![\"A](\"https:\/\/images.pexels.com\/photos\/4064230\/pexels-photo-4064230.jpeg?auto=compress&cs=tinysrgb&dpr=2&h=650&w=470\")
<\/a> Fig 2. Stock photo for image description activity[\/caption]\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nSample Image Description One:<\/strong> A stock photo of a woman working on her computer.\r\n\r\nSample Image Description Two:<\/strong> A stock photo of a young woman in business casual attire sitting in her wheelchair at a desk working on her computer.\u00a0 Her right hand, index finger outstretched, rests on the right side of her face, giving a feeling of deep concentration.\u00a0 The neutral colors and natural light in the photograph make her office space look modern and inviting.\r\n\r\nThese image descriptions are drastically different.\u00a0 We can think of at least three ways that these image descriptions differ from one another.\u00a0 The second image description offers context, tone\/mood, and representations of disability that the first image description does not.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nLet\u2019s think about context, tone, and mood together.\u00a0 The first sample image description tells us that the subject of the photograph is working, but it does not tell us the context of where she is working.\u00a0 We can understand the significance of this absence if we consider our own experiences of work or perceptions of different working environments.\u00a0 An image of a worker in a large room filled with cubicles offers a different feeling and mood than an image depicting a worker in a room filled with bright, natural light and modern, fashionable decor.\u00a0 This context is then used to better understand the content it accompanies.\u00a0 For example, if someone was creating digital content about ways to improve worker morale, the context of the work environment captured in the second image description might create a feel for the type of work environment the creator finds to be beneficial.\r\n\r\nAudiences who are interacting with these two image descriptions are also encountering disability in different ways.\u00a0 Those who are interacting with the photograph using the first image description do not receive any indication that the subject in the photograph is disabled or uses a wheelchair.\u00a0 This is significant as we know that so often able-bodiedness is understood as the default status or the \u2018norm\u2019.\r\n\r\n![\"Activity\"](\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Activity-label-300x100.png\")
\r\nImage Description Activity<\/h1>\r\nWriting image descriptions is an art that takes practice.\u00a0 Now that you have engaged with sample image descriptions, choose a picture that you might use in your day-to-day digital life and test your image description writing skills.\u00a0 Once you have finished your image description, think and\/or talk about the following questions:\r\n\r\n \t- What was most challenging about this exercise?<\/li>\r\n \t
- What was the most interesting or exciting?<\/li>\r\n \t
- If you had more time, how would you have changed your image description?<\/li>\r\n \t
- How did you create access in your narrative?<\/li>\r\n \t
- How did the imagined context of the image impact your approach to writing your image description?\u00a0 Would your image description change if you used the image in a different context?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n[h5p id=\"30\"]\r\n\r\nOnce you have finished writing your image description, swap images with a peer and work to describe their image.\u00a0 Once you both have crafted image descriptions for both images, share your descriptions with your partner.\u00a0 You may use the following questions to guide your conversation:\r\n
\r\n \t- How are your image descriptions similar?\u00a0 How are they different?<\/li>\r\n \t
- How did you decide what to focus on in your image descriptions?<\/li>\r\n \t
- When writing your image descriptions, what elements of the photography stuck out as particularly important to describe?\u00a0 What elements seemed secondary or less important in your description?\u00a0 Did you and your partner(s) focus on describing different elements or feelings in describing the images?<\/li>\r\n \t
- How do the differences between your image descriptions allude to the subjective nature of writing image descriptions?<\/li>\r\n \t
- What can you take away from your partner(s) approach to writing image descriptions?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Conclusion<\/h1>\r\nIn her introduction to the book Disability Visibility<\/em> (2020) Alice Wong writes:\r\nThis may feel true for every era, but I believe I am living in a time where disabled people are more visible than ever before.\u00a0 And yet while representation is exciting and important, it is not enough.\u00a0 I want and expect more.\u00a0 We all should expect more.\u00a0 We all deserve more.<\/em>\u00a0 There must be depth, range, nuance to disability representation in media.\u00a0 This is the current challenge and opportunity for the publishing industry and popular culture at large. (xxi, emphasis in original)<\/blockquote>\r\nAs you wrap up your work with this module, consider the ways that your existing, new-found, and developing image creation skills not only represent disability, but provide this all important depth, range, and nuance in representation.\u00a0 We hope this chapter has added to your critical thinking toolkit, left you feeling prepared to critique images that limit understandings of disability, and inspired you to create images with diversity, access, and disability justice in mind.","rendered":"![\"Background\"](\"http:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/digitaldisabilitystudies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/300\/2021\/11\/Background-label-300x100.png\")
<\/p>\n
Image descriptions are vital for ensuring accessibility in image use.\u00a0 In this section you are invited to practice crafting an image description for the photographs you have edited.\u00a0 You might also try to write image descriptions for images found online, in magazines, or for images created by your peers.<\/p>\n
What are some qualities of a good image description? At its core, an image description should describe what is happening in the image.\u00a0 However, we cannot stop here.\u00a0 Good image descriptions also capture the mood, feel, and purpose of the image.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take the following image as an example.<\/p>\n
- \r\n \t
- How are your image descriptions similar?\u00a0 How are they different?<\/li>\r\n \t
- How did you decide what to focus on in your image descriptions?<\/li>\r\n \t
- When writing your image descriptions, what elements of the photography stuck out as particularly important to describe?\u00a0 What elements seemed secondary or less important in your description?\u00a0 Did you and your partner(s) focus on describing different elements or feelings in describing the images?<\/li>\r\n \t
- How do the differences between your image descriptions allude to the subjective nature of writing image descriptions?<\/li>\r\n \t
- What can you take away from your partner(s) approach to writing image descriptions?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n
Conclusion<\/h1>\r\nIn her introduction to the book Disability Visibility<\/em> (2020) Alice Wong writes:\r\n
This may feel true for every era, but I believe I am living in a time where disabled people are more visible than ever before.\u00a0 And yet while representation is exciting and important, it is not enough.\u00a0 I want and expect more.\u00a0 We all should expect more.\u00a0 We all deserve more.<\/em>\u00a0 There must be depth, range, nuance to disability representation in media.\u00a0 This is the current challenge and opportunity for the publishing industry and popular culture at large. (xxi, emphasis in original)<\/blockquote>\r\nAs you wrap up your work with this module, consider the ways that your existing, new-found, and developing image creation skills not only represent disability, but provide this all important depth, range, and nuance in representation.\u00a0 We hope this chapter has added to your critical thinking toolkit, left you feeling prepared to critique images that limit understandings of disability, and inspired you to create images with diversity, access, and disability justice in mind.","rendered":"
<\/p>\nImage descriptions are vital for ensuring accessibility in image use.\u00a0 In this section you are invited to practice crafting an image description for the photographs you have edited.\u00a0 You might also try to write image descriptions for images found online, in magazines, or for images created by your peers.<\/p>\n
What are some qualities of a good image description? At its core, an image description should describe what is happening in the image.\u00a0 However, we cannot stop here.\u00a0 Good image descriptions also capture the mood, feel, and purpose of the image.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take the following image as an example.<\/p>\n