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Thread: High Volume Alt Text
Number of posts in this thread: 7 (In chronological order)
From: Yamanishi, Evan
Date: Fri, Feb 06 2015 2:58PM
Subject: High Volume Alt Text
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I'm looking for vendors to write alternative text for the images in all of our college products, and I thought the list might have some recommendations for reliable vendors for this sort of work. The goal is to have multiple options to spread out the work (one book can have >2000 images) and to ensure quality alt text for complex subjects since we offer books for everything from introductory biology to upper-level economics.
Most of the other components (reading order, tag mapping, links, interactives, metadata, etc.) are being handled in-house, but theres no getting around the scope of the alt text component.
Thanks,
Evan
Evan Yamanishi
Media Accessibility Specialist
W. W. Norton & Company
500 5Th Avenue
New York, NY 10110
From: Caid, Lisa M.
Date: Fri, Feb 06 2015 3:56PM
Subject: Re: High Volume Alt Text
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I don't know if these folks can help, but just in case.
"Accessible Assessments - http://ncam.wgbh.org/experience_learn/educational_media/accessible-assessments.
NCAM is uniquely qualified and staffed to ensure that this generation of online assessments is accessible and provides the best possible experience for students with disabilities.
For over two decades, The Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH (NCAM) has been a national leader in making digital media accessible for people with disabilities. More recently, we have focused our research and training on educational media and assessments. Today, NCAM can help solve accessibility issues in every component of a high-stakes digital assessment.
* Alternative Text for Images
* Accessibility Compliance
* Assistive Technology Compatibility
* Alternative Accommodations
* Item Writer Guidelines for Greater Accessibility
NCAM offers a range of consulting, editorial and compliance services to educational publishers, test creators, and their vendors, including developers and question authors. Please contact NCAM's Director, Donna Danielewski, or Bryan Gould, NCAM's Director of Accessible Learning and Assessment Technology to discuss how NCAM can help reach your accessible assessment goals. We'll work with you to find the solution that meets your needs with regard to scope, timeline, and budget."
Sincerely,
Lisa Caid
Accessibility Coordinator
Information Technology - Accessibility
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(806) 651-1241
IT Service Center (806) 651-4357
If you need email content or attachments in alternate formats for accessibility, please send your contact information and the specifics of your request to = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = .
From: John Foliot
Date: Fri, Feb 06 2015 4:35PM
Subject: Re: High Volume Alt Text
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Yamanishi, Evan wrote:
>
> I'm looking for vendors to write alternative text for the images in all
> of our college products, and I thought the list might have some
> recommendations for reliable vendors for this sort of work. The goal is
> to have multiple options to spread out the work (one book can have
> >2000 images) and to ensure quality alt text for complex subjects since
> we offer books for everything from introductory biology to upper-level
> economics.
Hi Evan,
Have you investigated the Diagram Center? http://diagramcenter.org/
I might also suggest that a lot of the more complicated images in your books
will require both alternate texts as well longer textual descriptions.
Long-time subscribers to this list know that I have been a staunch proponent
of @longdesc, but the poor attribute has suffered from lack of love for many
years, and those browsers that do support it aren't the most user-friendly
for visual learners who could still benefit from the longer text
description. However, authoring plugins
(https://www.joedolson.com/2014/03/update-wp-accessibility-longdesc/) and
browser extensions
(https://thenewcircle.com/s/post/1627/teach_your_browser_new_tricks_dirk_gin
ader_video) provide some support to those who really need visual support for
@longdesc. (and ya, sorry if those links appear somewhat self-serving,
but...)
None-the-less, @longdesc is well supported by the majority of screen readers
& browsers (JAWS, NVDA, ORCA) although notably absent is any support from
Apple (Safari with VoiceOver), who steadfastly refuse to accept the need and
desire of content authors such as yourself to provide longer textual
descriptions via that attribute. They offer partial but often impractical
alternatives to @longdesc, many of which complete disregard visual design
and legacy development constraints, or propose features that are not yet
widely supported in other browsers or by other screen readers
(http://cookiecrook.com/longdesc/). If however you *do* have some design
latitude, you might want to check out the following as well:
http://test.cita.illinois.edu/aria/longdesc/longdesc2.php
Another thing you might also want to be aware of is the in-development work
of a new ARIA attribute, aria-describedat
(http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#aria-describedat), which will also take
a URL or IDREF value pointing to the longer description. The EPub folks are
pushing VERY hard for this as well, and while they hope to see it become
part of ARIA, they apparently are not opposed to going it alone for ePub if
that is required. See: http://idpf.org/forum/topic-770
Bottom line - while you may have to do some internal reflection on *HOW* to
surface longer textual descriptions for those students/users who need that
content, one thing is abundantly clear: those longer textual descriptions
(above and beyond alt text) are definitely required for complex images (of
which we see often in text-books, etc.).
HTH
JF
From: Ron Stewart
Date: Fri, Feb 06 2015 8:14PM
Subject: Re: High Volume Alt Text
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Evan please contact me directly about this need, the list is not an
appropriate venue for a the specifics conversation that is necessary here.
Ron Stewart
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Sat, Feb 07 2015 12:14AM
Subject: Re: High Volume Alt Text
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From our work, we've determined that in-house editors who a) know the
subject matter, and b) know how to write (grin), are the best candidates for
this type of Alt-text.
You might not get the quality you need from most outsourced contractors.
In academic publications, the graphics aren't garden-variety photos of this
or that. Rather, they tend to be highly detailed portrayals of specific
concepts covered in the textbook, such as statistical charts and complex
illustrations. An added plus is if they have teaching skills, or the ability
to succinctly describe complex concepts to students.
We encourage our clients to develop their own stable of in-house editors (or
even freelancers) to become the "Alt-Text editors" of their materials.
--Bevi Chagnon
From: Yamanishi, Evan
Date: Sat, Feb 07 2015 9:35AM
Subject: Re: High Volume Alt Text
← Previous message | Next message →
Thanks for the thorough response, John. I have investigated the DIAGRAM Center, but I wanted to make sure no stone was unturned.
Those @longdesc tools may prove helpful down the road, as I've been looking for better ways to handle our many complex images. And while I'm a huge advocate of @longdesc, I can't handle the volume that's necessary all by myself.
The aria-describedat is news to me. I'll definitely keep an eye on it. It would be a godsend for our epub production if it gets adopted.
Evan
From: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = [ = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ] On Behalf Of John Foliot [ = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2015 6:35 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] High Volume Alt Text
Yamanishi, Evan wrote:
>
> I'm looking for vendors to write alternative text for the images in all
> of our college products, and I thought the list might have some
> recommendations for reliable vendors for this sort of work. The goal is
> to have multiple options to spread out the work (one book can have
> >2000 images) and to ensure quality alt text for complex subjects since
> we offer books for everything from introductory biology to upper-level
> economics.
Hi Evan,
Have you investigated the Diagram Center? http://diagramcenter.org/
I might also suggest that a lot of the more complicated images in your books
will require both alternate texts as well longer textual descriptions.
Long-time subscribers to this list know that I have been a staunch proponent
of @longdesc, but the poor attribute has suffered from lack of love for many
years, and those browsers that do support it aren't the most user-friendly
for visual learners who could still benefit from the longer text
description. However, authoring plugins
(https://www.joedolson.com/2014/03/update-wp-accessibility-longdesc/) and
browser extensions
(https://thenewcircle.com/s/post/1627/teach_your_browser_new_tricks_dirk_gin
ader_video) provide some support to those who really need visual support for
@longdesc. (and ya, sorry if those links appear somewhat self-serving,
but...)
None-the-less, @longdesc is well supported by the majority of screen readers
& browsers (JAWS, NVDA, ORCA) although notably absent is any support from
Apple (Safari with VoiceOver), who steadfastly refuse to accept the need and
desire of content authors such as yourself to provide longer textual
descriptions via that attribute. They offer partial but often impractical
alternatives to @longdesc, many of which complete disregard visual design
and legacy development constraints, or propose features that are not yet
widely supported in other browsers or by other screen readers
(http://cookiecrook.com/longdesc/). If however you *do* have some design
latitude, you might want to check out the following as well:
http://test.cita.illinois.edu/aria/longdesc/longdesc2.php
Another thing you might also want to be aware of is the in-development work
of a new ARIA attribute, aria-describedat
(http://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#aria-describedat), which will also take
a URL or IDREF value pointing to the longer description. The EPub folks are
pushing VERY hard for this as well, and while they hope to see it become
part of ARIA, they apparently are not opposed to going it alone for ePub if
that is required. See: http://idpf.org/forum/topic-770
Bottom line - while you may have to do some internal reflection on *HOW* to
surface longer textual descriptions for those students/users who need that
content, one thing is abundantly clear: those longer textual descriptions
(above and beyond alt text) are definitely required for complex images (of
which we see often in text-books, etc.).
HTH
JF
From: John Foliot
Date: Sat, Feb 07 2015 9:45AM
Subject: Re: High Volume Alt Text
← Previous message | No next message
Yamanishi, Evan wrote:
>
> Thanks for the thorough response, John. I have investigated the DIAGRAM
> Center, but I wanted to make sure no stone was unturned.
>
> Those @longdesc tools may prove helpful down the road, as I've been
> looking for better ways to handle our many complex images. And while
> I'm a huge advocate of @longdesc, I can't handle the volume that's
> necessary all by myself.
>
> The aria-describedat is news to me. I'll definitely keep an eye on it.
> It would be a godsend for our epub production if it gets adopted.
It is my understanding that ePub is quite serious and anxious to see this,
as it allows publishers to preserve the visual context of their content
while still allowing for the provision of appropriate text alternatives.
Happy to put you in touch with folks closer to that effort if it is of any
help. Let me know.
JF