Some nice improvements to Mastodon coming in 5.0
Mostly to do with how posts are composed which was always cramped and weird in the past.
And no more mixing up normal posts with DMs.
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/08/5.0-laying-the-foundation/Open linkView original on piefed.socialHere are my 2 most overlooked Mastodon Alt-Text features!
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45484461
Only found them by coincidence ;)
1️⃣ In "/settings/preferences/appearance" under "Advanced settings" you can find the option to "Warn me before posting media without alt text"
You can see the error message I see whenever I forget alttext in the second image hehe
2️⃣ When you post an image with text in it, you can simply use the magic AI feature "Add text from image". It usually works very well!
Alt text: "Screenshot of the warning you get with the warning for missing alt enabled. "Add alt text? Your post contains media without alt text. Adding descriptions helps make your content accessible to more people." Below it are 3 buttons "Cancel" "Post anyway" and "Add alt text"
Alt text: "Screenshot of the alt text window, the option "Add text from image" is circled in red.
This is how that "AI" option described the text of the image I posted: "Describe this for people with visual impairments. 1500 Add text from image"
The Fediverse ALT-Text issue
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/45437770
I've been thinking a lot about the Fediverse ALT issue.
Some people are annoyed by posts without Alttext, & others get reminded¹ to add it.
The core question is: How can we improve accessibility?
Proposal: ☑️ Add a user filter to hide media posts without AltTag ☑️ Reduced engagement on hidden posts would encourage adding Alt text ☑️ People who need accessibility wouldn't have to encounter unlabeled media
If this gets traction, I'll open a Mastodon GitHub issue (maybe on others too?).
















