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From: Sailesh Panchang
Date: Aug 6, 2025 11:50AM

I really do not think there is an issue in describing a picture for
instance 4 people sitting in chairs and four people standing behind them.
The alt can be : Sitting (left to right): identify the people) and then
standing behind (left to right): identity of people.
If the people are simply identified without the sitting/standing part and
the left to right part, that is ok too but there is so much that is
unsaid. Including that gives a blind chap an opportunity to create a mental
picture (as Patrick said) and a tool to remember something. Level of detail
depends on the context and purpose for portraying the picture.
Likewise if it is a picture that is described with what is in the
foreground or background or of something and what is above that something,
I do not think there is an issue. Or if it is an object that has layers,
there is no problem in saying what is in the bottom, middle and top.
Consider if you are looking at something and describing it to someone over
the phone. The level of detail included is what you want to convey in the
particular context. So the context in which the picture is presented
should help determine the details and need for directional cues in the
alt. The caption is more like a title for the picture available to all
users, the alt is specifically intended mostly for bling and vision
impaired folks.
Sailesh Panchang

Email: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Deque Systems Inc | - Accessibility for Good | www.deque.com














On Wed, Aug 6, 2025 at 8:49 AM Erick Wilder via WebAIM-Forum <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Thanks for your input. In lieu of inclusivity and accessibility,
> copywriters may use “person 1” and “person 2” - how that compares to the
> initial directional cues?
>
>
> On Thu, 31 Jul 2025 at 09:30, Erick Wilder < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> > I’d like to better understand whether the inclusion of directional cues
> > (e.g. top, right, left, bottom, etc) are important to be part of the
> image
> > descriptions. Also, if there’s textual content besides an image that
> > captures its contents (but not assigned to its alt attribute) could this
> > make any difference on the usage of directional cues?
> >
> > Example: an image with empty alt text was used and there is text next to
> > it describing two people, using the wording “person on the left” and
> > “person on the right” - should this wording be avoided or is it advisable
> > to include them instead?
> >
> > Could you t be that I may need 2 copies: one for the alt text and another
> > (similar) to be used as “caption” with different wording?
> >
> > Looking for information online has mixed results and I thought of asking
> > this community. I appreciate your input.
> >
>
>