Unpopular opinion: Auto-generating alt text with AI isn't as good as people think

I spent 2 hours last week fixing alt text that an AI tool wrote for my site's product images. It kept calling a red mountain bike a "sporty vehicle" and a ceramic mug a "round container." The descriptions were technically correct but totally useless for someone using a screen reader who needs to know what's actually in the photo. I get that it saves time on bulk uploads, but has anyone else found you still have to rewrite most of the output to make it helpful?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray_webb612d ago

Two hours fixing alt text that's basically just describing the object's shape.

webb.val12d ago

Did your friend actually time how long it took to write alt text for a basic circle? My buddy spent an ENTIRE afternoon on the same thing for a product photo. He told me he had to describe the shape of a simple coffee mug. Then he had to rewrite it because the first version didn't mention the handle was on the left side. He said it was the most boring afternoon of his life. I swear, some people overthink this stuff WAY too much.