AltText: An institutional tool for change

Abstract

In the second in a series of Editorials on Curator: The Museum Journal's new policy requiring Alternative Text (AltText) for all images submitted with manuscripts for this journal, members of the editorial team provide supporting information behind the policy change.They reflect on forty years of history related to improving accessibility in the museum sector, and the regrettable oversights and biases that allowed the digital revolution in journal publishing to exclude people requiring screen reader accommodations for online use of the literature.They provide supporting information on the priorities for creating AltText based on understanding the site of production and audiencing, the relationship between authors and potential readership, and the multimodal nature of authorial narratives that should be used to create access to images published in peer-reviewed journal papers.And illustrate the benefits of AltText production to authors and the research community as well as those who use screen readers for accessing content.

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