Dear Colleagues,
Thanks, Adam, for pointing out the helpful parallel in the Webb scope images--I will make sure to take a closer look at the Alt text for those. As for your question, Douglas, our target audience is humanities researchers, but we also hope to make the information appealing to public audiences who might be exploring the web.
I attended a workshop last week through our parent college's DEI office on the subject of writing inclusive alt text for images. My main takeaway from this was that there are separate guidances for regular images and what the workshop described as 'complex' images. For regular images the best practice is to provide an accurate and concise (125 characters or less) description of what is taking place in the image. For 'complex' images, an accurate description of the information that is being
communicated in the image is encouraged, even if it means going over the normal character limit. The examples they provided were charts, and the Alt text for these consisted of a summary of the findings the chart presented--not a description of the image itself.
My question for the group now is--how would you categorize a multispectral image? Regular or 'complex'? Do we have an obligation to provide a description of what is being communicated by these images in addition to a physical description?
I appreciate your thoughts!
Carrie
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Caroline Roberts
Conservator
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Ann Arbor, MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2022 16:57
From: Adam Neese
Subject: Alt Text descriptions of multispectral images
I was curious and went snooping. The Alt Text for this image from the James Webb Space Telescope is:
"An hourglass shaped cloud of material burst out from the bright center, with the orange, semi-opaque gas cloud on top and orange fading to a bright blue semi-opaque gas cloud on the bottom, all against a black sky speckled with white spots."
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Adam Neese
Independent Imaging Specialist
Brooklyn, NY
Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2022 16:48
From: Adam Neese
Subject: Alt Text descriptions of multispectral images
Dear Caroline,
What an interesting question. After reflecting on it, I feel like the simple answer is that your example is already sufficient. Even the images we make and use don't always explain the material significance of what the viewer is seeing, and the explanation relies on the caption or other text or conversations presented with the image. Many words are often needed to clarify what the images are revealing (or not).
Another consideration is looking at similar imaging fields like forensics and astrophotography. How does NASA do it with images from the James Webb Space Telescope, for instance? I imagine they identify the subject in Alt Text even though they are making highly technical images. It could also be a good question to pose to those working in accessibility for the web.
Adam Neese
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Adam Neese
Brooklyn NY
Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2022 09:52
From: Caroline Roberts
Subject: Alt Text descriptions of multispectral images
Dear IWG Colleagues,
I am writing content for a website that includes technical imaging workflows, and we would like to include Alt Text descriptions of the UVL, IRRFC, VIL and MBR images we're posting on the site. The alt descriptions we've drafted, while visually accurate, don't go so far as to explain the material significance of what the viewer is seeing. For example, 'two color images of the same painted object' could include both visible reflectance and/or luminescence colors. Should we be including technical descriptors in our Alt Text, even if the reader might not be familiar with them? My concern is that our descriptions are not capturing the full meaning of each image--but on the other hand, these descriptions can't be too lengthy.
Are there best practices for how we write alt descriptions of technical images that I'm not aware of? Our goal is broad accessibility to researchers and site visitors. I appreciate any thoughts or guidance on this.
All best wishes,
Carrie Roberts
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Caroline Roberts
Conservator
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Ann Arbor, MI
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