Allow update/addition of image alt text

[kenara]

Describe the Feature

It's easy to forget adding alt text to an image. And someone might call your attention to an image you posted that is missing alt text. This feature is not to be confused with the much requested, almost mythical "Edit button" for posts.

Bluesky has made a commitment to image alt texts that has resonated with concerned community members. Let's support them!

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Describe Alternatives

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Additional Context

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[surfdude29]

Please see #659 for the ability to add and edit alt text retroactively.

Also, I think it kind of is linked with being able to edit posts, because by editing the alt text you would be editing the underlying data in the record for the post. So my guess would be that post editing and alt text adding/editing will probably arrive at the same time :)

[kenara]

@surfdude29, I don't know if there will ever be - or should be - an edit button. It's a whole other thing that would allow a poster to change the meaning of their post after it has gained likes, etc. It would enable abuse and that's probably why we don't see edit buttons when we could really use one.

On the other hand, forgetting to add alt text is something I've done and been called out for, and since Bluesky has championed the cause of alt text, allowing it to be added retroactively (by the original poster) would make it that much easier to do what many consider "the right thing."

[surfdude29]

@surfdude29, I don't know if there will ever be - or should be - an edit button. It's a whole other thing that would allow a poster to change the meaning of their post after it has gained likes, etc. It would enable abuse and that's probably why we don't see edit buttons when we could really use one.

It's partly because of those concerns and the need to get the user experience right that we don't have post editing yet (the Bluesky team has also just been really busy working on lots of other stuff). However, post editing is definitely planned; there will be a new roadmap issued soon but for now have a look at what the 2024 roadmap says on this:

Record Versioning (Post Editing): atproto already supports updating records in repositories: one example is updating bsky profile records. And preparations were made early in the protocol design to support post editing while avoiding misleading edits. Ideally, it would also be possible to (optionally) keep old versions of records around in the repository, and allow referencing and accessing multiple versions of the same record.