Forum: Author Hangout

Entering Alt Text in Word for Mac

Vincent Berg 🚫

Speaking of "Office Issues", does anyone have a clue how to add a description to images on Word for Mac (basically any version, as I need to identify which version I need.

I've been able to do this on every PC version since 2007, but have yet to find a single Mac version which supports it. The images I copy over from my PC all contain the appropriate code, but I can't add the required fields for any new images I add on the mac.

That sucks if any blind/visually impaired readers want to read anything created on a Mac, so there's GOT to be a work around somewhere.

Basically, I'm looking for how to stipulate the "Alternate text" or the < alt="text description> field in html on Word for Mac.

Replies: joyR

joyR 🚫

@Vincent Berg

How to add alt text to word for mac

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@joyR

How to add alt text to word for mac

Well, I did ask for 'any version'.

The link was what I was looking for, but I'm assuming it's the most recent version of the 'pay-per-month' version. I was hoping for either for how to add it to earlier version, or the earliest version I need to access the functionality. Again, it was accessible on PCs way back in 2007, yet on Macs, my 2016 version is utterly unable to do this basic operation.

Ah, found it. My 2017 v15 version of Mac Windows offers it (the unstable, crashes every time after only a few minutes, and permanently deletes the files version). It was the version I grabbed since Apple keeps threatening to cease supporting any non-64bit programs on Macs (it's the first 64-bit version of Word for Mac), so I guess I'll need to download a later version of v15, where they work out the many bugs in this version. :(

Guess I'll see how easy it is on LO, as I do have the most recent version of that software.

Replies: Vincent Berg

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Vincent Berg

Thanks, joyR. Despite my troubles with that particular piece of M$ crap, it works well. I just have to free memory before opening the file or any image, though I'm free to copy and paste as much as I want (seemingly).

That's a reasonable alternative, just using that version long enough to properly document each graphic title, chapter head and section break, then switching to the more reliable version of Word to transfer them between files.

Whew! What I go through to use antiquated software. 'D

P.S. Previously, I'd been looking for the "Add Alt" in the "Format Picture" command, which wasn't successful. Your solution saves me a LOT of work, and avoids me having to keep legacy versions of PC software (or bulky old desktops) lying around.

Replies: joyR

joyR 🚫

@Vincent Berg

Thanks, joyR. Despite my troubles with that particular piece of M$ crap, it works well. I just have to free memory before opening the file or any image, though I'm free to copy and paste as much as I want (seemingly).

First, I use a relatively old copy of MSWorks for Mac on a fairly old MacBook, without any issues whatsoever. I wonder if the 'Works' version of word differs from the stand alone version?

Second, all I did was copy/paste your basic question into google and then added the very first entry to my reply as a link. So whilst I appreciate your thanks, they are totally undeserved.

Vincent Berg 🚫

Gah! After two days wasting time on this nonsense, I've finally figured out WTF is happening. Since the Mac separates system functions from applications commands, whenever I perform a global cut & paste operation, it permanently erases every alt text field, but if I manually cut and paste each field, one at a time, it preserves it. However, since the vision of Mac Word 2017 I'm using is SO unstable, I can only make about ten or twelve replacements before the system hangs, and I run the risk of permanently deleting the entire file, regardless of how much memory I have available. (Apparently this version of Word for Mac requires around 4 to 5 gb of memory just to open a single file, and then it whittles down the memory with each operation performed from there.

Guess it's back up booting up old legacy PCs! I can't afford to waste this much time on something which clearly doesn't work! And I'm unsure whether I got a bad version, whether they resolved the issue in a later update, or if the problem is a larger Mac issue (I haven't tried alt text features in any other programs to know one way or another).

Still, I managed to churn through months worth of new files, adding the majority of the important fields, even if I couldn't update the many repeated fields (like section break descriptions).

Remus2 🚫

MicroSucks screwing up appears to be a common theme for many people. If that is in fact the case, why continue using that garbage?

Replies: Ernest Bywater awnlee jawking Vincent Berg

Ernest Bywater 🚫

@Remus2

why continue using that garbage?

social inertia so they don't have to learn something new they stay with the familiar, no matter how bad it is. It's the IT version of battered wife syndrome.

awnlee jawking 🚫

@Remus2

MicroSucks screwing up appears to be a common theme for many people. If that is in fact the case, why continue using that garbage?

People have heard what terrible a life Bill Gates has, beset with difficulties as he struggles to give his money away, so they want to make his life even harder to punish him ;)

AJ

Vincent Berg 🚫

@Remus2

MicroSucks screwing up appears to be a common theme for many people. If that is in fact the case, why continue using that garbage?

Alas, it doesn't appear to be M$. Instead, it's with the underlying Mac OS. Since they don't allow individual apps to access the system utilities, there's really no way to copy images, and all their data, from one to another via the separate search and replace function, even when they exist within the same program.

That appears to be why it took a full decade (2007 until 2017) for the basic 'alt text' feature to make it to Word for Mac. At this point, while I can enter the information, it's so limited, it's still worth booting up a separate defunct PC just to document the images for the visually impaired.

That's pretty sad. Though it's a peace of cake with ePubs where you simply cut the 'alt text' field from one app and paste it in another, without it's being buried under layers of propritary code.

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Forum: Author Hangout

Entering Alt Text in Word for Mac

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