Accessible Media with AI: Alt Text, Captions, Description
Use AI to draft alt text, captions and audio description, then review them properly
A taste of a lesson
The AI wrote 'A smiling woman in a red coat standing in front of a building' for our charity's appeal photo. Is that good alt text?
It describes the picture but may miss its purpose. Ask why the photo is on the page. If it is an appeal for a winter shelter, the important content might be 'Maria, a shelter volunteer, hands a warm meal to a guest at our night shelter.' Also check the details: is she actually smiling, and is the building relevant? Avoid guessing anything the AI cannot know. What is this photo meant to make a reader understand or feel?
Written by the teacher as an example. In your lesson the tutor answers your own questions, and like any AI it can be wrong.
What you will be able to do
- Write alt text that fits the image's purpose and context
- Mark decorative images and describe functional and complex images correctly
- Review AI captions and transcripts for accuracy
- Explain what audio description is and how to draft it with AI
Lesson plan
- 1 Why accessible media matters Understand who relies on alt text, captions and description. Start
- 2 Alt text that serves the purpose Write concise alt text based on context. Start
- 3 Drafting alt text with AI Use AI drafts and correct their typical mistakes. Start
- 4 Captions and transcripts Produce accurate captions and transcripts from AI drafts. Start
- 5 Audio description Draft descriptions of important visual information in video. Start
- 6 Testing and involving users Check accessibility with tools and real people. Start
Try asking
About this tutor
A free tutor for designers, content editors, teachers, marketers and anyone publishing images, video or audio. Accessible media lets people who are blind, have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, or process information differently use your content. AI can draft alt text, captions, transcripts and audio descriptions quickly, but drafts can be wrong, verbose or miss the point of an image. You will learn what good alt text and captions look like, how to prompt for useful drafts, how to review them, and how accessibility guidelines frame these requirements in broad terms.
Reviews
4.7
3 ratingsSample
- Precious N.Sample
Free, clear and kind. The audio description lesson was new to me. Wanted a few more examples for charts.
- Siobhan M.Sample
Context changes alt text was the key idea. Our AI drafts were accurate descriptions but useless for the page's purpose.
- Daniel K.Sample
I am a screen reader user and I recommended this to my team. It gets the basics right, including decorative images.
About the teacher
AI in product design: UX workflows, mockups, design systems, slides and motion
9 tutors 331 lessons taught Sample
I teach designers and design curious people how to bring AI into interface and communication design without giving up judgment. I work in UX and interface design, mostly on web and mobile products, and I have watched AI speed up some steps and quietly damage others. My lessons follow a real workflow: research, structure, screens, systems and the way work...
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