Accessibility of Profile Pictures: Alt Text and Beyond to Express Identity Online

Profile pictures can convey rich social signals that are often inaccessible to blind and low vision screen reader users. Although there have been efforts to understand screen reader users’ preferences for alternative (alt) text descriptions when encountering images online, profile pictures evoke distinct information needs. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 screen reader users to understand their preferences for various styles of profile picture image descriptions in different social contexts. We also interviewed seven sighted individuals to explore their thoughts on authoring alt text for profile pictures. Our findings suggest that detailed image descriptions and user narrated alt text can provide screen reader users enjoyable and informative experiences when exploring profile pictures. We also identified mismatches between how sighted individuals would author alt text with what screen reader users prefer to know about profile pictures. We discuss the implications of our findings for social applications that support profile pictures.