Have I mentioned how much I truly love Akkoma? I heard back from the developer, and she is going to try to do something about the accessibility issues! She's even putting them officially in the list of things to be worked on! Would I recommend this platform to the blind? Absolutely! We are finally getting a place where we belong and where we're respected! For the record, I am dandylover1@blob.cat, but as with other Fediverse platforms, there are many instances. The actual discussion can be found below, if anyone else wants to contribute either experiences or coding knowledge.
meta.akkoma.dev/t/minor-featur…
#Accessibility #Akkoma #Android #blind #Blob.cat #coding #IOS #JAWS #NVDA #Mac #Talkback #Voiceover #WCAG #WebsiteDevelopment #Windows
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𓂀 Cynni 💜 likes this.
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𓂀 Cynni 💜, Darrell Hilliker 👨🦯♾️📡, Trilobite, Veera Laukkarinen and Elischeva91 reshared this.
Attention, blind Akkoma users! I will be writing to the developer with my concerns about a few problems with accessibility on this platform. Most should be easy to resolve. Please let me know if you find any more, and also state what browser and screen reader you are using. Note: This is in reference to the site itself, not to your client of choice. I will post about that separately. For the record, I use NVDA with Firefox.
- Many buttons are unlabelled and simply say "button". This is true on the main page as well as when viewing posts and tabs in profiles. Most work once pressed. They just need to be labelled.
- Searching for people, tags, groups, and posts is inaccessible. I can enter the edit field and write my text, but then, there are two unlabelled buttons next to that. The first simply takes me back to the edit field. The second does nothing. I am assuming this is a submit button that doesn't work via the keyboard.
- It is impossible to view followers, as well as those whom I follow. I can see the numbers of each but not the people and groups themselves.
- I cannot read my own profile without editing it. There appears to be no link where I can simply view it, either as myself or anonymously. If I go to my page and am not logged in, however, I can view it. I can also easily edit it when logged in.
- The page renders very differently in Chrome than in Firefox. In Chrome, I can't see anything but my notifications, so I can't get to my page or the other timelines.
#accessibility #Akkoma #blind #Blob.cat #Chrome #Fediverse #fediverse #Firefox #JAWS #NVDA #html #ScreenReaders #SemanticHtml #Supermium #Windows
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𓂀 Cynni 💜, Jaime Herazo, The Nexus of Privacy, Maike and crossgolf_rebel - kostenlose Kwalitätsposts reshared this.
Tonight, because of the problems with TweeseCake and Blob.cat compatibility, I was reminded of TWBlue. Normally, I don't use it, because I can't edit posts. But other than that one feature, I love it! It even has a few features that TweeseCake doesn't, including the ability to view followers, those whom you follow, and blocked users. It even allows searching within posts and for people! It also allows me to view favourites, which TweeseCake has only partially implemented. There, they disappear, but here, they remain visible. I was also wrong when I said that I can't post paragraphs. It's just that, instead of hitting return as I normally would (and as in TweeseCake, for those curious), I have to hit shift+return. Interestingly, I found that I can edit my Friendica profile perfectly, excluding Friendica-only features such as keywords. Remember, both of these clients are made to work with Mastodon, and the only reason they can work with other platforms is their compatibility with it. Anyway, when I try to edit my profile on Blob.cat, I can't. After I choose "Edit", nothing happens. But the most vexing thing is that TWBlue doesn't include an editing feature for posts! If anyone here works with and/or for them, can you plese either suggest this or strongly consider implementing it? It would make life so much easier and would complement the other features very well.
#accessibility #blind #Blob.cat #clients #Friendica #NVDA #ScreenReaders #TweeseCake #TWBlue #Windows
This is strange. Can anyone please tell me why, whenever I type anything into the TweeseCake edit box in my Blob.cat account, it makes a dinging sound, but it doesn't do that in my Friendica one? This is quite annoying. I didn't change sounds, and even if I wanted to, I'm not sure if they can be changed for individual sessions. Thanks for any help given. Also, like an idiot, I didn't write down the hotkey for deleting seraches, so I forgot it. But the search function doesn't always seem to work, anyway. I tried with the at sign and also the number sign, but searches that worked on the main Friendica site and showed me results from around the Fediverse don't work in TweeseCake with either account.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Yay! I'm on Blob.cat! I am happy to note that almost all of it is accessible, minus one or two minor issues. I have a feeling this is not an instance problem, but an Akkoma problem. Even as a non-programmer, I am also fairly certain that this can be fixed easily. No one needs to rewrite the entire front end, as with Friendica. Basically, in the Profile and Settings, and on the main page, there are some buttons and check boxes that are not labelled properly. The check boxes under Settings, for example, just say "check", without stating if they are checked or unchecked. However, when they are unchecked, there is something labelled simply "button" that appears. There are other buttons for things such as post visibility default, but while they are labelled i.e. "Unlisted", "Public", etc. there is no way to tell which button is checked. In the profile, the Bio section appears blank, even though I filled it out during registration and can read it when I go to my profile without trying to edit it. Finally, on the main page, there are two things labelled simply "button". I think they have something to do with emojis. But that's really it! Everything else is accessible with NVDA, and I love the feature set! I really hope these tiny things can be worked on, because it would make everything truly perfect!
By the way, here is my profile page. I haven't written anything yet, as I was only approved recently.
#accessibility #Akkoma #blind #Blob.Cat #Fediverse #fediverse #Friendica #html #NVDA #ScreenReaders #SemanticHtml #WCAG
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𓂀 Cynni 💜 likes this.
𓂀 Cynni 💜 likes this.
*This is a note for those who wish to follow me. First, please read my profile. Secondly, subscribers are those who follow me, but whom I don't follow in return. Friends are those who follow me and whom I follow in return.
People who will never be accepted: Minors. I don't feel comfortable having anyone under eighteen (preferably twenty-one) follow me, even as subscribers.
People who will always be subscribers: Those who constantly write about politics, who always use obscenities, anti-capitalists, anarchists, extreme leftists and rightists), religious fanatics, those who hardly post in English, only post about technology and/or games (not including accessibility), or medical/mental issues.
Note. I'm not talking about having a bad day or posting once about politics. I'm talking about those who barely post anything else.
People who will always be friends: Those who post about high culture (classical music, good literature, art, history, theatre, wine, coffee, tea, snuff, fine dining, etc.), male fashion, nature, pets (especially cats), plants/gardening, good news, writing, and daily life (without constant drama).
Ironically, you've connected to me first. My channel has only got two topics. The primary topic is a certain kind of 3-D virtual worlds, the secondary topic is the Fediverse beyond Mastodon, although this may include accessibility topics. Since this is not my personal, all-round channel, I don't post about anything else.
I'm working on a series of posts that will touch male fashion. But they'll touch male fashion in the above-mentioned virtual worlds, I'll post them on a dedicated (streams) channel, and this Hubzilla channel will only forward them. Also, expect each one to have both a summary and a spoiler tag for those who are easily triggered by even the slightest eye contact.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
I didn't join Friendica to protest anything. I didn't join to make a political statement. I joined for one reason only. Facebook shut down their Basic Mobile site (not app), and their main site is a nightmare to use with screen readers. That's it. I was just looking for a place where I could find new friends (I lost almost all of mine after moving here), and read interesting things. Yet almost everyone I approve gets set to Subscriber, because of constant political posts, anti-capitalism/extreme leftism, or an obsession with technology. Yes, I post about artificial intelligence, but just as something interesting I read in the news. I don't live for technology. Likewise, I mostly don't choose the places I buy from based on politics, how the workers are paid, what the owners do, etc. It is true that I don't ever give to the Salvation army because of their stance on homosexuality. But I can't simply stop buying from Amazon. I could count the number of books I've bought from them in almost twenty years on one hand. What I do buy from them is everything else, like essentials for my life, from food, to body care, to technology, to household items, and more. I love it when people say "just buy locally". Great! Now can you give me a working pair of eyes, money, and a car? Then, there are those who say "try this site". That seems reasonable. But will they give me free shipping and discounts as Amazon does, and will their selection be as varied? If there is a site like that, I would be more than willing to buy from it. Anyway, I'm just looking for people who share my interests, and while I've found a few, they are very few, indeed. Even those who just post regular things, whether they interest me or not, seem rare here. This probably why so many people don't come to the Fediverse. It's like there's a little clique, and those of us who are not in it are shut out in the cold. Yes, we're invited, and some of the people here are truly wonderful individuals as a whole. But if we have nothing in common with most of them, how are we supposed to find our own? Thank you to those who do post wonderful things. I did find a few of you, and rest assured, you are set to friends and to all, so that I see all of your posts.
As a grammar prescriptivist, I take writing and proper use of words very seriously. I recently saw a post about ending text messages with full stops. Apparently, some think this is a bad idea. No. It's called using punctuation correctly! Perhaps, they should read a few grammars instead of playing their silly video games! The same is true of netspeak, textspeak, corporate spaek, and abbreviating everything. Likewise, I have no use for political correctness. I refuse to use words such as visually-challenged, vertically-challenged, etc. I will say blind (or visually impaired if the person has some vision), short, fat, etc. Unless I'm writing poetry and am seeking flowery words for things, I call them what they are. Neither do I see any difference between saying "a blind person" and "a person who is blind", for example. I also have no time for so-called gender-neutral words, unless they honestly make sense and are actually descriptive, such as firefighter or police officer. But I'm just as likely to say fireman, policeman, waiter, steward, actor, chairman, etc. and change the gender when necessary. I refuse to use the singular they. There are two sexes (gender is for grammar). You're either one or the other. This absolutely doesn't mean that you can't change your sex. If, for example, I meet you as a woman and you change to a man or are a drag king/queen, I will certainly change my use of pronouns when discussing you or talking about you, either permenantly or temporarily, as the case requires. But unless you literally have multiple personalities or are a machine or an inanimate object, you are neither a they nor an it, and you're certainly not some made-up pronoun such as xe. I would never cause harm to those who use such words. I would just consider them to be silly or confused. If the sex is unknown, or if a sentence can apply to both sexes, I use the masculine, simply because it's grammatically correct to do so.
#English #gender #grammar #language #prescriptivism #properEnglish #sex #texting #writing
Linda Duval doesn't like this.
I am the chairperson of an organisation and I'm not a chairman. You are more obsessed by your gramnar obsession than for the respect of the individuals. I am very certain that this should be the other way round.
At the end of the day, only humans use grammar. The use of grammar should focus on the respect of people.
I am the chaiperson of my organisation literally. Why do I want to pigeonhole myself? The chairperson terminology is valid and inclusive. Why should the focus be gender centric and exclusive?
I certainly rebel to the patriarchal society and will identity myself as a person, not a gender.
When people write to me, they simply use Dear Ms Duval or Dear Linda. Nobody has ever reported to me that they have struggled in finding an appropriate term.
Dear Sir or Madam are also acceptable when someone does not know the name of the person they are writing to. I would expect this to be rare since most people would make an effort to find out to whom they are writing to these days.
I sign my correspondence as Chair of (name of my organisation)
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Mrs is also an unacceptable term. There is no need for women to have to advertise whether they are married. There is only one term for men and it is Mr. Women should use Ms. Women really need to move on from the old Victorian patriarchal society that entrapped women into submission.
Again, if someone needs to write to the chaiperson of an organisation, the most respecful thing to do, would simply to find out to whom they are writing to.
English is my 2nd language, so I stand corrected!
What is important is to recognise when language is used, or has been used to entrap women into 2nd class citizenship.
Being feminist is not the same as being man-haters. Being feminist is the force that empowers women to achieve equality.
Grammar and language, when used appropriately, is an additional tool that can help women ascend to equality.
By the way, I am enjoying this conversation very much!
Your preferences are yours and you choose what you prefer. However, we live in a society where it is important to be aware where language can be detrimental to women.
The difference can be simply felt in how much you get paid compared to a man in the same role. Please search "gender pay gap" and you will find that in the legal industry, for example, men can earn as much as 59% more than a woman in the same role.
As someone who is totally blind, the Fediverse is the only place where I have ever been able to follow people such as photographers, artists, or even those who post pictures of their cats or the food they ate. The reason is that most of them use alt text. They take the time to describe the images that my screen reader can't recognise. Some write the descriptions themselves, and others use tools such as altbot. Some worry that their descriptions aren't good enough, especially when they are new at this. Let me assure you, not only are they good enough, they are extremely appreciated! If the rest of the world thought as you did, it would be a much better place. Don't hesitate to ask if you're unsure of something, but never think that we don't notice your effort.
#appreciation #accessibility #altbot #alttext #blind #blindness #fediverse #gratitude #images #inclusivity #peoplewhocare #pictures #technology
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Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Here's something I posted before about an easy way to get more consistent at this... 🙂
mastodonapp.uk/@bytebro/113833…
bytebro (@bytebro@mastodonapp.uk)
@loren@flipping.rocks I've posted this before, but I'm pretty rubbish at remembering alt-txt, but since I followed @PleaseCaptionBot@hachyderm.Mastodon App UK
Thanks for posting this.
I've shared a screenshot of your post on Bluesky as well: bsky.app/profile/drsybren.bsky…
@sybren I will do the same if that’s okay with you Georgina. I can omit your name/avatar.
Bluesky actually has a settings option where you can only send your post after adding Alt Text, which I have activated.
@lydiaschoch I find that I will put extra information in the alt text. Joke that's not in the post itself, perhaps. Pointing out what's strange in the picture. Explaining the joke. Something like it's a SPOILER tag you're only going to get if you check the alt text.
If web comics can do it, why not everyone?
Besides, the character count on alt text is HUGE.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
@zy Some Mastodon sites offer to translate a post into the reader's language, which also translates the ALT text. As someone who likes to read posts in languages I'm not fluent with, it helps a lot to understand the pictures as well (e.g. memes or comic strips).
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
You can also follow an alt text not that will remind you when you forget to add alt text. It just sends you a message requesting that you add alt text
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
on desktop web browsers, there's a tag in the corner of an image - either ALT or just a scary red exclamation mark (indicating that there's no ALT text).
If a user drags the mouse pointer over the image, the alt text is visible to sighted users. I think most mobile apps show it on a click, but I don't really remember.
I'm sighted. I haven't tested with a screen reader, but when looking at a Fedi post from a Web browser, the alt text is in the IMG ALT tag. Mouse over, and it just displays the alt text.
Most other social networking platforms seem to put the alt text behind a "click the small ALT button and a popup will pop up" mechanism.
Sensitive content
I'm sighted and I often look at the alt text on Fediverse graphics!
It's great for things like "here's a person I don't recognise, are they famous, is it a clip from a show and what's the show and why is it relevant here". There are cultural references which would just whoosh over my head without the description.
Or sometimes there'll be one like "photo of woodland, with a squirrel" and I'll be like "oh yeah! there _is_ a squirrel in the corner there" 😀
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
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Are alt texts expected to be objective?
I post a lot of art and am curious if I should describe the subjective interpretation as well.
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Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Yes, good point. There is space for a little fun in there. When the subjective is the point of sharing the image, I think that's precisely what you should do.
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Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Well, there in lies the difficulty. I dislike instructing others in how they should see my work. Like in a gallery or museum, I like to keep the accompanying text relatively objective, as I feel all interpretations are valid. But that's not very helpful for those who cannot see it.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Yes, I might be overthinking this a tad. Still, it's good to differentiate between intensions for descriptions. I've seen a museum boast about accessibility when the images only had a description from the artists, clearly intended for those able to view the work.
Yes, that's the problem. I see it as something that should match the intension but in the case of art, that can also be subjective. So in this case, if it's a work of art, I would be tempted to describe why this chair is beautiful to me.
Something like, "The soft lighting on the chair and the delicate carving evoke a sense of nostalgia in me."
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Of course, I don't pretend that my ALT descriptions are perfect or accurate, but they are an extension of my own expression, with my own flaws, mistakes, and way of describing things. And well, I'm a human, not a machine, so I guess that's part of the homemade charm. 😺
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small, primitive, wingless, Lisa Magdalena Riedler (fake acc), kimapr and Tired Bunny like this.
@davidrevoy @nunesdennis also, at minimum, consider that the default is something like "image." So even the difference between "photo" and "screenshot" and "meme" at least provides handles on what they're missing.
Obviously enough detail to be included in the conversation is better & elaboration on what's notable or aesthetic is best. Someone could always ask a question if they were curious, but not if they have insufficient info.
I usually elaborate on why it's nice: see attached
@davidrevoy @nunesdennis good series of guides mastodon.social/@mcc/113897045…
Oh, one other alt-text rule I follow. Sometimes an image contains no additional information at all. When this is the case, I actually say so, as briefly as possible. If the post already describes the image fully, I just caption "As described". If multiple photos contain the same thing, I just say "ibid." (or maybe "a burning dumpster", "same dumpster from another angle", "ibid.", "ibid."). If I *say* there's no useful information, a screen reader user won't have to *wonder* why it's blank.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
How well do very general descriptions of popular media references tend to work for members of your community? For example:
Scene from The Empire Strikes Back, Lando Calrissian muttering to himself "This deal's getting worse all the time..."
I'd hope major hits like Star Wars have been made as accessible as possible over the years, but still worry such minimal scene-setting might perpetuate a "you had to be there" feeling of exclusion.
Einige schreiben die Beschreibungen selbst, andere verwenden Tools wie altbot. Manche machen sich Sorgen, dass ihre Beschreibungen nicht gut genug sind, vor allem, wenn sie neu auf diesem Gebiet sind. Ich kann Ihnen versichern, dass sie nicht nur gut genug sind, sondern auch sehr geschätzt werden! Wenn der Rest der Welt so denken würde wie Sie, wäre es ein viel besserer Ort. …
Übersetzt mit DeepL.com (kostenlose Version)
I admit that sometimes I struggle with alt tags. Understanding what there is to see in a picture is one thing, but providing info within the context of the overall post seems like it can come in handy
Curious to know if you tried Bluesky. I ask bc I thought Bluesky has a way to caption images.
As BSKY is just a walled off version of the the rest of the fediverse, it does - the same capability as most servers.
For the people who worry that their alt text isn't good enough - just keep practicing.
And consider how long it takes to read the ALT text. Was this a throw-away decorative image? Something brief should be fine. Was this image the thing you wanted to share? Time to be more descriptive.
Thank you so much for posting this! I always include alt-text, but started doing so consistently mostly because self-appointed alt-text cops kept needling me anytime I left it out. This is the first time an alt-text user has actually said something nice about it (that I've seen in my feed, anyway).
Very kind of you to take a moment and say you appreciate it. I will continue to include it.
Hi - I need to learn - how should we go about captioning video?
Thanks!
@SamanthaJaneSmith
I alt it the same way I do an image.
Physical description, then meanings/subtleties that are not as obvious, and if there is one the script
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
In so many different kinds of art - it depends!
I would describe what strikes me.
So, "Portrait of a person standing next to a window but entirely made up of straight brushstrokes no single one shorter than the length of the face."
Or, "Bold black lines intersect across a white canvas with a single square of yellow towards the upper right corner."
Honestly, if you don't know how on something specific - reach out and ask. If I'm around I'm happy to give it a go, but there's also the hashtag ALT4Me which will summon a figurative army to help you out 😁
What a great post, so helpful and encouraging.
I have a deaf/blind follower who mentioned my alt/text to me early on and I've tried to make a point of it ever since.
Describing colors is important, and all the things that make photos interesting. I figure if people don't want to read the whole thing, no one has to!
But I also try to make it funny, if I can, like dog_rates always does, so there's a point to reading it for everyone. I'm sure I rarely succeed. 😀
clacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛 likes this.
clacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛 likes this.
So it's inconvenient, he leaves a comment under the post. I need to copy it and edit the post.
Inconvenient? ...
Well, actually, check this answer from Georgiana:
friendica.world/display/84b6ef…
@Xanathon That would be truly wonderful! But honestly, even just using AltBot normally is fine, since the descriptions usually appear as a post right after the original.
So what? She says it would be nice Alt text in the photo, but if this is difficult, then alt text in the form of a post from an altbot is enough. This proves my point about inconvenience. It would be convenient if the image was recognized and the text was inserted at the stage of writing the post!
I have already raised this issue with the developer of Tusky. I love this app and hope the developer will implement this feature.
@My best life 🎒 This is actually what I mean when I say altbot. It's very easy to use, and the instructions are on the page.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
I read every Alt Text, despite not using a screen reader. I think you might find that quite a few people do!
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
@Memere I've seen posts that say something like "Can you believe this nonsense?"
And the image didn't make said nonsense obvious.
But the alt-text did. Sometimes, explaining the joke works for everyone.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
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@Nat Oleander It's just a pity that if you post about an obscure enough niche topic like I do, it's the more difficult to make image posts perfectly accessible to everyone, the more obscure the topic is. For the more obscure the topic is, the more you have to describe, and the more you have to explain. (Caution: Never put explanations into alt-text! They must go where everyone can access them.)
I currently write the longest image descriptions in the whole Fediverse by a wide margin. But they may not actually be accessible enough, even though I describe all my original images twice.
The short descriptions in the alt-text don't always contain text transcripts, especially not all of them, and being only short descriptions, they aren't full, detailed visual descriptions either. The long descriptions for the same images in the post regularly end up with a five-digit character count. They may not be accessible because they're way too long. But sometimes they're the only place where all text transcripts can be found. And they are the only place where explanations can be found.
So the consequence should be that I quit posting my original images because they're impossible to make perfectly accessible to everyone, at least as long as there is no rock-solid definition for what's actually required in image descriptions in my obscure edge-case. But there isn't even any consensus on whether text that's illegible or that's so tiny that it's basically invisible must be transcribed if it can be sourced.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta
Georgiana Brummell likes this.
@Georgiana Brummell I'd say not everyone would consider almost 1,000 characters of image description in a 1,500-character alt-text accessible. And even fewer people would consider a long image description in the post itself that's tens of thousands of characters long accessible if your screen reader spends an hour or several rambling it down.
My most extreme case is a post with only one image. That one image is described twice like all my halfway recent original images. The short description in the alt-text is a bit over 1,400 characters long which barely leaves any room for the note that there is also a long description in the post itself. That long description is over 60,000 characters long. I'm not kidding. It took me two full days from getting up to going to bed to research for it and write it.
Now, there are a few dozen bits and pieces of text all over the image. At the resolution at which I've posted the image, two of them are ever so barely legible for sighted people. They're on a large logo on a building. Four more, two of them on that logo, too, two more on a sign on an easel, are illegible, but still visible. At least more on signs inside the building are visible, but they can't easily be identified as text. All the others are so tiny that they're invisible. It takes the long image description to even know where they are, for example, on the control panels of teleporters.
And yet, they are all within the borders of the image. And I can transcribe them. I can't read them in the image, but I can go to the place shown in the image and take closer looks.
Unfortunately, the rule or guideline that any and all text in an image must be transcribed verbatim does not take into consideration text that can't be read in the image, but that can be sourced and thus transcribed by whoever posts the image. No confirmation, no exception. And so I have to assume that I have to transcribe illegible text as well. And so I do transcribe them all.
But there's no way for me to put all these text transcripts into the alt-text, not if I want to keep Mastodon, Misskey and their forks from chopping it off at the 1,500-character mark. I'd also have to explain where all these pieces of text are, after all. And so the text transcripts are only available in the 60,000-character monster of a long image description.
It isn't really accessible to expect blind users to have their screen readers ramble and ramble and ramble for hours, just to get information that should actually belong into the alt-text which, in turn, shouldn't be longer than 200 characters.
On the other hand, it doesn't really seem accessible to me if I expect people to ask me to describe things in the image for them. It rather feels sloppy, if not out-right ableist to not describe everything that someone could possibly want to know right away.
The problem with my images is that they're renderings from very obscure 3-D virtual worlds. This means that nobody knows what anything in these images looks like unless they can see these images. This, in turn, means that I cannot expect anyone to know what something in my images looks like anyway. They don't.
At the same time, I can't expect everyone to not care about my images. In fact, I expect the very topic of 3-D virtual worlds that actually exist to make people curious. At this point, it doesn't matter what's important in my images within the context of the post. Sighted people will go explore the new and unknown world by taking closer looks at all the big and small details in the image.
But blind or visually-impaired people may be just as curious. They may want the same chance to explore this new world by experiencing what's in that one image. Denying them the same chances as sighted people is ableist. But giving them this chance requires an absolutely titanic image description.
Sure, I describe lots of details which a sighted person can't possibly recognise when looking at the image, especially not at the resolution of the image as I've posted it. But I simply can't keep telling blind or visually-impaired people that certain things in the image can't be recognised due to the image resolution. It feels lazy, like weaseling out. I mean, I can see all these details. Not in the image, but where the image was made, simply by walking closer to them or moving the camera closer to them.
If there are two dark objects inside a building that may or may not be plants, but that can't be identified as plants by looking at the image, why shouldn't I describe them as follows: "On the sides of the teleport panel, there are two identical açaí palms in square terracotta pots with wide rims. Like the other potted plants, these mostly dark green plants with long pointy leaves are kept at an indoor-compatible size, namely about three and a half metres or eleven and a half feet tall. Also, like the other potted plants, they are made of only four flat surfaces with partially transparent pictures of the plant on them, arranged in angles of 45 degrees to one another."
If there's room for improvement in my image descriptions, I improve my future image descriptions and declare my past image descriptions outdated. In fact, the 60,000-character-long description is outdated because it's bad style to describe dimension using measures. Instead, dimensions should be described by comparing them with something everyone is familiar with like body parts.
Right now, by the way, I'm upping my game at describing avatars, using rules and guidelines for describing people which I've discovered over the last few months. The last time I've described an avatar, I've done so in about 7,000 characters, but according to my new discoveries, I may have missed something.
However, I can't go into so much detail while still making my image descriptions short enough that a screen reader can read through them in under a minute.
CC: @Nat Oleander
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #Metaverse #VirtualWorlds #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta
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@Georgiana Brummell @Nat Oleander Well, technically speaking, the long description isn't alt-text.
What went into the actual alt-text of the image were 1,402 characters of visual description + 97 characters of notice that there's a long description in the post. The over 60,000 characters went into the post text body, right below the image itself.
I could have put the long description into the alt-text. But it would have been a nightmare for blind or visually-impaired people because screen readers can't navigate alt-text. Also, Mastodon, Glitch, Hometown, Misskey, Calckey, Firefish, Iceshrimp, CherryPick, Sharkey, Catodon and the other Mastodon and Misskey forks chop long alt-texts from outside off at the 1,500-character mark. Mastodon would simply have deleted almost 59,000 characters from my image description on their side, had I put it into the alt-text.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta
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I had never written alt text before joining the fediverse, but I’ve come to appreciate the opportunity it gives me to think about why I posted the image and what’s worth knowing about it. I still do worry, but I feel more relaxed thanks to your post.
: thank you!
I often spend more time writing alt text than the text in the toot itself - not just to keep the toot itself as short as possible.
Writing alt text, even if using energy, is useful for myself as well. In particular in the case of photo's, it makes me look better. Often I notice details that I missed before.
What I like about Mastodon is the enormous variety in people, from all over the world, one can meet here and discuss with. Even if I'm not an "easy person", it enriches my life.
Thank you again, and my pleasure!
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I often spend more time writing alt text than the text in the toot itself - not just to keep the toot itself as short as possible.
I always spend more time describing my images than writing the post that they go into.
For my meme posts, that's because I have to explain the picture and find the appropriate links to external explanations (KnowYourMeme etc.) to shorten my explanation block if possible.
For my original images, it's because I have to describe them twice. There's always an alt-text which, as of late, fills the 1,500-character limit imposed by Mastodon, Misskey etc. to the brim. But that alt-text is only a shortened and slightly adapted version of an extremely long long description which goes into the post text body and which also includes transcripts of any and all text in the image, readable or not, as well as all explanations which I deem necessary for outsiders to understand the image. Since the images are about an extremely obscure niche topic, this means I have to explain a lot.
A while ago, I spent two full days, morning to evening, researching for and describing and explaining one single image. The result was probably the longest image description ever posted in the Fediverse. And I actually had to limit myself, otherwise the description would have been even vastly longer and taken over a month to complete. Good thing I don't have any character limit to worry about. The only exception is that Mastodon may reject posts from outside with over 100,000 characters.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta
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A while back, I built an exhibit I thought people would find interesting.
The first place I took it, I was thanked for having an exhibit which was accessible for the visually-impaired (I'm not certain about totally blind). I hadn't even thought of it that way!
You can read my write-up here. Unfortunately, the "caption" property on the images kind of conflicts with the "alt text" property, and I don't know which one you'll get.
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Just out of curiosity, if you have no vision impairment - why does your avi have glasses on?
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How do I make posts more accessible to blind people on Mastodon and the Fediverse?
fedi.tips/how-do-i-make-posts-…
h/t @FediTips
If there’s no #Alt4Me tag on the undescribed image, it’s still worth being polite as no one wants bad feelings generated around the topic of descriptions. You might want to just reply with a description and #Alt4You tag, and if they’re abled they will hopefully get the message that descriptions are preferred.
How do I make posts more accessible to blind people on Mastodon and the Fediverse? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse
An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediversefedi.tips
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A friendly suggestion to all the people who follow me here: put alt text on your images. It makes a difference!
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Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail. I've tried using the Alt-for-me tag, but nobody responded.
If you don't mind my asking - as a comic artist, I usually post full comic pages. There isn't enough alt text room to fully transcribe the page, so usually l will write something like "Page X of the comic Love and Hex. Full transcript: (link to an external page with both the comic image and a complete transcript)" followed by a broader description of what's going on without much detail.
Does that sort of thing suffice, or is there a preferred approach?
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Are there things your screen reader has trouble with or that make listening more tedious?
I remember from years ago there was a sequence preference for some things. For example, with lists, I think the preference was word first, then tick box or radio button.
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Don't hesitate to ask if you're unsure of something, but never think that we don't notice your effort.
I do have a few questions, specifically because my image posts have gone unnoticed by blind or visually-impaired users so far.
Judging and assuming from the information I've gathered so far, my original images require very extensive and detailed descriptions. A full description is too long for alt-text, so what I do is write a full description with all text transcripts and all necessary explanations, put it into the post text body and then condense a shorter, but still long alt-text from it. What's your stance on this method of describing the same image twice over?
Also, where would you personally prefer a long description? In the post itself? Or in an external document that's linked into the post? If you're on a phone app, remember that the external document will inevitably open your Web browser.
Do you prefer images described, based on what a sighted person can see in the image as it is posted? Or do you prefer a description that is not limited by the restriction of the image itself, for example, assuming an infinite image resolution and an infinite zoom factor that would let sighted people theoretically see even tiniest details?
If I mention something in my image description of which you don't know what it looks like, do you need a detailed visual description?
Concerning text transcripts: Let's assume a bit of text in an image is too small to be legible for sighted people, but I can read it at the original source, so I can transcribe it nonetheless. Shall I transcribe it? What about if said text is too small to be recognisable as text or so tiny that's it's practically invisible? I mean, after all, the concept of image resolution should not matter to totally blind people, so writing that a piece of text can't be read because the resolution of the image is too low ought to sound like a lame excuse for skimping a transcript.
If there's a building in one of my images, I can safely assume that you don't know what that one specific building looks like, so I guess I can also assume that you need it described. If I could, I would do so using architectural terms and then explaining all these architectural terms right after using them. Would you say that's the correct way? Because that's why I avoid having realistic buildings in my images.
If there's an image in my image, do you need it described? At a level that I can source right where the image is without moving away too far, or at a level that I can only source by moving farther away to the place shown in the image? What about an image in an image in my image? (I'm serious. I've actually described images within images within my image, but I've stopped when this was about to go out of hand due to there being too many to describe.)
I'm currently working on a series of posts with images showing a virtual-world avatar in various but similar outfits; in fact, I have been since last year. I may have questions later regarding at what level of detail I have to describe that avatar.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #AltText #AltTextMeta #CWAltTextMeta #ImageDescription #ImageDescriptions #ImageDescriptionMeta #CWImageDescriptionMeta
Thank you.
And - everyone sighted, please, let us worry a bit about our descriptions. It's a good thing to worry about.
That is, many of our worries are about things that are completely out of our hands. Alt texts are something we can act on. We can think about what we see in a picture, what's important to us, what we want to convey, what we should describe. We can talk about it with each other, try things out, and get better at it.
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thanks!
I've shared this post of you because more people need to know that Alt Text and Image Descriptions are not only good but are appreciated by those that rely on them!
- The strenght of the Fediverse is based upon it's diversity, and that must include accessibility!
After all it's easy for sighted people to dismiss it when in reality it doesn't take away anything from them if they just write a sentence or two per image.
- Thabks for letting us know!
#AltText #ImageDescription #Accessibility #Fediverse #blind #inclusion #thanks
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I do my best with this. It's extra writing, and I love the sound of my own voice even in text, so I actually find it fun and not a chore.
Still, Fedi really taught me how important it is and how to do it well, and I'm thankful for that. I've been on the periphery of web dev since before it was called "web dev" so I knew what alt text was. But I'll confess to never doing it particularly well before I came here.
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Will do as soon and as good as I can. I promise. Sorry for ignoring this until now 🥹
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“Whom does not see, yet has thousands of eyes writing for them?”
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@zy @shred
@dandylover1
When I get a message in German, the alt text is also in German (for example). It makes it easy to copy and paste into an internet translator.
I have found it helpful when the words are embedded in the picture too. Just go to the alt text and cut and paste.
I'm so happy that it helps people with vision problems.
(I had no idea German would be so important in 2025, but here we are.)
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Things I have no interestt in seeing:
Politics, posts in foreign languages that I don't understand, posts with obscenities, bickering over who joins what network, posts about what leaders of various networks do, vegan activism/ promotion, images without descriptions, world affairs (non-Western), posts about mental health, etc.
Things I am Constantly Seeing
Politics, posts in foreign languages that I don't understand, more politics, posts with obscenities, bickering over who joins what network, posts about what leaders of various networks do, yet more politics, vegan activism/ promotion, images without descriptions (very rare here, thankfully), still more politics, world affairs and wars (non-Western), posts about mental health, and you guessed it, even more politics! At least I don't see all of the inspirational/love yourself, or religious posts. Those are just as annoying.
Posts I Would Like to See:
Animals (especially cats and birds), plants, insects, high culture (theatre, classical music, fine dining, literature, fashion, etc.), cooking/recipes, history, science for non-scientists, technology (not just how to write websites or who's doing what in the Fediverse), audio games, good news, interesting discussions, people's daily lives (yes, I know this is not Dreamwidth), etc.
@Meg I would absolutely love to know how to block specific words and phrases! I have looked all over the Friendica.world site and I couldn't find any way to do this. I also couldn't find anything in TweeseCake itself. @Fedi.Tips Can you please help? Is this possible? I had to unfollow several otherwise wonderful people over this.
#blind #blocking #Friendica #moderation #Tweesecake #TweeseCake
Since this post is about fashion, let me start by answering the question that I am sure will be on your mind upon seeing my name. No, I am not related to The Beau. However, I love dandyism as a whole, and I took this name in tribute. I am also working to have his book, Male and Female Costume, published online freely, but that's for another post and time. At any rate, I am forty-one and am passionate about antique menswear, Regency as a scholarly pursuit, and Edwardian for daily wear. Naturally, I am constantly researching and trying to expand upon my knowledge. I am totally blind, so I must rely on descriptions rather than images.
I am the type who would like to wear a three-piece suit and accessories everywhere I go. I've decided that for my first one, I should get a lounge suit, since I can wear it almost anywhere during the day, provided it's not a formal occasion. I will eventually have morning wear, white tie, black tie, and informal evening wear, but that's for later. I have found some sites which create reproductions of men's Edwardian suits, but most use synthetic materials and/or zippers, which I refuse to wear, and none uses fabrics of the proper thickness. I found sites that make women's suits with men's specifications (no ridiculous enhancements of breasts, butt, shallow pockets, soft colours, buttons on the wrong sides of shirts, etc.) but they only make modern clothing. Ebay and Etsy occasionally have some authentic pieces, but most are too formal for daily use, even by Edwardian standards! I am also having difficulty with finding some accessories, such as proper ties and socks without elastic. My other option is to have a suit commissioned, but for that, I need to find a good tailor. The best in the world, in my opinion, is Zack Pinsent, but he's in England and I'm in America (New Jersey).
I am seeking those who share my interest in antique menswear, and perhaps some advice as to where I can find such clothing and/or accessories.
For those who are interested in my journey so far, here is my dreamwidth post containing all sorts of links related to Regency and Edwardian menswear.
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…
#accessories #antiquemenswear #bespoke #clothing #dandyism #daywear #dressing #Edwardian #eveningwear #fashion #formal #historicalclothing #informal #loungesuit #masculinewomen #mensfashion #menswear #morningwear #offtherack #Regency #suits #tailors
I am seeking assistance with singing and learning music theory. This could be in the form of teaching, giving advice, or just listening to me and sharing your opinion of my progress. This is not for a career, just for my own enrichment, though after the correct amount of time has passed, I may decide to take it further and sing publicly in some form or other, perhaps in a choir or a radio play. However, my requirements are quite specific, and I do realise this will be a long process.
Requirements
1. I have no interest in modern singers, musicians, or their techniques. I am using the book You Can Sing, by Clara Novello Davies, as a basis for everything, especially my physical and vocal exercises. I am interested in the techniques of her time and that of her son, Ivor Novello, with a focus on operetta, and perhaps, choral singing.
- The above also holds for music theory. I am aligning my knowledge and methodology with what was taught during Ivor's time. A list of all the books I am using, as well as an explanation of the knowledge I have attained so far can be found here. This includes the differences between modern and older singers.
friendica.world/display/84b6ef…
- Please be aware that I am totally blind. I cannot use images, graphical charts, tables, musical notation, etc. Braille music does exist, but I don't know how to read it, and would need to have appropriate texts transcribed, in any case. I do, however, have perfect pitch, an excellent sense of rhythm, and a very good musical memory, so perhaps, we can work on modifications that don't truly cross the boundaries into modernity but that are still accessible.
- If you do more than just give occasional advice, I'm sure you will want to be compensated for your work, as that's only right. Please be aware that I can only pay $25 per hour at the most, via Paypal. In that case, I can only work with you for about four hours per month, due to financial constraints, but of course, I will also study on my own. I may be able to do more, but not as a normal practice.
- If you are a descendant of anyone who knew Clara Novello Davies , her students, or Ivor Novello, even if you yourself know nothing about singing, I would still love to hear from you if you have stories to share!
#blind #choir #choralsinging #ClaraNovelloDavies #music #musictheory #singing #theatre #theater #teacher #tutor #vocalinstruction
This is something I wrote on Dreamwidth in September. I think some of you may find it interesting. I myself am beginning to study all of this, as I am fascinated by the singing methods and knowledge of the time. It is a bit difficult doing it being blind and unable to read music, but fortunately, there are ways around that. My perfect pitch and good memory for lyrics also helps.Below, you will find various links related to theory, harmony and counterpoint, and a comparison of older and modern methods of teaching and singing. While this relates to choirs and opera, it also relates to the theatre, particularly operettas and such.
Studying Music: Part I
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/205…My one criterion was that the methods and books used had to be from the time of Ivor Novello, preferably from his youth (born 1893). If I were to start in the early nineteenth century, which is where most of my preferred non-musical educational material is from, I would miss extremely important developments in classical music. Starting at the birth of his mother, Clara Novello Davies, in 1861, would be fine. However, since her own book, which I am using as my main text and guide, was written in 1928, I went with that of her son. In the following sections, you will find the books I am using. One thing I have not included, though it was a huge influence in Ivor's own writing style, was theatrical music, such as that found in operettas and Edwardian musical comedies. That is such a large topic for discussion that I feel it deserves its own separate post, as does Ivor's music, since it's an interesting blend of all of the above. But this is well outside the scope of traditional musical study.
In the next entry, we will delve into vocal training and why the singers of Novello's time sound so wonderful.
Studying Music: Part II
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/205…Finally, since I mentioned the exercises, here they are, for anyone who wants to try them. Note that these are the Preliminaries and Breathlock Physicals, not the vocal exercises. But I have provided the link to her book as well, for those who may wish to go further.
Clara's Exercises
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/205…
#books #choir #ClaraNovelloDavies #counterpoint #exercises #harmony #history #IvorNovello #music #musictheory #opera #operetta #singing #studying #vocaltraining #voicetraining #theater #theatre
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*Updated.*
Hello. I joined Friendica in October of 2024, after Facebook closed their Basic Mobile site (not app). I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories. It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. My parents are lesbians, and I am a huge gay rights supporter, but I stop short of using singular they and promoting the idea of more than two sexes, though you can certainly lean more towards one while being the other (as I do being a masculine woman), or change from one to the other via hormones, surgery etc. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.
I am happily childfree and am not religious. I hardly ever write about politics. I tend to get along better with people older than I, but I will accept friends twenty-one and over. I have no understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. I enjoy hearing about cats, cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, and interesting life stories.
This is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org
#antipolitics #antiquemensware #antiques #BBC #blind #blindness #books #British #Britishliterature #BeauBrummell #cards #cats #childfree #coffee #cooking #classicalmusic #crafts #dandies #dandyism #ClaraNovelloDavies #dice #dinnerparties #documentaries #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #England #English #Eton #Facebook #fashion #food #Friendica #friends #friendship #gayrights #gardening #grammar #highculture #humor #humour #introduction #LordAlvanley #men #MS-DOS #nasalsnuff #nature #NewJersey #NewYork #IvorNovello #oldermen #omnivores #operettas #reading #ReceivedPronunciation #Regency #relationships #seniors #silverfork #singing #singles #tea #theater #theatre #UnitedKingdom #Wales #Windows #writing
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I can't believe I didn't post this earlier! Anyway, here is a Dreamwidth entry of mine containing all sorts of links related to dandyism, including an entire section on Beau Brummell. As you can tell, this is another one of my great passions.
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/181…
In case you missed it, this one is devoted to fashion itself.
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…
#antiquemensware #BeauBrummell #books #British #clothing #dandies #dandyism #dandyism.net #Dreamwidth #Edwardian #fashion #history #mensware #Regency #suits #Victorian
(This is a companion piece to my dating post, but here, I am strictly seeking friends. Therefore, the beginning will look similar.)
Hello. I live in New Jersey and am forty years old. Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Received Pronunciation, and the Regency. I like coffees, teas, and nasal snuffs, and enjoy cooking, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, crafts, and playing cards and dice. I like Baroque through Classical and a bit of early Romantic music. I love theatre (especially Regency plays, English and Viennese operettas, and Edwardian musical comedies). I prefer antique menswear and accessories (no feminine clothing). I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. I am happily childfree and am not religious. I respect those who are, as long as they don't try to convert me or base their lives around it. I also have no time for mind games, drama, or political correctness/sugar coating. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.
I am seeking friends, either online or off, though offline would be ideal, so we can meet and do things together. I don't care about your sex or sexual orientation, but I would prefer friends no younger than twenty-one. I tend to get along with those who are older than I, since we usually have more in common, but it's not a requirement. I am blind, but it's not the focal point of my life. Still, it does mean that I can't drive. I really don't have any understanding of chronic illness, anxiety, depression, loneliness, etc. so if you need someone who could help you through that on a personal level, I'm not the one you're seeking. I also have no children and tend to avoid them, though I am polite when meeting them. I love cats, so if you have any, I would love to meet them or hear about them. I also enjoy hearing about cooking or gardening adventures, antiques, etc. and I love learning about interesting lives. If we do meet, I need to get to know you a bit first.
For those who would like to know more about me, this is my journal. Anyone can read or comment, whether or not he is a member.
#friendship #friends #fun #men #NewJersey #women
I wanted to add tags such as cards, classical music, fashion, gardening, Regency, theatre, etc. but I don't want to abuse them, because while I am seeking a man who likes these things, my post isn't really about them. Perhaps, a veteran Friendica or Fediverse user could instruct me in this.
Hello. I live in New Jersey and am forty-one years old. I am seeking a man over sixty who is well-dressed, well-spoken, confident, and witty. You can be either straight or bisexual. You should enjoy the finer things in life, but you need not be rich. I have no interest in bdsm, role-playing, etc. I simply adore the voices and bodies of older men. That said, I do love it soft down there and enjoy bedroom fun. I would prefer you to either live in or near New Jersey, or to be able to visit me frequently. No one-night stands, parents or men who want children, caregivers, workaholics, or recreational drug users. I am open to both fun with no strings attached, and a committed relationship, but I must get to know you first.
Some of my interests include studying dandyism, nineteenth-century grammar, Upper Received Pronunciation, British history, and the Regency. I like coffee, tea, wine, nasal snuff, cooking, hot baths, reading British literature, watching nature and historical documentaries, gardening, hot weather, and playing cards and dice. I also love cats. In classical music, I enjoy Baroque through a bit of early Romantic, while in popular, I usually prefer 1950's through 1970's. I love theatre (especially English and Viennese operettas, Edwardian musical comedies), and some Regency/Georgian plays. I prefer antique menswear and accessories (no feminine clothing). It's my dream to either buy a genuine Edwardian suit or have one commissioned. I love wit, wordplay, and dry humour without vulgarity. I am happily childfree, am not religious, and speak my mind. I have been totally blind since I was two months old, due to Retinopathy of Prematurity.
Those who love antique fashions will enjoy this. It is a compilation of links related to Regency and Edwardian mensware. If you have any to add or wish to make any suggestions, please do so.
How Fashionable!
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…
dandylover1.dreamwidth.org/210…
#antiquemensware #clothing #dapper #Edwardian #fashion #history #Regency #suits
the esoteric programmer
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