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Alt-text is a crucial component of digital accessibility, providing textual descriptions of images for users who are blind or visually impaired. Despite its importance, Italian Universities often need to pay more attention to implementing alt text on their social media and outreach channels. This lack of accessibility excludes a significant portion of the potential audience and undermines the Universities’ commitment to inclusion. This paper examines the current state of alt-text usage among Italian Universities, highlighting the shortcomings and best practices. It then explores the benefits of implementing alt-text for users and institutions, including improved accessibility, increased engagement and enhanced brand reputation. This research investigates the use of alt-text on the official Instagram profiles of 76 Italian Universities, categorized according to the CENSIS 2023/2024 ranking. The analysis reveals that only a few public and private Universities utilize this crucial accessibility feature. In a staggering 97% of instances, alt-text was entirely missing, prompting the substitution of AI-generated descriptions. These automated descriptions, however, fell short of accuracy, often exhibiting imprecision and a glaring lack of contextual information. Beyond mere compliance, the paper delves into the quality of alt-text present, assessing its accuracy in describing the visual content. It concludes by broadening the scope to consider the potential for enriching alt-text descriptions, moving beyond concise summaries to capture the context and emotions evoked by the images, as exemplified in educational settings for visually impaired individuals. The paper concludes by advocating for adopting alt-text as a standard practice within Italian higher education. Communication on social media should also reflect the inclusivity of the University. By making their digital content accessible to all, Universities can promote inclusivity, diversity, and equity within their communities as an example of a more inclusive society.

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The Importance of Alt Text for Social Media and Outreach in Italian Higher Education: Building Inclusive Best Practices

  • 会议论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • Amalia Maria Paoletta,
  • Luca Refrigeri,
  • Francesca Baralla

摘要

Alt-text is a crucial component of digital accessibility, providing textual descriptions of images for users who are blind or visually impaired. Despite its importance, Italian Universities often need to pay more attention to implementing alt text on their social media and outreach channels. This lack of accessibility excludes a significant portion of the potential audience and undermines the Universities’ commitment to inclusion. This paper examines the current state of alt-text usage among Italian Universities, highlighting the shortcomings and best practices. It then explores the benefits of implementing alt-text for users and institutions, including improved accessibility, increased engagement and enhanced brand reputation. This research investigates the use of alt-text on the official Instagram profiles of 76 Italian Universities, categorized according to the CENSIS 2023/2024 ranking. The analysis reveals that only a few public and private Universities utilize this crucial accessibility feature. In a staggering 97% of instances, alt-text was entirely missing, prompting the substitution of AI-generated descriptions. These automated descriptions, however, fell short of accuracy, often exhibiting imprecision and a glaring lack of contextual information. Beyond mere compliance, the paper delves into the quality of alt-text present, assessing its accuracy in describing the visual content. It concludes by broadening the scope to consider the potential for enriching alt-text descriptions, moving beyond concise summaries to capture the context and emotions evoked by the images, as exemplified in educational settings for visually impaired individuals. The paper concludes by advocating for adopting alt-text as a standard practice within Italian higher education. Communication on social media should also reflect the inclusivity of the University. By making their digital content accessible to all, Universities can promote inclusivity, diversity, and equity within their communities as an example of a more inclusive society.