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Joel Beard
May 18, 2023
Related video: Rishi Sunak ignored by students as he repeatedly asks for questions
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You’d think that the Conservative government – and indeed, political parties of all colours – would be committed to the idea of making politics accessible to as many people as possible, but one Twitter post from Rishi Sunak on Wednesday would suggest otherwise.
Sharing an image of his cabinet, split up into four smaller rectangular images, the prime minister wrote: “We are working day-in and day-out to grow the economy.”
Sounds typically tedious, but for anyone needing to access the alt text feature, all four images say the same thing: “We’re growing the economy.”
And that’s not how you write alt text.
For those unfamiliar, alt text is a way in which you can make images more accessible to those who are blind or visually impaired - for example - by describing the key details and information contained in a photo or graphic.
As Twitter’s own Help Center article on writing “great image descriptions” states: “The goal of writing mage descriptions is to be clear and concise, while giving more context to your tweet.
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“It’s important to capture action, movement, relationships, noteworthiness, visual details, and anything unique.
“Note people, pets, things, their names (if relevant), and their relationship to each other. Depending on topic relevance, mention the race, gender, age, etc. of people.”
Obviously, none of this is contained in the simple description of “we’re growing the economy”, and Mr Sunak’s misuse of the feature was described by author Adam Kay as “the worst alt text I’ve ever seen”.
\u201c@RishiSunak This is the worst alt text I've ever seen.\u201d— Rishi Sunak (@Rishi Sunak) 1684341781
Other Twitter users – including charities representing blind people such as the Royal National Institute for Blind people (RNIB) – have also criticised the government’s approach to the accessibility feature:
\u201cGROSS use of Alt Text. \n\nALT text is used to describe the image for visually impaired users\u2026 \n\nNot to fuel your political agenda.\u201d— annie-mai (@annie-mai) 1684412560
\u201cHello, Prime Minister - this is how your tweet sounds to blind and partially sighted people who use screen readers. There are 1000 characters available for #AltText, which can help make sure all the information you want to share is communicated.\u201d— RNIB (@RNIB) 1684401084
\u201cShame on whoever is running the @RishiSunak account. Absolute insult to visually impaired people the way you've abused the alt text field.\u201d— Rob Armstrong (@Rob Armstrong) 1684406415
\u201cCan someone at N10 spend just 5 minutes to figure out what alt text is for\u201d— James Taylor (@James Taylor) 1684353181
\u201cPrime Minister using ALT text to promote his political agenda \ud83d\ude2c\u201d— Matt Navarra (@Matt Navarra) 1684409215
\u201cWhat in the fuck alt text is this supposed to be?! \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\n\nTalk about insulting\u201d— Angharad \ud83e\uddae\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\udfcb\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@Angharad \ud83e\uddae\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc77\udb40\udc6c\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\udfcb\ud83c\udffc\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1684399874
\u201cMaybe delete and repost with correct alt text now?\n\nHow about: The Cabinet sits around a large table, discussing the disproportionate impact of the #CostOfLiving crisis on #Disabled people.\n\nJust a suggestion...\u201d— Leonard Cheshire (@Leonard Cheshire) 1684412037
\u201cThe award for least accessible use of alt text and image design is a hotly contested category, and yet we have a winner\u201d— Dr Jo Hartland (they/them) \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udda4\ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffb (@Dr Jo Hartland (they/them) \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83d\udda4\ud83e\udddc\ud83c\udffb) 1684398819
\u201c*sigh* can we start using alt text for what it\u2019s actually for please??\u201d— David Chipakupaku \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddf2 (@David Chipakupaku \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\uddf2) 1684399462
The post – shared a day before Global Accessibility Awareness Day on Thursday – follows a string of Twitter accounts posting “click here” images and abusing the alt text tool to make jokes, or share other information not contained in the image:
\u201chttps://t.co/tFfAXlO1oY\u201d— Tweets of Cats (@Tweets of Cats) 1683112858
\u201cclick!!!!\u201d— chia\ud83e\uddda\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@chia\ud83e\uddda\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1682703035
\u201chttps://t.co/BRCeLF2JpN\u201d— FC Barcelona (@FC Barcelona) 1683151695
Thankfully, Specsavers were on hand to explain to other brands why this isn’t OK:
\u201chttps://t.co/iS6V1KuU5D\u201d— Specsavers (@Specsavers) 1683024051
And if you thought the UK government’s latest accessibility failure was a one-off, Number 10 continues to not provide an in-person British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter for its televised press conferences, with Labour MP Vicky Foxcroft signing a question about the issue during Prime Minister’s Questions back in 2021.
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