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How to write and add alt text to your images for inclusivity
The wonderful world of the internet is full of tools to help everyone belong. Alt text is one of them.
Adding alt text to your images is an easy way to help promote inclusivity and make your content more accessible to people using a screen reader.
Also known as an ‘alt tag’ or an ‘alt description’, alt text is the written copy embedded into an image that describes what the image shows.
Belong is Australia's first carbon neutral telco
We’re Australia’s first certified carbon neutral telco under the Climate Active program. Climate Active is a partnership between the Australian Government and Australian business.
Being carbon neutral means that carbon emissions associated with operating our mobile and broadband services is offset by certified projects that we’re investing in.
What the — is wi-fi?
Do you ever just wonder, what the heck is wi-fiwi-fiwi-fi?
Wi-fi is pulsating light that creates radio waves to transmit massive amounts of data through the air.
Fun fact: your wi-fi and internet are two different things. wi-fi is used to access the internet. It sends data to all your devices so you can stay connected to the web. Whereas the internet is a global network of computers.
Find simple ways to go green with The New Joneses
It’s never been more important to do our part to go green. Our climate is changing – temperatures are rising, extreme weather events are becoming more common, glaciers are melting. That’s why we became Australia’s first carbon neutral telco.
But here’s some more good news: we can all be part of the solution, and The New Joneses are going to show us how.
Overusing emoji can be a real 💩 time
Imagine if, every time you saw an emoji, you had to describe what it looked like. Quite the mouthful, right? That’s life for screen readers.
Emoji are everywhere and with good reason: they add a lot to how we talk online. They’re equal parts gesture, expression and joke.
Whether or not you use 😂 or 💀 when you're laughing says something about you[SK1] [ZC2] (and 😬 says a whole lot when words won’t do).
Four communities to know from the Month of Belonging
No matter who you are, what you love, or what you’re into, there’s a place for you on the internet that makes it feel good to belong.
That’s what we highlighted throughout March with the Month of Belonging. We dove into the wonderful ways us humans come together and spoke to some inspiring people and organisations along the way.
What to do with old tech lying around the house
One overused laptop, two replaced phones, a keyboard that’s missing the ‘A’ button, and a wireless mouse that’s clinging on for dear life (with a replacement nearby).
Technology evolves much faster than we can keep up with, which often results in a backlog of unused devices lying around the house.
Using all caps for accessibility
We all know someone who loves to use all caps a bit too much in their messages. It makes things sound a bit shouty.
But there’s at least one good time to go all caps: when you’re having a laugh (and you want to let screen readers in on it).
When a word is all lowercase, a screen reader will just read it as a regular word. That turns ‘lmao’ into ‘la-mayo’ and ‘roflmao’ into ‘rofle mayo’.
Making social media more accessible
Social media has become a popular way for communities, including those with disabilities to connect. However, even though social media seems to be everywhere, it’s not always accessible for everyone.
Some people might be reading this blog post right now, while others might be having it read to them by a screen-reader, using dark mode or other accessibility tools. Well, there are some simple things you can do when you’re posting on social media to make sure your content is as accessible as possible to everyone.
Living like The New Joneses
It’s not exactly hot off the press, but our planet really needs a hand to stop things from getting pretty dire.
It can be hard to imagine that just one person can make a difference, but every bit of action really does count.
What better way to get empowered to make a change than to have a handful of easy tips to get started?!
Scam calls: how to sniff out a fake
It’s an all too common scenario.
The phone rings. You answer. You’re told that you’ve been overcharged for your phone bill. You’re going to be refunded $200! All the caller needs are your bank account details, and that money will be sent your way.
Hopefully, you realise that this call seems a little fishy and hang up, but it’s easy to feel unsure about what’s going on.
Reflecting on two years as Australia’s first carbon neutral telco
It’s been a long two years since Belong went carbon neutral.
Climate Active certified our carbon neutral status in December 2019 and, well, a lot has changed – even if we’re just talking about climate action. A lot more companies are getting involved and doing the work they need to do to reduce their impact on the planet (including other telcos like Telstra).
It feels good to BE Proud at Pride
Now in its third year, BE Proud is one of four employee groups at Belong. Each group provides a platform and a voice to our communities and helps to include, engage and educate our wider Belong team.
It’s reassuring to know that Belong goes beyond encouraging people to bring their full self to work, but in fact celebrates it and supports each team member.
How to use your mobile for good
On average, we spend around 3 hours each day gazing into our pocket-sized super-screens. That’s around 21 hours a week, which equates to a part-time job. Congrats, you’ve just been hired.
Here are a few ways you can make the most of those hours and make your mobile a force for good!
