While the rumors that Twitter may be working on breaking that 140-character rule that has made them famous (or infamous), there is still no definite news about that for now. But some may see this latest update from the microblogging service as a sort of work-around the limit, although that is not the main purpose for this new feature. If you post a photo on Twitter, you will now be able to add a description to it, for the sake of the virtually impaired.
This is called alternative text (alt text) although it really is just a fancy term for captions. When you add an image to your tweet, you will see an “add description” button where you can input what the picture is all about so that visually impaired users will still be able to understand or appreciate the image you posted. They will be able to “read” the description through their assistive technology like screen readers and braille displays.
The reason why we think this will also work for non-visually impaired people is that the descriptions can be up to 420 characters. So if what you wanted to say about the picture or anything related to it wouldn’t fit in 140 characters, then you could “extend” it to the alt text part. It’s actually clever how Twitter is subtly allowing us to technically use more than 140 characters with the new features that they keep rolling out every few months.
Twitter is making the platform products to the REST API and Twitter Cards as well so that 3rd-party clients will also be able to use this feature. The alt text feature should be rolling out to users starting today.
SOURCE: Twitter
