[SPIKE] Alt Text Field - Discovery for Accessibility

[srancour]

Description

As the accessibility lead, I need to gain a better understanding on what the current state of the alt text field in the CMS.

Steps for Implementation

• [ ] Audit current state
• [ ] Investigate error logs
• [ ] Produce report detailing findings, next steps, and recommendations

Acceptance Criteria

• [ ] We have a direction to update the alt text field from the Accessibility standpoint.

Team

Please check the team(s) that will do this work.

• [x] CMS Team

[srancour]

Interesting Sentry notification from today where the editor is pulling alt text from a caption of the image from another site (Stars and Stripes) to create their alt text instead of using the alt text the site used. Stars and Stripes has the alt text for the image set as "Marine Lance Cpl. Nathanial Fink (left) and Lance Cpl. Garrett Camacho dispose of trash in a burn pit in 2012 in Afghanistan." and has a caption below it that reads "Marine Lance Cpl. Nathanial Fink (left) and Lance Cpl. Garrett Camacho dispose of trash in a burn pit in 2012 in Afghanistan. (Alfred Lopez/U.S. Marine Corps)" which is the alt text that was originally submitted for the image on the VA website.

This screenshot shows the alt-text that finally got through without error on the VA site.

This screenshot shows the image and caption that is on the Stars and Stripes article.

[srancour]

Editors are putting graphical images with text and then not describing what they actually have in them. An editor posted this news story with this road construction plan which had the alt text of "McLeland Rd access onto main campus" which does not describe the context of the image.

The article reads "Great news! The long-desired west roads improvement project starts April 8, 2024 weather permitting.

This project will take several months. Everyone is asked to understand the plan and that detours and some alternate parking plans will be required.

During Phase 1 in April and May, 2024 the inner roadways behind Bldg. 48, 49 and 50, and the east-west road from the 4-way stop to just in front of Bldg. 116 will be closed. Veterans accessing Bldg. 116 will need to enter campus via McLeland Rd. As a reminder, Bldg. 116 may only be entered from the south door. All parking lots will be available but may use temporary access points."

Had the article explained more of the graphic's content this could be enough alt text, but as it currently stands, visual users are getting more from the image than screen reader users can.

[srancour]

Editors aren't understanding what a screen reader user will hear with the alt-text. The sentry notification showed the editor tried putting in the information that is shown under the description of the event as the alt-text:

Representatives will be on-site to answer questions about VA Eligibility and Enrollment, PACT Act, Federal and State VA Benefits, Filing Claims, and MyHealtheVet.

For Onsite Enrollment: Bring you DD214 and previous year’s tax statement. Please call (269) 966-5600, ext. 36212 with any questions.

The editor finally submitted the alt-text to be a repeat of the title and the teaser. This will make the screen reader users hear "VA Coffee With Campers" 3 times in a row, which is over redundant. It would have been better to have something like "Flyer for the VA Coffee with Campers event". This alt-text is appropriate because all of the text information found in the image is found below, thus the image is decorative.

[srancour]

Related, it seems that editors aren't understanding how their image will be represented on the event pages. Sighted users aren't understanding about events either that screen reader users may have better understanding.

The Wheels and Warriors event at the West Palm Beach VA is a perfect example. The image has alt text that explains the event details shown on the image (Rev up your engines and show off your wheels! Join us with food trucks, fancy cars, community partners, and more in honor of Veterans.), but the image gets cropped on the actual page that the vets can get to which cuts away all of the details. The only extra details added to the event is the date and time. All fields for the event aren't being used.