Mullen Lowe’s CCO, Nicky Bullard, discusses their push for Alt Text to be universally adopted,
"I think the thing from the original 'Alt Alts' campaign was when we started doing those image searches. All those images that have had such an impact on our lives and might have changed our minds or changed the government or whatever - you think about how you felt when you saw that image. It could be funny or move you, but if you're blind or partially sighted, you're never having that experience. And no one's bothered to put that in writing."
Bullard wants to normalise the process within ads, which to copywriters should be a dream brief. RNIB and MullenLowe ran an exhibition in Cannes at the Carlton Hotel to show how it can be done and to get clients thinking about it. "We've had all sorts of clients coming in to think about it and insisting that their agencies do it. That's a double win," says Bullard.
Some advertisers are going to make Alt Text a mandatory part of their briefs, and the RNIB is offering help and guidelines to assist agencies in writing it. In reality, the hope is that it should be something that allows copywriters to stretch their talents in a new area while also making ads accessible and enjoyable to a currently disenfranchised sector of society. Winning awards as a tool of encouragement should not be needed.