 100%. I read alt text sometimes just to feel less stupid about whatever I was supposed to notice or infer about the image or body text.
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@Yehuda I read most of them out of curiosity.
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@Yehuda the curb cut principle
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@Yehuda Yup. No visual deficiencies. Always read it. Always write it.
With memes I tend to keep it short. E.g. I just say "finger guy meme" for the one on this reply. When it's something visual I describe it. When it's one of my cats I like to keep it funny and I use their names, "calico tortie Thebe" or "tuxedo tom Tobi".
@rozeboosje @Yehuda yeah, I also subscribe to the idea of "getting to the point" when writing alt text. I take the "alt" part to heart, focusing on "the point" or key details of why I posted it, instead of going full descriptive text. Sometimes "full descriptive" is the intent tho.
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@Yehuda (I voted "I'm not visually impaired and often read alt text" although I'm technically visually impaired because I'm short sighted. But it's not influencing if I'm able to see pictures posted here: I always wear my glasses or hold my phone close enough to my face to be able to see the screen clearly)
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i like hiding little bits of humor in alt text but i've worried that overdoing it might be annoying to people with actual need for it
@gloriouscow @realtegan @Yehuda
I like to add extra bits of humour especially with them in mind. Or some more background info. I don’t think it’s annoying, more like a little extra treat that makes reading it more enjoyable.
I think alt-text readers all deserve an extra smile or giggle
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I'm intermittently impaired and often read alt text whether impaired or not. Sometimes I see an image fine but don't understand something about it.
@springdiesel @Yehuda Yeah! I don't consider myself impaired, but some posts really don't provide enough context without alt text. I don't think most people need full descriptive text, but hitting on "why" you chose to include this image succinctly can greatly improve everyone's understanding.
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@Yehuda I've disabled media previews in my Mastodon app, so I only see alt text or the ugly "no description" message when it's absent. Then I decide if I wanna click to see the pic/vid/gif.
