diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index cbdd7a3..d710690 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ _RESIZED_CACHE: MutableMapping[tuple[str, int], tuple[bytes, str, Any]] = LFUCac
 #
 # Next:
 # - fix stream (only content from follows + mention, and dedup shares)
-# - custom emoji in data/
 # - allow to undo follow requests
 # - indieauth tweaks
 # - API for posting notes
@@ -171,6 +170,11 @@ class CustomMiddleware:
 
 
 app = FastAPI(docs_url=None, redoc_url=None)
+app.mount(
+    "/static/custom_emoji",
+    StaticFiles(directory="data/custom_emoji"),
+    name="static_custom_emoji",
+)
 app.mount("/static", StaticFiles(directory="app/static"), name="static")
 app.include_router(admin.router, prefix="/admin")
 app.include_router(admin.unauthenticated_router, prefix="/admin")
diff --git a/app/templates/utils.html b/app/templates/utils.html
index 5c4602d..aa49de4 100644
--- a/app/templates/utils.html
+++ b/app/templates/utils.html
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@
 
 <div class="actor-box h-card p-author">
     <div class="icon-box">
-        <img src="{{ actor.resized_icon_url }}" class="actor-icon u-photo">
+        <img src="{{ actor.resized_icon_url }}" alt="{{ actor.display_name }}'s avatar" class="actor-icon u-photo">
     </div>
     <a href="{{ actor.url }}" class="u-url" style="">
         <div><strong>{{ actor.display_name | clean_html(actor) | safe  }}</strong></div>
diff --git a/app/utils/emoji.py b/app/utils/emoji.py
index 6484788..1d428e0 100644
--- a/app/utils/emoji.py
+++ b/app/utils/emoji.py
@@ -15,23 +15,27 @@ EMOJIS_BY_NAME: dict[str, "RawObject"] = {}
 def _load_emojis(root_dir: Path, base_url: str) -> None:
     if EMOJIS:
         return
-    for emoji in (root_dir / "app" / "static" / "emoji").iterdir():
-        mt = mimetypes.guess_type(emoji.name)[0]
-        if mt and mt.startswith("image/"):
-            name = emoji.name.split(".")[0]
-            ap_emoji: "RawObject" = {
-                "type": "Emoji",
-                "name": f":{name}:",
-                "updated": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",  # XXX: we don't track date
-                "id": f"{base_url}/e/{name}",
-                "icon": {
-                    "mediaType": mt,
-                    "type": "Image",
-                    "url": f"{base_url}/static/emoji/{emoji.name}",
-                },
-            }
-            EMOJIS[emoji.name] = ap_emoji
-            EMOJIS_BY_NAME[ap_emoji["name"]] = ap_emoji
+    for dir_name, path in (
+        (root_dir / "app" / "static" / "emoji", "emoji"),
+        (root_dir / "data" / "custom_emoji", "custom_emoji"),
+    ):
+        for emoji in dir_name.iterdir():
+            mt = mimetypes.guess_type(emoji.name)[0]
+            if mt and mt.startswith("image/"):
+                name = emoji.name.split(".")[0]
+                ap_emoji: "RawObject" = {
+                    "type": "Emoji",
+                    "name": f":{name}:",
+                    "updated": "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",  # XXX: we don't track date
+                    "id": f"{base_url}/e/{name}",
+                    "icon": {
+                        "mediaType": mt,
+                        "type": "Image",
+                        "url": f"{base_url}/static/{path}/{emoji.name}",
+                    },
+                }
+                EMOJIS[emoji.name] = ap_emoji
+                EMOJIS_BY_NAME[ap_emoji["name"]] = ap_emoji
 
 
 def tags(content: str) -> list["RawObject"]:
diff --git a/data/custom_emoji/.gitignore b/data/custom_emoji/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6b7ef3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/custom_emoji/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+*
+!.gitignore