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Re: [EXTERNAL]Figures and Captions and Alt-text oh my...

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From: Jonathan Avila
Date: May 8, 2018 5:08PM

I would also comment that in my opinion there is a difference between alt text and a caption and they should be different. An alternative provides a replacement for non-text content while a caption associates the image with the content allowing for references from the content. Alt text can also be useful to people with low vision who might miss subtle details in the picture but do have some sight. With art is difficult as what you see is subjective based on your life's experience and the author doesn't want to prevent the user from making their own determinations. In that since alt text for art may be different from alt text for other images in that you generally don't want to describe the image but the function. With art you may want to describe the image and not express an interpretation on the screen reader or any user. I suppose an exception to this might be an art education class where you want to communicate that.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
Level Access
<EMAIL REMOVED>
703.637.8957 office

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