https://xkcd.com/2827

Alt text:

Sequoia Brussels sprouts are delicious but it’s pretty hard to finish one.

  • JohnnyEnzymeEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    Sequoia Brussels sprouts are delicious but it’s pretty hard to finish one.

    Yes, it’s a pretty obvious riff on the main joke, i.e. entertaining the idea that Brassica sequoia is a real thing, based on the fact that brussels sprouts, like cauliflower, collards, kohlrabi, cabbage and others, are all cultivars of B. oleracea.

    If you didn’t know that last bit, I can see getting confused about the alt-text.

    @yolta@programming.dev @lugal@sopuli.xyz

    • lugal@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      51·
      1 year ago

      The point is that it’s not an alt text. Also I was quite tired when writing my first comment

      • JohnnyEnzymeEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        Alternative (Alt) Text is meant to convey the “why” of the image as it relates to the content of a document or webpage. It is read aloud to users by screen reader software, and it is indexed by search engines. [Harvard link]

        Oh, I see what you mean! So strictly speaking, alt-text should be used for the intended purpose, i.e. in order to help certain users and searches, etc.

        Fortunately or unfortunately, I suspect most webcomics makers, and no doubt others, are going to keep using it the way they are. I’m not sure there’s a real issue in this case, but maybe in others…

        • lugal@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          4·
          1 year ago

          From what I have seen, alt text describes the image for blind people or for the case that the image isn’t loading