AltBotUY is a Twitter bot that helps promote the use of alt_text to describe images circulating on Twitter. The goal? For all people to be able to access the content, especially the blind.

«Network accessibility can be a great tool for social inclusion. This is not only the responsibility of the platforms, but also of the users who participate in them,» explains Rodrigo Laguna, an engineer specialized in Machine Learning and collaborator at Pyxis for Humans.

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Rodrigo invites us to rethink how we use our networks and specifically Twitter. When we share photos through this network, we have the option of writing a description of the images so that more people can access the content. It is an action that most people are unaware of and that means a lot, for example, for blind people. Basically the alt_text is the only way they have to access the content of these images. It consists of a short text describing the image for those who cannot see it.  

How did the idea come up?

Rodrigo was inspired by a text written by Milagros Costabel, a girl from Colonia del Sacramento, blind since birth, who was accepted at Harvard University. There she describes the difficulties to know what is seen in an image on the Internet.

Today many people like Milagros resort to software that reads aloud what is written on the screen. In the case of images, photographs are described using alt text. If that image has no alt text, blind people cannot know what is being said. This means that many times, as Milagros says, they are left out of conversations generated from these images, for example, with memes.

Step by step to include alternative text

The action to describe the photos we upload to the networks is very simple and quick to execute.

• If you use Twitter, when uploading a photo you have to go to «add description».
• If you are on Instagram, you have to go to the «edit» option and choose «edit alternative text».

How does the bot work?

It works as follows:

• If you follow it and authorize DMs, the bot notifies you by DM when you write a tweet with images without alt_text. To authorize it, just RT this tweet. You can stop using it at any time by deactivating it or unfollowing the bot.
• You can request alt_text usage reports for arbitrary accounts. Just post a tweet mentioning the bot and up to three other accounts, here is an example.

You can also ask if a particular image contains alt_text. To do this, you have to mention the bot in response to a tweet with images (only to the bot). We share an example of a case that did not have alt-text (in case it does, it responds with its details):

All tweets processed by the bot and containing alt_text earn a fav/like ❤️ from the bot: no content or quality check.

VERY IMPORTANT: If at any time the bot follows your account, it is because the content of your account is relevant. Please do not block it: automatic image description services will be added in the future: if your account blocks the bot, other users will not be able to use these automatic image description services on your tweets, and they will be harmed. You can contact @ro_laguna_ to solve any problem or to ask the bot to stop following you.

Currently only images are checked: gifs, videos and the like are ignored.

The bot runs periodically, so it may take a few hours between the time the tweet is posted and AltBotUY processes it.

AltBotUY: Next steps

The bot plans to be an automatic and more complete tool. In addition to messages that remind you to include alt text, Rodrigo intends for it to be a solution that describes images.

Remember. If there is an account you think the bot should follow, you can suggest it. Checking alt_text usage in images without a screen reader can be tricky. Throwing the bot in response to an image can be useful for curious users who want to check if any relevant image contains alt_text in a simple way, it also contributes to the bot’s visibility, and shows you the alt-text if it has one.

Interested in learning more about how AltBotUY works and/or want to collaborate in the project? You can find the code here: https://github.com/rola93/altBot, or contact @ro_laguna_.