While social media has become ubiquitous, memes remain almost entirely inaccessible to anyone without full vision.
If you’ve spent a lot of time on the internet in the last decade, you might immediately recognize this description: a toddler clenches his fist in front of a determined-looking face.
That would work for screen reading software. But consider what happens when things get meme-d: like this meme, with the photo next to a screen grab of a scene from the TV show Friends, showing Monica opening the apartment door to find Rachel and Ross in the hallway, with closed captions showing Monica’s line: “I’m sorry, apparently I opened the door to the past.”
Barriers to participating in meme culture can also directly affect social lives. Qualik Ford, a senior at the Maryland School for the Blind and the president of the Maryland Association of Blind Students, says the prevalence of memes makes it harder for him to connect with sighted friends. “Being a part of that culture is really important. Especially because I strive to have friends outside the blind community,” says Ford. “I wish we could connect on this level.
Facebook did create an automated program, rolling out its AI-powered alt-text feature in 2016. But Shaomei Wu, a research scientist at Facebook AI, points out that the automated program still has limitations. For instance, the algorithm purposefully does not identify gender—so as not to assume anything about photographed subjects—and only works once it reaches a high level of confidence in reading the image.
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