Developer Builds Free Local Alt Text Generator Using LLaVA and Ollama

A developer built an AI-powered alt text generator for their portfolio that runs entirely on a laptop, requiring no API keys, subscriptions, or cloud services. The article explains that alt text is essential for screen reader users, and that missing or unhelpful descriptions can make web content inaccessible without any visible sign of a problem. The tool uses LLaVA, a vision model, served through Ollama to produce a first-draft description that a human can review, since deciding whether an image needs a description is a judgment call. The architecture combines a plain HTML and JavaScript frontend with a Node.js and Express backend that forwards base64-encoded images to Ollama's local chat endpoint. The developer chose a fully local setup so the project would remain free and avoid depending on paid or quota-limited services.
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