#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.

[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

[gayvampyr]

and my personal favorite:

i love getting validation as a lefty but also learning about new fun ways it continues to suck

[everythingwasnormalhere]

Ok so, I just remembered how people in the comments of a tiktok video were being assholes, and I want to rant now :3

The video showed two wheelchair users at a train(?), who had just arrived to their stop to find nobody was there with a ramp so they could leave the train. One of them blocked the door so it wouldn't close, and this lasted for 15 minutes. The train was stopped for said 15 minutes. There was a button by the door, that said that it'd contact the driver when pressed. It didn't. People offered to go find the driver, and they came back with the news that there were no people in the platform to put the ramp. In the end, passengers had to go out, and place the ramp themselves, before the train could carry on. The wheelchair users had warned they were coming, and asked to have the ramp put there so they could get down. The platform turned out to have workers, they all just ran away because they'd never encountered the situation in which they needed to do this simple task.

Because of the workers' negligence, the train was forced to stop for 15 minutes.

Everyone's comments?

"Why did they block the doors and stop the train? So selfish" Selfish were workers who refused to do their job.

"What if someone had needed to get to their stop urgently? They shouldn't have stopped the train" It wasn't the disabled people's fault, it was the workers who were negligent.

"Why didn't they just wheel themselves down those steps?" They shouldn't have to risk their (expensive) chairs just because people didn't do what they were paid to do.

"If I had been in that train I would've been pissed, how dare you stop it" And you probably wouldn't have even thought about fixing the problem yourself, would you?

"Entitled assholes" Ok I'll leave you stranded in a train with everyone who could help you get down outright refusing to. Let's see who's an entitled asshole now.

If someone fights for accessibility, as much as it might be a bother for you, you do not have the right to be mad at them. If someone fights for accessibility, it is exclusively the fault of a world catered exclusively for able-bodied people.

So next time you think, "hey the consequences of these disabled people fighting for their rights bother me", instead of blaming them for this, help them solve the issue. This way, next time they will not have to fight at all.

Able bodied people, go out and fight for a fucking accessible world if you're not an asshole.

[ Able-bodied people are encouraged to reblog this post, but try not to derail ]

[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

[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.

[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

[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 :)

[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.]

[bandichree]

Comprehensive color chart for The Season of Radiance! Included is a accessibility guide with written descriptions for each dye option for anyone who may need it (colorblind, etc). Alt text included in the images!

Each color was color-picked from a screenshot of the Rainbow Trousers shirt portion during daytime lighting for accuracy and consistency.

Hope this helps, have fun dyeing!

[jstor]

Open access collections hosted on JSTOR bring together art and cultural artifacts that inspire new scholarly and creative insights. These collections enable deeper research, teaching, and personal discovery with materials from global institutions.

Read the full blog post, which introduces some of our favorite open access collections.

Image: Artist’s Painting of a Hippopotamus, ca. 1479–1425 B.C. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[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!