TikTok is using AI-generated alt text to describe photos
1 min read
Summary
TikTok is enhancing its platform with new accessibility features to aid people with visual impairments, following the addition of alt text support for images earlier this year
It is now testing AI-generated alt text descriptions for images, allowing creators to upload images and receive automatic descriptions, with the option to add their own description or correct the AI-generated version
Additionally, a colour contrast toggle will improve clarity by increasing the foreground colour of text, icons and user interface elements, while the app will also bold all text automatically for users who have bold text support enabled on their device.
The new features are available on iOS and Android profiles and aim to improve navigation and accessibility for people with low vision or contrast sensitivities. In April of this year, TikTok added alt text support for still images, and allowed creators to manually add alt text descriptions for images upon uploading. Now, the feature will be automated with AI-generated alt text descriptions for photographs for when creators forget to add them. TikTok is constantly undergoing new features and improvements, with its most recent being a much-needed boost for its accessibility settings.