Twitter to soon alert users to add alt texts to images, custom-built TL also in the works

Twitter will soon start testing a new feature that will remind users to add alternative texts, or alt texts, to photo posts on the platform. In case you did not know, alt texts are written descriptions of what can be seen in an image and it is important for visually impaired users who use screen readers. Visually-impaired users depend on alt text to understand tweets that contain pictures, memes, screenshots, flyers, etc. Twitter recently added support for users to add alt texts to the photos and GIFs that they upload on Twitter which can both be manually written or just added with a few clicks.

According to Twitter spokesperson Shaokyi Amdo, this alert for alt texts will be launching with a small group of users on iOS, Android, and the web. A wider rollout is planned over the next few weeks.

The alt text alert is going to be an opt-in feature and users will be able to turn it on or off from their settings. If you have it turned on, you will see a pop-up before a photo/GIF is posted without alt text that will remind you to add it. This pop-up is similar to the alert Twitter sends to users posting an article reminding them to read it before sharing.

Twitter is also working in custom-built timelines

Additionally, Twitter is also testing a custom-built timeline feature starting with one created for The Bachelorette. These custom-built timelines will be curated by developers allowing them to create topic-focused timeline that can be swiped on clicked on from the main feed. This will lead users through a specific subject-based conversation. These timelines will also be temporary, or so it appears.

The one Twitter is currently testing has been made for The Bachelorette and it will be available for 10 weeks as a “limited test” on the web, only for a small bunch of users in the US and Canada, as Amdo told The Verge. Users who can access this custom-built timeline will be able to get to it from an in-app prompt that will show up only if they follow related topics and accounts of the subject in question, in this case- The Bachelorette.

Now, the content on these custom timelines is going to be algorithmically served and there is no option, as of now, to switch to a chronological feed. “Content that appears in a custom Timeline is selected and ordered based on relevance to the Timeline’s theme using information like search terms, Topics, handles, and manual curation,” Twitter explained.

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