#accessible images

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(image description: six sketched and colored portraits of a humanoid man with a beak tooth and colorful feathers on his head and body. His feathers are dark green on the head and back, light blue on the front, and there is a fan of soft gold feathers on his spine. He is wearing colorful jewelry and makeup, with a different look in each of the six portraits. There is a tattoo on his forehead with the design of two linked circles with a few decorative lines framing them, and there is a long scar across the middle of his face. end description.)

Just a little bonus post, this is my protagonist character Mori, short for Morianon. He's part of a humanoid avian species I've been calling the Quetzalin, pretty much the only people species in my worldbuilding that did not evolve naturally but were actually created by a Life entity that liked to experiment in some really weird ways. Most Life entities just poke and prod evolution in certain directions, but this particular entity wanted to do more. Maybe I'll go more into detail on that later, lol, but for now i just wanted to show of Mori's fun summer style.

Being a tropical avian species, Quetzalin males typically grow fancy courting feathers half the year and the hormonal shift also drives them to adorn themselves with as much glitter and color as they can manage. Mori does not live amongst his own people, but he still loves to decorate himself in the courting season, and his wife is happy to help with his makeup.

(I say males to keep it simple, but the quetzalin views of sex and gender don't really follow a simple binary like that, i could make a whole post on this topic)

[pagesofscales]

While walking through a park nearby, I spotted this baby snapping turtle on the side of the park. I thought it was dead at first, but when I touched it to move it into the grass, it moved its head.

I gave the provincial turtle conservation hotline a call to ask about resources in the area that could take it in as it was far too cold out and it was a very late hatch. It was only a couple days old as it still had its egg tooth.

After making a couple calls, I brought it home with me to wait for the local wildlife center to secure a volunteer to come get them. Once I got it home, I could see it start to perk up a bit. There was some good leg movement and tail movement.

I did notice that there was what looks like a piece of leaf plastered on to its eye and though I think I could have removed it, I didn't want to chance it since this was a such a young baby and it was so close to the eye.

The wildlife centre responded very quickly and in just a couple hours, I was handing the little guy over to them.

The last I heard, this dude was doing better and would likely survive the winter to be brought back to the park in the spring.

I've also been in contact with a group of naturalists that help protect the parks snapping turtles and they're very happy to hear that another hatchling survived. They had just removed the nest boxes a few days before.

When I went back to the park to check for any other stragglers, I unfortunately found that one of the nests nearby had been predated.

Turtles hatch below ground so if it's a successful hatch, you won't see any eggshells around. Unfortunately, this nest was raided, likely by a fox or a raccoon as both are common in this area.

As a note, baby turtles are usually very resilient and if you find one, you should leave it be. The only exceptions to this are if it's injured or sick or if it's very cold out (Like it is here). In those cases, please still contact your local turtle people to ask for instructions.

[miss-m-winks]

(Image description: a loosely sketched pencil drawing of a feathery bird-like man holding a gnomish women's hand as she kisses his cheek. His wings are framing the two of them and they both look very happy. There is. a tiny heart over their heads and the words "happy new year 2023" below them. End description)

First art of the new year! Made while in the car, so forgive the quality lol

[pagesofscales]

[Image Description: A taxidermied deer head affixed to a brown brick wall. The deer has large antlers and is positioned with its mouth open. Inside the mouth are large canine teeth and some smaller pointed teeth that should not be in a deer's mouth. End ID.]

credit @zhoncreations

[rjalker]

[ID: A version of the yes/no meme format showing two screenshots of Mickey Mouse from the 1928 animation Steamboat Willie. For the "no" section, he looks at the ground dejectedly. For the "yes" example," he leaps into the air with joy. The no section reads, in quotation marks, "You can only use the version of Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie!", followed by, in parentheses, "(Extremely misleading, making it seem like the Public Domain demands stagnation and kills creativity)". The yes section reads, in quotation marks, "You can redesign Mickey Mouse in any style or outfit you like as long as it's not a version still owned by Disney's copyright", followed by in parentheses, "(Actually explains the rule, lets people unleash their creativity.)". End ID.]

You can buy this design from my threadless store if you want to help a trans disabled artist pay rent AND spread correct info about the Public Domain at the same time :)

If you save this meme template to use, please also save the image description above as a word document or in a notes app! When you post your version of the meme, just edit the relevant sections :)

[pagesofscales]

[Image Description: A bluejay standing on a rock. The photo highlights all the different shades of blue on the bird. End ID.]

look at me. listen to me. this is directed at americans for the record. the reason you think North American animals are boring is because you live here. there are so many cool and beautiful animals here. we have beavers. we have wolves. we have moose. we have sea lions. we have armadillos. we have mountain lions. we have alligators. we have foxes. we have bighorn sheep. we have manatees. we have bears. we have ocelots. we have BISON. and that’s not even touching on the birds! or the turtles! or the snakes! we have amazing beautiful and diverse wildlife right here and it deserves to be appreciated and protected

[describe-things]

[ID: Two black and white photos of Kwame Ture/Stokely Carmichael, a young Black man, saying into a microphone with a sardonic expression, "In order for non-violence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none, has none." End ID.]

[cowsabungus]

Obvs not all access is wheelchair access I'm just a wheelchair user so hence it centring around wheelchair access

(Inspired by Ruth Martin on Insta go check them out they're super cool and amazing)

ID in Alt Text

[prokopetz]

Sometimes folks who take it upon themselves to provide image IDs for other people's posts end up demonstrating oddly specific knowledge. Like, you'll see an image depicting (among other things) a bearded man in a nondescript black robe, and then the followup reblog is like "ID: a deacon of the Latvian Orthodox Church [...]" like, getting the denomination and rank is impressive enough, but the jurisdiction as well? Now we're just showing off. I love it.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

How do you think feline retractable claws would work on a humanoid hand? Thanks for the help ❤️

alright, finally clearing out my askbox backlog! thanks for your patience!

a good start is this post i reblogged a while ago that has some examples of claws on hands as well as monstrous teeth arrangements. it does show how to root claws onto the bone, but it doesn't cover how retractable claws work.

Part of the reason retractable claws work well for cats is because it fits into the digitigrade style of their feet, so it's a little tricky to fit them into humanoid fingers, but I've come up with a way i think it can work, so here are my study sketches:

(image description: simple study sketches of a human finger and a cat claw. In the human finger, there are three bones extending from the hand, connected by two different tendons and a ligament on each bone that acts as a pulley for the tendons. The nail sits above the bone of the fingertip, in the flesh of the finger.

In the cat claw, there are three bones in the toe connected by a tendon and a few elastic ligaments. The claw is attached to the toe tip bone and the ligament here connects to the previous bone instead of the tendon. The final joint of the toe sits inside the toe pad. When the claw extends and retracts, it does so by pulling the toe tip back against the previous bone or flexing it forward. end description.)

So, how do you do that in a human finger, where there's no thick toe pad to contain these funky bone arrangements? Also, do you want to add an extra bone to the fingers, or do you want to shorten the fingers by using the bones that are already here? I went for the second option, but you don't have to. Certainly, adding retractable claws will make the function of a humanoid hand a little more restricted. the claws, however, will be useful for grabbing things in a different way than a normal human finger. so keep that in mind.

(image description: three drawings of a humanoid hand with retractable claws, showing the bones under the skin.

In the first image, there is also another comparison between the bones of a human hand and the bones of a cat paw, demonstrating how the human hand is mostly flat while a cat's paw bends the joints more, making the two difficult to combine.

In all the simplified drawings of a humanoid hand with retractable claws, the final two finger bones are bent in a V shape that can be flexed straight. The flesh of the fingers is rounded and thick when the claws are retracted, and then flexes to be longer and thinner when the claws extend. end description.)

An important note is that the claws will remain visible when retracted, they'll just look smaller. And I didn't draw it here, but if you've ever had to trim a cat's claws you'll notice a sort of skin sheath at the base of the claw, which can be added here as well. Also, a claw is just a hard keratin sheath over a softer core, called the quick. It will bleed if the claw is cut or broken in the wrong spot.

hopefully that's a helpful start! you can go even more cat-like and add some finger/palm pads if you want.

[steadfastpetrel]

in honor of lesbian visibility day, i made a comic on my experience being a disabled butch. we exist, we are worth it, we are loved.

If alt text doesn't work or you wanna see the image descriptions in another window, here's the image description doc!

[anistarrose]

Imagine, for a moment, that your internet just stopped loading images one day. Your dash might look pretty different (and less usable), but at least you can still make posts — whether about your internet situation, or about completely unrelated topics.

Now, imagine that one or more of your posts blew up, to the tune of hundreds if not thousands of notes. Imagine people started adding images to your posts.

Imagine your post circulating almost entirely in the form with four or five images attached, and with everyone in the notes laughing about those images — except you, who started the post in the first place, who can't even see those images because you're trapped in Tumblr's loading gradient hellscape.

You're excluded from any further conversations on your own post, because someone added a mystery image with the caption "don't leave this in the tags," but you have no idea which set of tags it is, and can't tell if it's one of the good takes from the tags or one of the horrible takes from the tags. You're excluded from the Tumblr users playing with JPEGs like dolls. You can try to guess the contents of the images based on people's reactions, but it's hard. And no one adding images even seems to notice the irony.

This is, of course, a real problem plaguing Tumblr users with regularly slow internet. And it's also a huge, insidious problem plaguing blind and low vision people who rely on either screen readers, or image descriptions in combination with enlarged text on their device.

People with disabilities around comprehending images, people who have images (or gifs) disabled due to photosensitivity, and many others are also affected.

If you add an image to a post without either alt text, an in-post image description, or even both for maximal inclusivity, you don't know if OP — or the person whose tags you're peer reviewing, or whose reply you're screenshotting — will actually be able to see it. From their perspective, you might just be shoving a mystery rectangle in their face, expecting them to be able to guess — or responding to them without them being able to know.

Imagine being on the receiving end of that expectation constantly. Imagine how isolating that must feel.

We need, collectively, to stop making assumptions that everyone we interact with online will be able to access, physically see, and mentally process images. The assumption that disabled people are vanishingly rare and statistically shouldn't really need to be considered is an assumption of structural and/or implicit ableism.

Write image descriptions. Write image descriptions for every image you post, if you're able — but if you have limited energy, or you're still learning, you should at least start trying your absolute best to describe images you add to other people's posts. If you're starting a conversation, even an online conversation, you should make your best effort to be accessible.

So: Write IDs, especially if they're as simple as just text, like screenshotted tags (link to guide). Write IDs even if you think the best ID you can write is too short, or too incomplete (link to post explaining why even "bad" IDs help).

Write IDs in general (link to a huge compilation of guides). Challenge ableist assumptions and inaccessibility.

[disabilityawarenesspride]

How to Write an Image Description: A Fundamental Guide.

[Plain Text: How to Write an Image Description: A Fundamental Guide. End PT]

General Guidelines:

[PT: General Guidelines. End PT]

Object, Action, Context

[PT: Object, action, context. End PT]

This is what you want to prioritize. What are we looking at, what is going on, and what is the surrounding environment?

Keep it simple and get to the point

[PT: Keep it simple and get to the point.]

Try to use short, clear sentences and prioritize what the reader needs to know in the context of the post. We don't need to know that the tweet was posted at 2:08AM or what color rings someone is wearing. That doesn't really provide useful information. If you really want to provide some relevant details, be sure you get to the main point of the image first.

Context is Important

[PT: Context is Important. End PT]

Why is the image posted there? What information does it lend to the content around it? Make sure the viewer knows what they need to know to understand how the image relates to the text and content partnered with it.

For a meme or a tweet screenshot, we don't need to know all the details or what the background looks like, we just need to understand the joke. For something like art or photography, you may want to include more details.

Don't Assume

[PT: Don't Assume. End PT]

Don't assume gender, race, and pronouns of the subject(s) of the image. If you can find this context in the post, on op's blog, or somewhere else you can include it, but try not to make baseless assumptions.

Alt Text vs Image Descriptions

[PT: Alt Text vs Image Descriptions. End PT]

Alt text is great for people using screen readers, but it isn't always the most accessible option. Alt text can be glitchy, the font size cannot be changed for those who need large text, and it doesn't show up at all until the image either loads or completely fails to load.

For this reason, a longer description in plain text in the body of the post is a more accessible option.

I suggest a short summary in the alt text so people can get the overview of an image and a longer description in the body of the post. For example, compare the image description and the alt text for the following image:

[Image ID: A guide to writing alt text on images. At the top, it says "Writing Alt Text" in big white text. It then lists off five major steps to writing alt text. Identify who, expression, description, color, and interesting features. It then shows an image of a capybara, with a sample alt text that reads, "A capybara looking relaxed in a hot spa. Yellow yuzu fruits are floating in the water, and one is balanced on top of the capybara's head." with each block of text color-coordinated to show which of the five steps it corresponds to. At the bottom of the image is the word "Puzzle" stylized into a logo. End ID.]

The Alt text provides the bare minimum of what you need to know to contextualize the image, while the ID expands on details that help to understand it and provides more details.

Formatting:

[PT: Formatting. End PT]

Try your best to use correct spelling and grammar, but transcribe accurately. Use clear language and concise sentences where possible. However: Don't censor words or correct spelling when transcribing something from the image. You want the description to be as accurate to the image as possible.

[PT: use correct spelling and grammar, but transcribe accurately. End PT]

Always use plain text. Never use formatting like bold, italics, other fonts/font sizes/text colors, or text in all caps. If they appear in the original image, transcribe it in plain text like this:

[Bold, underlined] Always use plain text. [End bold and underlines.]

Begin an ID with square brackets [[these]], followed by "ID:" or "Image:". End the description with "End ID" and a closed square bracket ] to signify the end of the descriptions.

Screenreaders and visually impaired people sometimes struggle with symbols and emojis. Transcribe these instead when possible!

[PT: Transcribe these instead when possible. End PT]

The image description should be directly after the image, before any post caption or commentary.

Never use a readmore! If you delete the post or change your url the description is gone forever. It also makes the ID harder to reach in general, which is not accessible.

[PT: Never use a readmore! End PT]

Make your post accessible from the start if you can. Don't post something without an ID then reblog it with a description so that people have a chance to spread the inaccessible version of the post if they "prefer" the one without the "clutter" of an ID. That's ableist. If you post something without a description then end up describing it later, edit the ID into the original post.

[PT: Make your post accessible from the start. End PT]

Resources:

[PT: Resources. End PT]

The People's Accessibility Discord Server: I will always suggest this server! It's full of people that can help write descriptions, give feedback on IDs you've written, answer questions about accessibility, and more!

Online OCR: Image(/PDF) to text converter! This is really helpful, especially for transcribing text in tweet screenshots, article excerpts, etc. You will still have to do a bit of work formatting and correcting things sometimes, but it's a really helpful tool

CaseConverter: Good for converting lots of text in all caps for plain text transcriptions.

Meme Image Descriptions: This google doc has descriptions of many common meme images and templates!

Some simple Image Description formats: tailored largely for replies and screenshots from social media.

WebAim: A whole website for web accessability!

Online Accessibility Masterpost focusing on image descriptions from tumblr user @anistarrose. This has a ton of good resources, reading, and tips!

Reading & Guidelines:

[PT: Reading & Guidelines. End PT]

Cooper Hewitt guidelines for image description: This focuses on describing art, but it's a fantastic resource. It gives a good description on the distinction between alt text and long descriptions and gives guidelines for each. It's a pretty concise and easily comprehensible read with a lot of good tips towards the end.

Medium's How to Write an Image Description: Concise and helpful. The origin of "object, action, context".

Diagram Center Guidelines for Image Description: I really suggest reading through this. It gives a much more comprehensive understanding of what is important when writing a description and has different sections for help describing all sorts of things like photos, art, comics, diagrams, charts, math, chemistry, and more! A longer read, but it has a lot of specifics.

Perkins School for the Blind how to write alt text and image descriptions: Another great resource! Concise and helpful, shorter than Diagram Center's articles.

SiteImprove's Alt Text Best Practices: Focuses on Alt text not long image descriptions

Last Call Media- Accessible Comics: Great info for describing comics!

American Anthropological Association's Guide for creating image descriptions: an additional resource on IDs just because

Some tips from Tumblr user @keplercryptids! I reiterated a lot of these points here, but it's still a very helpful post!

General guideline from @can-i-make-image-descriptions and @accessibleaesthetics

Alt Text and Image Description Guide by @brownandtrans

Huge list of blogs that post accessible content!

And another google doc of accessible blogs!

If this post was too much information to read and absorb all at once, I suggest reading the first two links as well as some of the last few links that lead to Tumblr posts.

[PT: If this post was too much information to read and absorb all at once, I suggest reading the first two links as well as some of the last few links that lead to Tumblr posts. End PT]

Those probably have the most concise and easily digestible information, so choose one of those. If I've said anything incorrect in this post, please let me know so I can correct it ASAP! Thanks so much for reading and happy describing!

[askablindperson]

When people put image IDs under the cut (Keep Reading) of a post on Tumblr, does a screenreader still detect it? Or does it skip it?

Hi! Thank you for the question.

So, in general, most of the time, a screen reader can find the “read more“ button/link and successfully activate it. And, the majority of the time, we can then subsequently read the rest of the post after activating the read more.

However, I want to put heavy emphasis when I say “most of the time.“ Tumblr is notoriously known for being barely usable with a screen reader at best and actively hostile to screen reader users at worst, and there are inconsistencies galore as well as frequent accessibility breaking updates. There are times when I have been able to access a read more one day, and then log on the very next day and find that I am totally unable to find it at all. There are other days where one post allows me to activate it just fine, but another gives me so much trouble that I give up And log off for the day completely in frustration.

For these reasons, as well as several others, it is almost always universally recommended to not put an image description under a read more. The image description should always be in the standard body of the post, and/or in the alt text.

The other big reason why it’s not great to put an image description under a read more is that if you delete your blog, that read more can no longer be activated, so that image description is gone forever even if others can still re-blog other versions of the post.

And, lastly, putting an image description under a read more simply just creates extra steps for disabled Tumblr users that non-disabled users don’t have to do to get access to the post and its content. We are often already doing so many extra steps just to use the website as a whole because of how inaccessible so much of it is, and putting more barriers in the way means that far fewer Blind people are likely to ever see that image description. Or if we do see that post and notice that you have put a description under a read more, we might already be out of spoons for the day and clicking that read more is just another tiring frustration. The description should be readily available And as easy to access as the original image is for fully sighted users if you want to create a truly equitable experience.

I hope this helps answer your question!

[reasonsforhope]

Humanity is making progress on reproductive rights

"As the US Supreme Court prepares to hand down its latest batch of rulings, here is your periodic reminder that the United States is an outlier. Some 60 countries around the world have made their abortion laws more liberal in the past 30 years; only a small handful, which includes the United States, have made their abortion laws more restrictive. Source: Think Global Health"

Access to Abortion Has Increased Globally

-via Fix The News, Newsletter #53, June 13, 2024