image description resources
Oh my god image descriptions are important! Accessibility is important! I’m able-bodied, fully-sighted, and I don’t use a screen reader. So I’m not an authority on image descriptions, but in the ~2 months I’ve had this blog I’ve come across some great resources and wanted to share. Anyone can and should add on to this post!
Here is a helpful post that goes into why image descriptions are important and how to write them! There are also linked examples (not all of the links work but most of them do)
Here is another very helpful post about image descriptions, also very thorough and has examples. Please check out these links!
More info I’ve found that isn’t included in the above posts:
Do not put descriptions under a “read more”. People who depend on IDs for accessibility shouldn’t have to click a link to access content. Putting IDs under the cut also directly affects accessibility, especially if someone has slow internet speeds. Like, what if you had to click a link and wait for it to load every time you wanted to see an image? That would suck.
Also, do not delete image descriptions. When I first started adding IDs to posts I kinda thought well, if someone really doesn’t want IDs on their blog that’s their business. It is. You can do whatever you want with your blog. But please ask yourself why you might be averse to reblogging described images. When someone deletes a description, or purposefully reblogs a version without a description, they’re limiting who can access that content. I guess I get that some people might not want paragraphs of text on their blog, but accessibility needs to come before aesthetics every single time.
Not sure how to describe a particular graphic (a flow chart, comic, pie graph), and don’t see an example for it in the above links? This link is very long, and geared towards educators. BUT if you look through the table of contents, under “Specific Image Description Guidelines” it details how image descriptions can differ between things like photographs, diagrams, comics, etc. Helpful if you’re looking for tips on describing specific media.
Feel free to ask me questions about this, but like I said I am not an authority on it! But I have done some research (how to prioritize info, how screen readers read punctuation, etc) that I’m happy to share.
Also I say it in my About but please tell me if there’s a mistake in one of my descriptions, especially if you’re an artist whose work I described. I usually reach out to artists if I’m unsure how to describe something, but I make mistakes. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you see me making one!
Want something described? Send it to me! I’ll probably rb if it’s hunter x hunter related, but I’m also open to just describing stuff for people because, like, stuff needs descriptions! There are also a few blogs with discord servers for requesting descriptions that I could point you towards.
Image descriptions are important for everyone and accessibility needs to be the norm.
I’ll add to this post as I come across more information and resources, anyone should feel free to do the same!
oh wow I already found more resources! here they are!
this post from @keplercryptids is great, and has helpful links to explanations, like why IDs are important and how to write them (includes a video description link, tips for describing skin color and hair, and more).
here are two posts (1 and 2) from the same blog that explain some of the many reasons image descriptions are helpful and important.
image descriptions as resistance is linked in the first post, but I’m linking it again
a great thing to do is read other people’s descriptions so you can pick up things you like from them and generally get a feel for how they work! also, if you would like to add descriptions but don’t know where to start, i recommend describing tweets! they’re relatively simple and short. i started there and i think a lot of other people did too
Also, if you can’t describe the image you’re reblogging, tag it as “undescribed images” or “no id”, so that people who need IDs can blacklist them, and so that other people can find them to add IDs to! It also means that you can later go through your blog and add IDs to pictures that don’t have them!
