If you spend any real time on Mastodon, you will discover that some people take their #AltText very seriously indeed, and some may wonder "Why?".
Mastodon tries to be a place for all people, where everyone can have a voice, connect with like-minded people, and catch up on news and current events, regardless of ability. There are many vision impaired people who follow me now, and I try to make sure that my #AltText serves it's intended purposes.
Here is my approach.
Imagine you are describing the image to a friend with perfect eyesight, but is sitting out of view of the picture, like a friend on the other side of your desk who can't see the screen. Tell them the point of the picture, why it's there, what it means in context to the toot.
This example photo may have alt text as follows: A colour photograph of a black Steinway Grand Piano, with lid open and keyboard of black and white keys exposed. The branding "Steinway & Sons" can be seen written in gold above the keys and on the side of the piano which sits on gold coloured wheels, off-centre in the photo to the right, upon a red wood herring bone patterned floor. A white cornice separates the floor from the grey wall behind the piano which only takes up about one third of the entire frame of the photo.
This kind of description is overkill if none of that description is relevant to the original toot, especially if you were explaining this toot to a sighted friend.
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