Alt-Text Test Drive: Because Irony Shouldn't Be This Blinding

Image: A good looking Asian man with medium black hair, closed eyes, wearing a black T-shirt, illuminated by bright flash.
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This post? Not a review, not a fight breakdown, not a poem. Just a moment of raw, gritty accessibility awareness—with a touch of sass, of course.

So I was uploading some photos to my blog, feeling all proud of myself...


Image: Two vibrant blue macaws perched on a wooden branch. The macaws have striking blue feathers with yellow rings around their eyes and large, curved black beaks.
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Until my screen reader purred:

“No description. Graphic.”
Over. And over. And over.

And I thought:

I’m a blind guy. Running a blog. With images.
That other blind folks can’t access.

The irony? Thicker than a steak fresh off the grill.

Let’s Fix That


Image: A mystical forest scene. In the center, there is a young woman with long, flowing hair, sitting on a large, twisted tree branch. She is wearing a dress made of leaves and natural materials.

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If you’re a creator—especially if you’re sighted—please add alt-text to your images. It makes a world of difference. It's not hard. It’s not time-consuming. It’s just… human.

Hell, if a blind martial artist-turned-artist-poet like me can do it, so can you.


Image: A person sits on a couch with two orange tabby cats—one lying on its back beside them, the other on the floor. Cardboard boxes fill the dimly lit background.

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The Harsh Reality

Now here’s the kicker:
I spent nine hours trying to make Blogger’s built-in alt-text tools work. I tried everything:

  • PC

  • iPhone

  • Chrome

  • Safari

  • Blogger’s own damn app.

And guess what?
The image properties menu isn’t accessible with a screen reader. At all.

So here’s my rebel move: I’m manually typing out each image’s description, right beside the photo. It ain’t pretty—but it’s accessible. And that, my dear, is what matters.


Image: Two orange tabby cats are on a wooden desk—one lying down, the other sitting upright. Behind them are shelves filled with superhero action figures, a computer monitor, and various electronics.

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A True Tale of Two Countries

This isn’t the first time I’ve had to MacGyver my way through inaccessibility.

When I was a kid in Taiwan, learning math with diagrams?
There were no Braille diagrams. No tactile charts. No adapted books.
But my teacher—who’d never taught a blind student before—went home, grabbed a block of wood, carved a giant grid by hand, and came back the next day with rubber bands and pins.
She taught me graphing using that homemade board.


Image: An elderly woman with short hair, wearing a floral blouse, sits at a classroom desk practicing calligraphy. Smiling children and educational posters are visible in the background.

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Fast forward a few years. I’m in Canada.
Supposedly a land of accessibility and progress.
But when I tried to take math in high school?

“Sorry, we don’t have Braille diagrams or materials available for this course. You’ll have to drop out.”

No homemade grid. No workarounds.
Just no.

That’s the difference between ingenuity and infrastructure—and why true accessibility isn’t just about tools. It’s about attitude.


Image: Johnny, with short dark hair and a light dress shirt, holds a microphone, addressing a large seated audience in a hall. The crowd and balcony seating are blurred.

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So here I am, still blind, still badass, and still making it work with whatever I’ve got. Even if it means writing alt-text one image at a time like a digital vigilante.

Check out the sites:
🌐 www.johnnytiger.com – biography & documentary
🎨 www.tigertactile.com – tactile art & exhibits

#BlindBlogger #AltTextMatters #AccessibilityIsSexy #DIYAccess #JohnnyTigerWrites #RealTalkRealIrony #InclusionNow #NotJustChecklists #BlindAndUnstoppable #MakeItWork #FromWoodGridsToWebPosts

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