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I have an autistic friend here who I just found out has a large collection of online art they created. But this person doesn't share it here, because they have trouble describing visual details verbally. So I wanted to ask the community on this person's behalf:

What are the options for assistance with *creating* alt text? I know we have tags like #AltText4You, but I've never used it, so I don't know proper etiquette. (Is there any?) I also know there are automated tools for doing it, but (1) I don't know what they're called and (2) IDK if they are actually helpful to visually impaired folks.

I was thinking at the very least, this person could ask for help writing alt text, in the alt text itself, and then simply edit it once someone has assisted.

Please boost so we can get a variety of perspectives on this. I'm especially interested in hearing from the visually impaired community, as this impacts them the most.

#alttext4you

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in reply to Aaron

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Liz Hare PhD

Great question, thanks to you & yr friend for caring abt sharing their work. Id prefer the hashtag to summon writers. AI might list things in the image & use a limited vocabulary of emotional terms. A human can give such abetter explanation. I don't trust AI. It would be great if the artist could say something about the meaning of the work to them even if they can't provide a visual description-- that would make the experience more connected. But I get if that's not available.
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