Unlock the power of inclusive avatars

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Avatars are often overlooked as an active part in personalising a user interface (UI) design. People can take a great effort to visually represent how others should understand them to be. The avatars deserve equally expressive accessible or alternative text to deliver our message to people of all ability scenarios.

Why Avatars Matter

In my previous post, “Altruistic Alternative Attributes,” I delved into the nuanced world of writing alternative text (alt text) that captures the essence, emotion, and intent behind chosen images.

Avatars are more than just small pictures or icons. They are the digital embodiment of our personalities, emotions, and roles across our platform memberships. Whether it’s a professional portrait or action shot on social media, a playful caricature on a gaming profile, or a serene landscape of calmness at work, each avatar carries a story.

Today, I’ve found many system profiles I am updating don’t offer an alt text feature for my avatars. This limits their accessibility and strips away the depth of content and context I mean to share inclusively and not only visually.

The power of descriptive accessible text

Accessible and alt text is crucial for several reasons:

• Accessibility: Helps people of all ability scenarios to understand the content and context of images and especially when using assistive technologies.
• SEO Benefits: Helps search engines index and rank images, improving content finding.
• Emotional Connection: Properly crafted alt text conveys the mood, scenario, and personality behind an image, enriching the user experience.

An avatar’s descriptive accessible and alt text can bridge the gap between visual representation and meaningful context. For example:

• Instead of writing alt text of “profile picture”, imagine the accessible or alt text as, “A smiling professional in a suit, exuding confidence and approachability.”
• For a gaming avatar, rather than “Pat’s avatar image”, the accessible or alt text could be, “Pat’s a fierce warrior in full battle armour and ready for adventure.”

Advocating for change

While our digital landscapes grow more complex, we must protect each individual’s right to self-expression. That right is not fulfilled when only some people can interpret our avatars.

We should advocate for systems that allow accessible and alt text for avatars for the following reasons:

Inclusivity: Alt text helps all people, regardless of their abilities, to fully participate and understand the visual elements of a platform.

Enhanced Communication: Avatars with descriptive alt text communicate an individual’s role, scenario, and emotional state, leading to richer and more empathetic interactions.

Consistency: Allowing alt text for avatars ensures a consistent level of detail and accessibility across all ability scenarios.

We must all champion features that promote accessibility and deeper connections. Allowing accessible and alt text for avatars is a simple and powerful step towards more inclusive and expressive UI design.

Let’s advocate for this change and bring the stories behind our avatars to life.

Read more about the importance of descriptive alt text in my previous post, Altruistic Alternative Attributes.

Note: The unicorn avatar is created from my prompt in Bing’s CoPilot. I think it’s all me!