#image description tips

[rjalker]

[ID: The "you can always pirate Nintendo" meme, now edited to say, "You can always copy and paste the image descriptions people make for your art into the original post / it's always the most accessible option. 99% of people who make image descriptions will thank you endlessly if you do this. Just don't put it under a read-more or in tiny, italicized, or colored text. If you have trouble telling where it begins and ends, you can indent it. Thank you". With a smile face emoji at the end. End ID.]

Most basic guidelines for creating image descritions: Begin with "image description" or its acronym, "ID" or "Begin ID" and end with "end image description" or "end ID" ect.

Don't use caps lock in an image description, even if the original image of text has caps lock. Simply say, "in all caps, the text reads" or "[insert text here]" in all caps.

Use punctuation as you normally would, and break the ID into smaller paragraphs if necessary.

Don't use image descriptions as memes or jokes.

If, for example, it's a video of a gecko or something crawling on a pane of glass, do not describe it as "a cutesy aworable lizard goes splat splat splat across some glass like a pog champ" or other meme/baby talk like that. Nor is this the time to say "An absolute demon straight from hell excuse for a collage student stares directly into your soul". Like. Come on. This is an accessability tool, not a joke. Say what is actually happening: a gecko is walking across a pane of glass. Someone is holding their phone camera up to their face at an angle, with their eyes open as wide as possible.

Do not use image descriptions to lie to people. No, not even if you think it's funny, no, not even if you think it's technically not a lie. If there is a picture of your dog sleeping on a couch, do not say "a photo of Castiel from Supernatural sleeping curled up on the couch".

No, not even if you literally named your dog "Castiel from Supernatural".

If theoretical dog's nametag were both visible and legible, and thus relevant to the description, you could say, "A dog whose nametag reads, 'Castiel from Supernatural' is sleeping curled up on a couch." or "A dog lies curled up on a couch, sleeping. Its collar and nametag are visible, and the nametag reads, 'Castiel from Supernatura'.".

If you use image descriptions to lie to people, even if you think it's funny, you are being ableist and there is no excuse or justification for your actions. Don't do it. No, not even if you think you can defend your lie by saying it's technically true. Do not use image descriptions to deceive people.

If you don't know the gender or race of the person you are describing, don't say anything. Just say "a person" and describe their clothes or hairstyles as necessary. There's a notorious example of someone describing Manny Jacinto, who plays Jason Mendoza in The Good Place, as "a white man".

Do not use the terms "female presenting" or "male presenting" to describe someone unless you know for certain that those are terms the person you are describing self-identifies with. female/male presenting is just a progressive-sounding way of misgendering people. Here's a post I made about it that explains it a little more.

Image descriptions are used by people who can see enough to read, as well as those who rely 100% on screen readers, which is why you should not put them in italicized, tiny, or colored font.

They should not be put under a read-more for three reasons:

1: Forcing people to navigate away from their dashboard just to figure out what an image is is the opposite of accessible.

2: Depending on your blog theme, your blog might be completely inaccessible even after they've click the read-more. Blogs with flashing headers, autoplay, a cursor that trails glitter, font and backgrounds in neon and clashing colors, all serve to make your blog not only just impossible to read, but probably dangerous. Bright and flashing lights or neon font against neon backgrounds can cause not only headaches and migraines, but seizures and other serious issues as well.

3: If you ever change your username or delete the blog you used to create the image description, the link for the read-more breaks, but the read-more itself remains. So if you say "image description below the cut" and delete your blog or change your URL, and no one reblogging your post bothers to check the image description for themselves, then that means there's an undescribed image going around that everyone's assuming is already described.

If you have ADHD or any other thing that makes it difficult for you to tell where an image description is within a post and thus feel the need to put it in italics or colored text so that you can differentiate between it and the rest of the post, you should instead utilize the indent feature that tumblr offers like this:

This text has been indented, so that it will appear further in on the post, with a grey line separating it. This gives the text a visual distinction between it and the rest of the post, without causing other problems. On mobile for Android phones, click the fancy cursive letters when you're on a paragraph until they become indented. On desktop as of July 4th, 2022, highlight all or part of the paragraph you want to indent, and then select "indented" from the offered dropdown menu.

and that's about it I can think of for now.

If anyone has any other tips/guidelines to add on, please do so.

If you're afraid to start making image descriptions because you think you'll mess up, it's okay. It's not the end of the world if you make an honest mistake or add too few details or not enough. You'll learn as you make more, and other people will correct you if you do something wrong.

The best time to start making image descriptions is today, even if you're nervous. An imperfect but genuinely created image description is still better than no image description at all.

July is disability month, so if you were looking for a sign to start creating image descriptions of your own, take this as that sign. I believe in you.

Edit 4/27/23:

Hello everyone. Please do not comment “Better yet, add ALT text!” not everyone who needs an image description has a screen reader, and Tumblr’s ALT text is extremely glitchy and inaccessible. It is not better. It’s actually worse in the majority of cases for people who need image descriptions.

[wolfstar-in-color]

Image Description Tip Sheet!

So far this week, we’ve talked about the necessity of image descriptions and offered up some resources for writing them! Today, we thought we’d condense some of the best tips and tricks we’ve come across into one post, which you can easily reference and share (hint, hint!!). So without further ado, we present Wolfstar in Color’s Image Description Tip Sheet(tm)!

IDs are most commonly put at the beginning or end of a post in [] brackets. 

No need to start with “an image/video/gifset of...”, just jump right into describing what’s in the visual (e.g. “Sirius sits in front of a fireplace, his head in his hands”). 

When you’re done, add “end of image description” just inside the close bracket. 

Put the most important info first. For example, don’t start with “the landscape in the background depicts a rainy day” if the main focal point of the image is Remus and Sirius kissing in the rain. Ask yourself what your eye goes to first when you look at the image, and start with that.

Especially with fanart, don’t shy away from describing the “uncomfortable” parts of an image - race, gender, body shape, nsfw elements, etc. 

Regarding race, If you know the race of the person(s) depicted, say that (”Remus is white”). If you don’t, describe skintone, culturally relevant clothing, etc. (”Remus has light skin and wears a Star of David around his neck”). 

Regarding gender, the same thing applies. If you know the gender of the person depicted, say that. If you don’t, describe their clothing, makeup, etc. Regarding pronouns, it seems to be generally acceptable to use “they/them” pronouns for a person of unknown gender. 

If the visual is nsfw, start the image description with that information. Then, go on to describe it the same way you would any other image, as graphically as you’d like!

Don’t forget to describe emotions and facial expressions! For example, “Sirius looks down at Remus, wearing an expression of admiration and joy and smiling widely”. 

Same goes for any actions or interactions occurring in the visual. Sometimes, you’re not entirely sure what’s going on. We here at WiC often reach out to the original creator of the visual for clarification. In lieu of that, just do your best! It’s okay!

For videos and gifsets, even if they are captioned already, put the dialogue within the image description. For example, “James looks at the camera and smiles. The text across the gif reads ‘mischief managed’”.

Don’t forget to include music and background noise in your description. 

Have fun with the process! Use it as an opportunity to engage with the visual more, notice things you hadn’t noticed, learn some new words and descriptors, etc! And thank you for making our community more accessible! 

[rjalker]

I loathe whoever came up with the idea of calling people "feminine presenting" or "masculine presenting"

Edit:

If people are wondering, this post is specifically in response to people writing image descriptions and referring to people they don’t know and know nothing about as “feminine presenting” and “masculine presenting” despite not ever asking the person they are describing.

This is literally just as bad as just assuming someone is a man/boy/male or a woman/girl/female. You are still literally assuming their gender, but now in a way that sounds Progressive™. It’s not.

“X presenting” assumes that the person looks the way they do on purpose. It assume that the way they look is something they have orchestrated on purpose, and is literally just erasing peoples actual genders by assuming that the way you think they look is how they want to be seen.

If you are describing images or videos, you do not need to mention the gender of the people involved unless you already know! And this includes not calling them “masculine presenting” or “feminine presenting” unless you know for a fact that those are words they use to describe themselves!

I ask you, what is the difference between assuming someone is a man, and assuming someone is masculine presenting? The only difference is that now you’re pretending to be respectful while you assume their gender.

And it’s even more disrespectful because now it’s clear you’re only saying it to get points instead of actually being respectful!

If the gender of the people in the video or image is unknown, you don’t need to and should not guess! You can describe people without assigning them gender based on how you perceive them! Just give a short description of what they look like / what they’re wearing / their expression, ect!

I’m afab! That does not make me a woman and it sure as hell does not make me “feminine presenting”!

Stop assuming peoples genders, and stop trying to act like it’s magically okay now that you’re slapping a pretend progressive label over top that is now implying that the person you are describing is purposefully portraying themselves as whatever category you’ve decided they fit into!

TLDR: If you are creating an image description and don’t know the gender of the people you are describing, do not reffer to them as female/feminine or male/masculine presenting. That’s the same thing as assuming their gender and calling them a woman or a man. Just describe the facts: what they are wearing, their expression, what they’re doing, ect.

[rjalker]

I’m just giving the TLDR its own post.

If you are creating an image description and don’t know the gender of the people you are describing, do not refer to them as female/feminine or male/masculine presenting. That’s the same thing as assuming their gender and calling them a woman or a man. Just describe the facts: what they are wearing, their expression, what they’re doing, ect.

[rjalker]

not having notepad is so obnoxious

anyways,

tip for making image descriptions on a computer - Open notepad or some other quick writing app, and minimize it so that you can put it next to the image you’re describing, so that way, you don’t have to keep scrolling up and down!

When you’re done, you just have to copy and paste it into the post!