One of the challenges that technology must always take into account is to make it accessible to everyone, including people with any type of disability.
Although this function has been around since 2018, I must admit that I have only been aware of it for a short time. How did it take me so long to find out? For this reason, I think it is necessary to write about this Instagram tool that helps make the app an accessible place for people with visual impairments.
Making Instagram accessible to people with visual impairments is, in part, the task of all of us who use the social network. Because? Because this function must be activated by each user and used each time we upload a new photo to our profile.
I tell you more below.
How to make Instagram accessible to visually impaired people
The accessibility feature that Instagram offers is very simple: you just have to activate it every time you upload a new photo. You can write a description of the photo you uploaded or choose to automatically generate this description.
It’s a very simple gesture that will only add a few extra seconds to your time when uploading a new photo to your Instagram account and will help make Instagram a place more people can enjoy, including people with visual impairments.
When I discovered this option and started using it, one of my questions was: how do I describe an image to someone who can’t see? The most important thing will be to determine beforehand the intention of your image or the type of image: is it a decorative, informative, funny photo…? In a blog post And you really have threea very interesting guide is offered on how to describe images to people with visual impairments.
And now, to start using this very inclusive feature, you only have to perform the following steps:
1. When you are going to upload a new photo to your Instagram profile, select the option to ‘Advanced settings’at the very bottom of the screen.
2. Once in “Advanced Settings”, under the category of ‘Accessibility‘, you will see the option to ‘Write alt text’. Choose this option.
3. Next, a new section will open with a text box where you can manually describe the image you are going to upload. Keep in mind the guide on how to describe an image for people who can’t see that we talked about in previous sections.
Can I add the “Alt Text” feature to photos that have already been published?
Yes, you can add Instagram alt text feature on old posts. It will take more work to go through your entire profile, especially if you have a lot of photos, and add descriptions. However, it’s something PCWorld definitely recommends doing: its goal is worth the effort.
To add alt text to photos already posted, choose a photo on your Instagram profile and tap the alt text icon. three points in the upper right corner. Choose ‘To modify’.
When the photo is ready to be edited, you will see at the bottom of the photo that there are two options: ‘Tag people’ and ‘Edit alt text’. Choose the second and the text box will open for you to write the description of the photo.
And with that, we will all contribute to making social networks, and more specifically Instagram, a site more accessible to people with visual impairments.
If you want to learn more about Instagram, we also have other tutorials on the social network that you might be interested in:
