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Emily Paterson smiles at the camera. She has light skin, shoulder-length blonde hair, and a black dress.
Emily Paterson was a 2024 Junior Fellow. Image courtesy of Emily Paterson.

Junior Fellow Spotlight: Emily Paterson

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This is a guest post by Emily Paterson, a 2024 Junior Fellow who interned in the Office of the Chief Information Office’s Design Division.

 

A high contrast pencil sketch drawing of distinct, slightly unusual patrons within a library-like setting. In the foreground, emphasis is placed on an man who is looking down at a table with his back turned. Across from him is a focused man using a magnifying glass to read a book and a nun who is writing notes while reading.
Photo from the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. Dwight, Mabel. Silence. 1939.

Exploring Image Descriptions

How would you describe the image above using only your words? Maybe you would mention its pencil-sketched look or describe the focused behavior of the readers. Perhaps you would even note what else is in the foreground, middle ground, and background.

In doing so, you are sharing what details make this image different from another.

As a 2024 Junior Fellow, I created a game for anyone to explore writing image descriptions of photographs and prints using the Library’s free to use collections.

For some users, a short image description (known as alt text) is the main way of interacting with an image. You may have come across alt text without even knowing it. When an image fails to load on a website, a sentence or two of alt text often fills in the missing information.

Alt text communicates visual information to all users. This includes those who are blind, have a limited internet connection, or have security settings that prevent images from loading. Search engines, like Google, also use alt text to improve their search results.

To read alt text, blind and low vision users often use a type of assistive technology called a screen reader. These devices read alt text out loud or present it on a braille display. Screen readers are also used by those who have cognitive or learning disabilities that affect reading.

Alt text is crucial for an inclusive and accessible experience for all users at the Library. But if you’ve never written alt text before, it’s hard to know what to include in it.

That’s where my LOC : Alt game comes in.

 

Writing Meaningful, not “Perfect,” Alt Text

When I first started learning about writing alt text, it felt overwhelming at times because there are so many factors. It’s a big task, especially when your words can make or break a person’s understanding of an image. You might feel the pressure to get it “perfect.”

But there is no one “perfect” alt text. Just like with any writing style, it varies. It changes based on things like the author’s voice, context of the image (is it decorative or essential?), and form of writing (blog, article, etc.). Everyone is going to have a slightly different outcome, and that’s okay! A quest for “perfect” alt text should not prevent you from trying to write it in the first place.

Within my game, I aimed to ease players into this style of writing. Inspired by the language learning app Duolingo, I used a similar method of dragging and dropping word tiles to simplify the writing process. Players only need to choose from the word options instead of coming up with the words on their own.

To do well, you need to focus on making the alt text meaningful for your audience. When piecing together the alt text, you always want to ask yourself: “Is this necessary? What does this add to my description?”

A screen reader will read out loud every word of alt text. So, it’s important to be mindful of information overload and provide succinct, yet descriptive text for the best experience.

 

Screenshot of the alt text game by Emily Paterson. Features a photo from the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. O'Halloran, Thomas J. Metro, Subway Facilities for Handicapped. 1977.
Screenshot of the alt text game by Emily Paterson. Features a photo from the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. O’Halloran, Thomas J. Metro, Subway Facilities for Handicapped. 1977.

Designing an Accessible Learning Game

While there are plenty of online resources about writing alt text, there are no games that allow users to practice on images and receive real-time feedback. This finding, along with my role in supporting document accessibility at the Library, inspired me to create a learning game as a part of my junior fellowship.

As someone who learns by doing, I always value an activity like this that gets my brain thinking. When learning a new skill, it’s more memorable to practice and learn from your mistakes.

My game challenges players to construct alt text sentences to describe five distinct images from the Library’s collections. The images feature a variety of subjects, from humans to animals, along with different mediums, like photography and print posters.

The game also explores nuances of describing different identities, such as one’s disability, gender, and race. I challenged myself to find images that would invite players to test their assumptions and practice respectful descriptions of appearances. In doing so, I researched what different communities prefer for describing themselves—insights I hope to pass along to players.

On top of careful thinking about the game’s content, I aimed to build accessibility into its function. My game needed to work with both the mouse and the keyboard to consider the mobility needs and preferences of players.

I wanted to include a drag and drop feature for a mouse, but I had to think carefully about a way to do something similar on a keyboard. Over time, I settled on numbering the word tiles. Users can quickly press the keys (1-8) to move or remove the tiles from the sentence. Normally, users press the tab key to move one-by-one through each option, but adding a related number lowers the time and physical effort required.

In the end, I aimed to construct an accessible game that invites players to test their skills with the goal of learning how to create inclusive content online.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). It marks a time to learn about the contributions of America’s disabled workers from the past and present. Writing effective alt text is just one way that you can make your digital efforts accessible for people with disabilities.

To learn more about image description and how it relates to disability justice, explore the blog of my co-fellow Avianna Miller as she writes about the Year of Document Accessibility and Describing Disability Justice in America.

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