VisualDescription

• Add visual description of the image: what does it look like?

  Simply describing the image as it appears, without its scientific meaning, is not helpful and is unsatisfying for audiences who are blind or low-vision

  Intertwin visual and scientific description, so that "concepts" are taken in small chunks

  • When describing images and rendering of scientific phenomena, integrate the science into the description

    • Explain what is the subject
    • Convey why it is important
    • Describe what it looks like

    1. Overview

    • Of the phenomenon being depicted
    • Of the image
    • The kind of image (photo, composite, digital rendering...)

    2. Organize and elaborate

    • Start from visual, then the concept, or the other way around; case by case
    • Describe also waht is NOT there (e.g.: black hole)

    3. Add details

    • Ensure that the mental picture you're helping to create is complete
    • Make the description reach and evocative

    Use analogies and similarities

    Can go back to previously explained partes and expand

  Hints

  • Terminology: explain terms that are not commonly understood

    Images are made also to inspire awe and engage the audience. The visual description should do the same

    Analogies:

    • consider blind from birth. Clouds, mountains, etc. are already a stretch. Birds flight is already out of understanding
    • Consider culture context (ex: food analogies)

    Colors: do include references in the description

    • Description written for various people (BVI, people previously sighted)
    • Even blind from birth may have relationship with colors
    • Beware of pre-existing color associations. Eg.: blue stars are hotter thatn red ones, but usually red is hot and blue is not

    Style is important: a proper style helps by delivering ideas in discrete packages that are easier for the questing mind to parse

    • Short sentences
    • numerous commas - Frequent pauses give mind time to take in the concepts. NO DASHES (screen readers don't handle it right)
    • frequent use of proper nouns - Minimize use of "it"

    Test with a screen reader

    Clearly link aspects of the phenomenon and the visual aspect

    Text lenght limit (alt-text, social media, ...): write full text and publish separately with link on web page then summarize (usually the overview) it in Alt-text, and embed full tex in IPTC metadata

    In social media, combine with post text

    Format: publish as plain text, maybe on the same page; PDF / docs are less convenient

    New trend: incorporate some of visual description in the image caption

  Visual description recorded in audio is useful also for sighted people

  • It's like having an astronomer by the side that drives through the exploration of the image

  Publish as alt-text (standard html)

  New IPTC tags, supported by Photoshop/Adobe Bridge: https://iptc.org/news/iptc-announces-new-properties-in-photo-metadata-to-make-images-more-accessible/

  Resources:

  • List of resources from OAO-CXC: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12LV1pfc298YexrSvMMWjoyFZwQGWxhJdfExQ-y31s5Y
  • Handout by Kim Arcand: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lsokb3zYn6LaHlFcPNP9DFV2tTEWLTev/view
  • Material from a NASA Chandra workshop: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1ZgMAu5xHmM4_UYswVJqI8CJQn8-3K9jV