Alt text, just a tweet away
04.23.15 · rubyLast weekend, Cameron Cundiff did the world a solid by making the web more accessible at NYU’s ABILITY Hackathon.
His project, @alt_text_bot, provides alt text for images on Twitter. All you have to do is Tweet or RT an image @alt_text_bot and it’ll tweet you back with a text description.
Mention @alt_text_bot with an image/retweet of an image and it will reply with a description. Try it! #connectability pic.twitter.com/EekZ951xPh
— Cameron Cundiff (@ckundo) April 18, 2015alt=man wearing black framed eyeglasses putting up two thumbs up . https://t.co/4e3Clg4bPt - @Asparagirl
— Alt Text Bot (@alt_text_bot) April 21, 2015It can recognize text, objects, people, and yes — memes too!
@alt_text_bot pic.twitter.com/BC5mTnump6
— Alfredo Reinado (@tediscript) April 21, 2015alt=one more word and i'll hit you again meme. https://t.co/pqQrvIV8MP - @tediscript
— Alt Text Bot (@alt_text_bot) April 21, 2015@alt_text_bot is a clever hack and takes advantage of CloudSight’s image recognition API. And with a little more love, it could be a huge benefit to anybody with a visual impairment.
And actually, there’s no reason to stop there. Why not add alt text to every image on the web? Or translate it into other languages? How about Instagram / Flickr integrations?
If you like this project or you’re interested in assistive technology, please please please join the AT&T NYU Connect Ability Challenge. Because, the last thing the world needs is another weather / hook up app. (And if that’s not enough, there are $90K in prizes.)