Hi everyone, Many of you already know what Bookshare's image description requirements are, so forgive the redundancy. However, since not everyone knows or may remember, I thought it was high time for a refresher course! I've created a one-page guide with information that you'll find on the image description page (link below) so that everyone can have a clear, easy-to-find copy if necessary. You can also find all of this information and more by following this link: https://wiki.benetech.org/display/BSO/Image+Description+Volunteer+Communications. While I realize that this link might be a bit confusing since it talks about Diagram and the POET tool, these guidelines actually apply to any image described for Bookshare's library. As I'm sure everyone is well aware, consistency is so important when adding books the Bookshare library, so we feel very strongly that whenever images are described for Bookshare books, they should be described in the same way. I'm attaching the one-page guide and pasting that information below: Bookshare Image Description Guidelines Be as efficient with words and punctuation as possible. Think about getting as much content into as few words as possible. A great practice is to read your descriptions aloud to yourself or another. How do they flow when heard vs. read. Use proper punctuation and grammar. Take the time to scroll through the text above and below an image. If information in the image is adequately explained in the text or caption, then simply write "image described in text/caption" and do not describe it again. Describe only what you see. One sees physical appearances and actions; one does not see motivations or intentions. Describe objectively. Allow readers to form their own opinions and draw their own conclusions. Don't editorialize, interpret, explain, or analyze the material. Don't censor information for personal reasons such as your discomfort with the material or political beliefs. When describing emotion, limit the use of words describing emotion, such as suspicious or furious. Ask yourself what you see that prompts you to think that she looks suspicious or furious. Instead, write what you see, such as: "she raises her eyebrows", or "her fists are clenched". Mix it up. How many different words can you use to describe someone moving along a sidewalk? Why say "walk" when you can more vividly describe the action, with words such as strolls, skips, stumbles, or saunters? Instead of using the word "image" in the description, convey more meaningful information by identifying the type of image: photo, drawing, cartoon, diagram, poster, etc. Avoid using visually related words or phrases such as "we see", "shown below", or "can be viewed". Preferable words include "depicts" or "indicates." Describe shapes, sizes, and other essential attributes of images by comparison to objects or items familiar to the intended audience. For example, "The ball is the size of an apple." Be sure to use metaphors that will be readily identifiable by a blind student. For example, "the room is as big as a whale" is less helpful than the room is as big as a bus, since a blind student will likely have had first-hand experience with a bus, but probably not a whale! The general consensus for describing color is that color has emotional connotations even for blind students, and that many students may be partially or previously sighted, and therefore including color enhances their ability to better imagine a scene. Color descriptions should be included for most images (e.g. the blue sky or the green lizard) with the exception of images with charts or maps (e.g. the blue bar or the red line) where color is irrelevant to the teaching concept, and can be ignored in most cases. Bar and pie charts, tables, and some line graphs should be identified as such with the title and axis. Flow charts should be presented with the title or what idea is being conveyed. Information may be presented as a list. All image descriptions should be placed in square brackets to show that they are not part of the original text. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly. Thanks for helping make the Bookshare collection the best that it can be! Best, Madeleine Linares Volunteer Coordinator Bookshare, a Benetech Initiative 650-644-3459 madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
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Bookshare Image Description Guidelines.docx
Description: Bookshare Image Description Guidelines.docx
