【Diotta Fatou】

2025-06-26 13:24:43 480 views 84624 comments

It may not be Diotta Fatouan edit button (nor will it ever be), but Twitter snuck in a nifty little feature for us to play with heading into the weekend of the Super Bowl.

If you've ever looked at Twitter while sports were happening, you've probably seen countless GIFs posted as reactions to big plays. Twitter made that slightly more accessible on Friday, adding the ability to add text descriptions to GIFs. It's an extension of the same feature that has existed for still images for a while.

There are a couple small caveats to this. First, it's only available on web Twitter right now. The Twitter Accessibility account confirmed in the replies to the above tweet that it's coming to Android and iOS soon, but there's no firm date for that yet. If you want to do this, you better open up that laptop.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

You May Also Like

Second, you can't add text descriptions to GIFs or any other images without digging into the settings menu and flipping a switch. Go into the settings page on the Twitter website and, under "Accessibility," you'll find an option labeled "Compose image descriptions." That's off by default for some reason, so go ahead and turn it on.

Mashable ImageCredit: alex perry / twitter

Once you've gone ahead and done that, you can start describing GIFs to your heart's content. Just compose a tweet like you normally would, choose a GIF, and then click the prompt to add a description underneath the GIF. It looks a little something like this:

Mashable ImageCredit: alex perry / twitter

This might not seem like a massive upgrade for Twitter, but that doesn't make it less important. These descriptions can help people with vision impairment have a better time on Twitter, and it didn't make much sense to relegate them strictly to still photos.

If Twitter plans to be as GIF-heavy as it's been since adding GIF search, accessibility features like this are going to be necessary.

Topics Social Good Social Media X/Twitter

Comments (2445)
Unobstructed Information Network

Alienware M16 Gaming Laptop deal: Save $560

2025-06-26 13:02
Focus Information Network

Canada's Girl Scouts have also had enough of Trump

2025-06-26 12:55
Habit Information Network

Why you saw swastikas appearing on Twitter accounts everywhere

2025-06-26 11:46
Co-creation Information Network

Sony launches new flagship XM6 headphones: Order them now

2025-06-26 11:08
Search
Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.

Follow Us