This came up recently and I'm still pondering.
When you're writing alt-text for an image which portrays people, do you describe the skin colour / apparent ethnicity of the people in the photo?
Why or why not?
This came up recently and I'm still pondering.
When you're writing alt-text for an image which portrays people, do you describe the skin colour / apparent ethnicity of the people in the photo?
Why or why not?
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
DevOps Descent -
Jamie -
Sukhpinder Singh -
ispmanager.com -
Top comments (2)
TL;DR: No.
Ask yourself: Is the main purpose of posting the image, the race and ethnicity of the people in the photo? For an abled user look at the photo, is this the main take away?
The vast majority of the time the answer is No. For your banner photo, your
alt
text should be "two business people shaking hands while others around them applaud". That's it. That's all you need to convey the point of the image. The race/gender/ethnicity of the actors involved is irrelevant is this case.Yes, full stop. Sorting through these issues is part of what I do for a living.
Those most affected by systemic racism have reported in numerous publications that the ethnicity of those represented in the screens they browse IS relevant to them, even though it might not seem relevant to those not impacted by systemic racism, i.e., white people.
I advocate centering the views of those most impacted who cite these reasons for including physical descriptions of people in alt text: