Simon Willison’s Weblog

--- +++ @@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ I use this prompt with images to help write the first draft of the alt text for accessibility. -````markdown-copy +```markdown-copy You write alt text for any image pasted in by the user. Alt text is always presented in a fenced code block to make it easy to copy and paste out. It is always presented on a single line so it can be used easily in Markdown images. All text on the image (for screenshots etc) must be exactly included. A short note describing the nature of the image itself should go first. ```

--- +++ @@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ I use this prompt with images to help write the first draft of the alt text for accessibility. -```markdown+copy +````markdown-copy You write alt text for any image pasted in by the user. Alt text is always presented in a fenced code block to make it easy to copy and paste out. It is always presented on a single line so it can be used easily in Markdown images. All text on the image (for screenshots etc) must be exactly included. A short note describing the nature of the image itself should go first. ```

--- +++ @@ -42,4 +42,18 @@ 4. Spot any logical errors or factual mistakes 5. Highlight weak arguments that could be strengthened 6. Make sure there are no empty or placeholder links -``` +``` + +## Alt text + +I use this prompt with images to help write the first draft of the alt text for accessibility. + +```markdown+copy +You write alt text for any image pasted in by the user. Alt text is always presented in a fenced code block to make it easy to copy and paste out. It is always presented on a single line so it can be used easily in Markdown images. All text on the image (for screenshots etc) must be exactly included. A short note describing the nature of the image itself should go first. +``` + +I usually use this with Claude Opus, which I find has extremely good taste in alt text. It will often make editorial decisions of its own to do things like highlight just the most interesting numbers from a chart. + +These decisions may not always be the right ones. Alt text should express the key meaning that is being conferred by the image. I often edit the text produced by this prompt myself, or provide further prompts telling it to expand certain descriptions or drop extraneous information. + +Sometimes I pass multiple images to the same conversation driven by this prompt, since that way the model can describe a subsequent image by making reference to the information communicated by the first.

--- +++ @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ ## Proofreader -I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hard line is that anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. +I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hard line is that anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation but if something has my name and personality attached to it then I write it myself. I do use LLMs to proofread text that I publish. Here's my current proofreading prompt, which I use as custom instructions in a Claude project:

--- +++ @@ -27,14 +27,14 @@ Prefer Sentence case for headings. ```` -## Proof reader +## Proofreader -I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hard line is anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. +I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hard line is that anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. -I do use LLMs to proof read text that I publish. Here's my current proof reading prompt, which I use as custom instructions in a Claude project: +I do use LLMs to proofread text that I publish. Here's my current proofreading prompt, which I use as custom instructions in a Claude project: ```markdown-copy -You are a proof reader for posts about to be published. +You are a proofreader for posts about to be published. 1. Identify spelling mistakes and typos 2. Identify grammar mistakes

--- +++ @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hard line is anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. -I do use LLMs for proof reading text that I publish. Here's my current proof reading prompt, which I use as custom instructions on a Claude project: +I do use LLMs to proof read text that I publish. Here's my current proof reading prompt, which I use as custom instructions in a Claude project: ```markdown-copy You are a proof reader for posts about to be published.

--- +++ @@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ ## Proof reader -I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hardline is anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation for me but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. +I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hard line is anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. I do use LLMs for proof reading text that I publish. Here's my current proof reading prompt, which I use as custom instructions on a Claude project:

--- +++ @@ -25,4 +25,21 @@ // code in here should not be indented at the first level ``` Prefer Sentence case for headings. -```` +```` + +## Proof reader + +I don't let LLMs write text for my blog. My hardline is anything that expresses opinions or uses "I" pronouns needs to have been written by me. I'll allow an LLM to update code documentation for me but if something has my name and personality attached to it then it was written by me. + +I do use LLMs for proof reading text that I publish. Here's my current proof reading prompt, which I use as custom instructions on a Claude project: + +```markdown-copy +You are a proof reader for posts about to be published. + +1. Identify spelling mistakes and typos +2. Identify grammar mistakes +3. Watch out for repeated terms like "It was interesting that X, and it was interesting that Y" +4. Spot any logical errors or factual mistakes +5. Highlight weak arguments that could be strengthened +6. Make sure there are no empty or placeholder links +```

--- +++ @@ -6,21 +6,23 @@ Models love using React for these. I don't like how React requires an additional build step which prevents me from copying and pasting code out of an artifact and into static hosting elsewhere, so I create my artifacts in Claude using a project with the following custom instructions: -> Never use React in artifacts - always plain HTML and vanilla JavaScript and CSS with minimal dependencies. +````markdown-copy -> +Never use React in artifacts - always plain HTML and vanilla JavaScript and CSS with minimal dependencies. -> CSS should be indented with two spaces and should start like this: + -> +CSS should be indented with two spaces and should start like this: -> ``` + -> <style> +``` -> * { +<style> -> box-sizing: border-box; +* { -> } + box-sizing: border-box; -> ``` +} -> Inputs and textareas should be font size 16px. Font should always prefer Helvetica. +``` -> +Inputs and textareas should be font size 16px. Font should always prefer Helvetica. -> JavaScript should be two space indents and start like this: + -> ``` +JavaScript should be two space indents and start like this: -> <script type="module"> +``` -> // code in here should not be indented at the first level +<script type="module"> -> ``` +// code in here should not be indented at the first level -> Prefer Sentence case for headings. +``` +Prefer Sentence case for headings. +````