Alt text and GIFs on Twitter

Now that Twitter allows alt text on GIFs. We take a look at how to write good alt text for GIFs.

The Twitter-verse is full of GIFs, adding humour, sentiment and context to people’s Twitter feeds. Like emojis, GIFs are often used instead of text when people are trying to get across their feelings or intent. But it wasn’t until 31 January 2020 Twitter made these GIFs accessible to blind users too, by allowing the addition of alt text.

What is a GIF?

GIF stands for Graphical Interchange Format; they are a file format for images, just like .JPEG or .PNG. GIFs look like a short video played in a loop. The GIF file contains multiple images that are played back in sequence.

What is alt text?

Alt text (short for alternative text) is a textual description of an image, such as a GIF. This description is announced by assistive technologies to tell people who cannot see the image what the image is showing. It is very important to add alt text for all images, including GIFs. If there is no alt text available, users with low vision or blindness will not be able to access any of the information shown in the image with their screen readers.

How to write alt text for GIFs

• Writing alt text for GIFs isn’t all that different from writing alt text for images but there are a couple of tips which may help ensure that the alternative text is meaningful:
• We often hear, “a picture says a thousand words”, but this does not mean that alt text needs to be very long. Don’t get bogged down in the details. For example, unless the people in the background are doing something that contributes to the meaning of the GIF, there is no need to mention them. It’s also generally not necessary to mention what someone is wearing (unless, of course, it’s a GIF of Ross from Friends in an Armadillo costume, in which case it might be worth mentioning).
• GIFs often communicate feelings and emotion so make sure that you include these within your alt description as well
• Something that sets GIFs apart from images is the fact that they move. If there is any movement that adds to the meaning of the GIF, make sure you include that. For example, this could be someone falling over, or the camera quickly panning to the right.
• You don’t have to describe exactly what everything and everyone looks like for every single GIF. Especially if the GIF shows a celebrity, it is enough to use the name of the celebrity.
• If it is relevant, mention the environment and background in the alt text. For example, if the GIF shows people dancing, the meaning of the GIF might be different if people are dancing in a club or in their living room.

One more thing about GIFs…

Many GIFs have flashing lights or strobe lighting which can be triggering for people with photosensitivity or photosensitive epilepsy. If your GIF contains flashing lights or strobe lighting, make sure you include a content warning. It is common for users with photosensitivity or photosensitive epilepsy to disable auto-playing GIFs on social media platforms such as Twitter. Content warnings can let users know that certain frames within the GIF may be triggering so they can choose not to play it.

How to add alt text on Twitter

You can add alt text to GIFs and images on Twitter when adding them to your tweet.

1. Select the GIF or image you want to tweet
2. Click on the =ALT button in the bottom right corner
3. Write your description (up to 1000 characters)
4. Click done
5. Click Tweet as usual to post