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The Fediverse ALT-Text issue (europe.pub)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/fediverse@lemmy.world
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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?).

¹ https://mastodon.social/@madeindex/113996311493021102

Screenshot of Mastodon "Preferences" > "Filters" > "Add new filter". The "Add new filters" page is open, under "Filter controls" a new red checkbox labeled “NO ALT” is added.
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[–] 4 points 6 months ago* (2 children)

That's a good start but i'm worried that most of us are lazy. They won't change their habits unless you enforce it.

I wouldn't condemn AI in this case. For example most of captioned video come from AI. Yes there is typo, lenghty text, missing text, nonsensical text but they do a fairly good job. No one have the time to create subtitle, and engaging professional may be costly.

Without AI, i wouldn't be able to watch and understand videos, podcasts nor get a transcript.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago* (1 child)

    No one have the time to create subtitle, and engaging professional may be costly.

    Bitch I lived through the anime fansub times of the early 00s. Sometimes the fans had the subs ready before the episode came out, and they were top notch quality, even with localization considerations. And they were doing it for free (if still for the cred). AI can only ever hope to have that sort of dedication.

    Like, really, what kind of brainrot do you have? We've had internationalized captions and content decades before we had AI.

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  • [–] 2 points 6 months ago

    TL; DR

    However, not every videos are captioned. You can't match the scale of created content.

    I have a nuanced opinion on AI. They are part of corpothieve, tech bro that destroy our environement and promote fascism or occidental visio on the world. On the other hand, it is also a tool that can help deaf people in their daily life and scientific research.

    Brainrot

    I didn't insult you. I shared my deaf experience. We come from different background...was it needed ? Why ?

    I was also there in 00s. Yes, my mom also created subtitle for some french movies. I also created some subtitle for video, translated them...Yes, there was fansub, with a huge dedicated communities. They are awesome and they played a keypart on sharing other culture. Thank you to you all and them. 😊

    the scale of uncaptionned videos

    However, not every videos are captioned.

    That's the point you misunderstood : the scale of uncaptionned video and the deadline. Given the huge amount of videos, a fansub can't match the scale of video content created every days. That's where AI can save my day. It does help me.

    If i watch something that doesn't have a fansub, community : 0 captions. So i have to create a request in your communities. some people may accept, some people may reject it. At best i have to wait some days or months. It depend on our free time since we are doing voluntary work.

    You omited podcasts. If i try any french webradio : 0 transcript. Some people used AI to get a transcript for their podcast. They reread and corrected it. It helped them getting a transcript quickly and i benefit from it.

    my deaf experience

    I studied space design. Teachers shared lot videos on architecture, those videos weren't captioned, so as a student i poured lot effort to understand what they said in those videos...At the end of day, i was exhausted. I poured too much effort and ended up in burn out.

    Later, i followed a course to become a farmer. It was during the Covid period. I had to wait 6 months to get sign language interpreters. Not only i lost half a year battling to get sign language interpreters, but i also had to watch video on agroecology without manmade captions and participate to visio meeting...Luckily, there was some apps as Ava, google transcript and later Lokas (free software from framasoft. It use whysper) that use artificial intelligence. Teachers and students weared mask, i couldn't read on their lips. So how do you handle it ?

    I can't imagine how i would deal it without those AI app. It would be hell and would have stopped my lesson because of burn out.

    The french election in 2024

    Another example. In 2024, the french president dissolved the national assembly. Election were upcoming in less a month. I battled very hard to get captionned videos, contacted lot people, joined various group, called deputies to get their video captioned for deaf people and translated in sign language. We were a team and only got two or three videos...

    conclusion

    I can use those AI app when :

    • no one is taking note on a collaborative pad
    • if interpreters aren't available.
    • if there is no caption

    Lastly, some deaf friends told me they used AI to help them writting good sentence. Most of deaf people struggle with writting.

    So, I have a nuanced opinion on AI. They are part of corpothieve, tech bro that destroy our environement and promote fascism or occidental visio on the world. On the other hand, it is also a tool that can help deaf people in their daily life and scientific research.

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