How Do I Write Good Image Descriptions?
This is probably the question I get asked the most. And I’m glad, because it means people are starting to think critically about how they share content on the internet, and they’re wanting to do better. That’s awesome! I’m super grateful for the opportunity to educate more folks about this.
I have a secret, though: there isn’t a secret to writing good image descriptions.
This is a resource I like to share with image description newbies. And here’s another resource that’s just as good. They take slightly different approaches, which I think can be helpful.
But I wanna stress: you don’t have to write image descriptions just like someone else. There isn’t a secret formula or code. How I write image descriptions isn’t going to be exactly how someone else does it, especially when describing something subjective like art.
And I want to make another point: ANY image description is better than none. Literally. If you share an image and just write “a photo of a family reunion at the park,” that’s providing information that was not there before. You are making that image more accessible!
Here are my tips for describing fan art specifically:
I start with what I typically notice first about the image. That usually means that I write things in about this order: Character ID, hair/skin color, pose, clothing, background. This varies, of course.
Because it’s art, sometimes it’s useful to describe the lighting and mood of the piece. Is it dark? Illuminated by a single light source? What’s the tone of the piece (both the literal color and the feeling)? Is it referencing another visual work, like a scene from a movie or another famous art piece? Is it bright and colorful or dreary and moody? These are all good things to mention, if you feel so inclined.
Some people like to go into extreme detail when writing image descriptions. Some keep them very brief and to the point. I fall somewhere in between, but I do try not to get too bogged down in the details (for my own sake, honestly).
And, Tumblr-specific points:
Add the image description directly beneath the image in the main text portion of the post, before any commentary (if you’re the original artist). Add it in the text portion before your own commentary if you’re reblogging. That way, your commentary will make sense to someone using a screen reader.
Don’t hide the description under a read more link. Simply because…well, imagine if that was how Tumblr worked for sighted people, and you had to click through to people’s individual blogs while scrolling through your dash to see any images. That’d suck, right?
Accessibility should be built into your posts from the start. So don’t post an image, then reblog it from yourself with a description. Put the description in the original post so that there’s just one accessible version of the image floating around.
Let me know if you have any questions that I didn’t cover here! I’m not an expert on image descriptions and I hope I don’t come across as one. I’m just a person trying to do their best in this cold, inaccessible world.
(If you want to support the accessibility work that I do on this blog, you can buy me a coffee!)
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