ALT-text for images in gallery?

[Pi-C]

I wonder why there's no way to include text with the images in the gallery. Here, on the forum, you can add some text for each image that will be printed below it. ALT-text that's displayed when you hover the mouse over an image would be fine as well.

There's the old proverb that an image can tell more than a thousand words, but occasionally, some words may be actually needed to explain what it really shows. Also, it could be helpful to those among us who are visually impaired.

[Roodvlees]

Isn't everything already explained in text?
I don't remember gaining functional knowledge by looking at pictures.
Can you provide an example where not being able to see the image causes problems?
Maybe you play other mods where this does occur.

[valneq]

+1 for image captions on the mod portal

When I browse the mod portal, I frequently see images and ask myself: what should I pay attention to in this image? Which aspect of the mod does this image actually represent?

[Pi-C]

Isn't everything already explained in text?
I don't remember gaining functional knowledge by looking at pictures.

It should be explained in the text as well (pictures are meant to illustrate what the text is about and help understanding it). It usually is good style to keep things together that belong together. That way, it's easier to keep track of everything if you change something. For example, if you insert a new picture between two existing ones, you must remember to update the description in the text as well. On the other hand, if pictures have a caption associated with them, you don't have to worry about what happens if you add/remove/insert pictures.

Can you provide an example where not being able to see the image causes problems?

I've no specific example at the moment. Perhaps a mod that changes an entity and contains before/after images? Which one is which? I'm familiar with languages that are written from left to right, so I'd suppose "before" is left and "after" is right. But would somebody more familiar with languages that are written from right to left "read" the pictures in the same order as I do? I don't know, but I wouldn't bet on it. Adding ALT-text would make sure that one can identify which picture shows the "before" and which the "after" state.

Another example from my first mod: Would you know what these pictures are meant to show without reading the explanation at the end of "Introduction"? If you don't, the pictures are useless -- I could just remove them, or replace them with pictures of some flowers etc. for that matter. Pictures can only be useful if they complement the text, and captions (i.e. ALT-text) are needed for that.