Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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How much detail would you prefer in an image description on Facebook or Twitter? (self.Blind)
submitted by Excellent_Potential
I am a sighted person and I often post pictures of my cats or things I encounter while taking walks. I almost always remember to include a description but I don't know if it's better to be brief if the details aren't important, or if I should describe everything.
For example, I could describe a picture as "a cat in a window looking at a squirrel" or "a short-haired black cat with green eyes sitting upright on a white windowsill looking alertly out a second floor window at a grey squirrel sitting a thin tree branch. The street is visible below and there are three parked cars in front of a brick building. It is a bright sunny day." The text of the tweet might be something like "Fluffy saw his friend again" which is meaningless if you can't see the picture or hear a description.
I searched the sub and didn't find this question or see it in the FAQ so I'm sorry if it's repetitive. We get a lot of repeats in r/deaf so I know it can be annoying.
For example, I could describe a picture as "a cat in a window looking at a squirrel" or "a short-haired black cat with green eyes sitting upright on a white windowsill looking alertly out a second floor window at a grey squirrel sitting a thin tree branch. The street is visible below and there are three parked cars in front of a brick building. It is a bright sunny day." The text of the tweet might be something like "Fluffy saw his friend again" which is meaningless if you can't see the picture or hear a description.
I searched the sub and didn't find this question or see it in the FAQ so I'm sorry if it's repetitive. We get a lot of repeats in r/deaf so I know it can be annoying.
NovemberGoat 6 points 2y ago
I would always prefer the second one. It's way more immersive, and gives me more freedom to comment about the various aspects of the photo like sighted folks do. I also really like that description because it's detailed without overloading me with extraneous information. As a general rule-of-thumb, if it's important to you, it's important to us. It's hard to go wrong that way.
Thanks for asking. I never get board of well thought out questions like this.
Thanks for asking. I never get board of well thought out questions like this.
Excellent_Potential [OP] 2 points 2y ago
Thanks, this has really made me think deeply about what I see, and is probably great practice for writing fiction!
As a deaf person I appreciate when the subtitles include things that happen off-camera, like "children yelling on the street below" or "front door slams shut" even when they're not integral to the plot, because they set a mood. I really hate when someone's lips are moving but there are no subtitles because the audience is not meant to hear what they say (e.g. a character whispering to another, or the background noise is drowning them out). Or [speaks in foreign language] when it's not clear what language it is from the setting.
As a deaf person I appreciate when the subtitles include things that happen off-camera, like "children yelling on the street below" or "front door slams shut" even when they're not integral to the plot, because they set a mood. I really hate when someone's lips are moving but there are no subtitles because the audience is not meant to hear what they say (e.g. a character whispering to another, or the background noise is drowning them out). Or [speaks in foreign language] when it's not clear what language it is from the setting.
Alaisha 2 points 2y ago
I actually prefer everything described, though honestly that's a preference thing. I have never had sight, but I still like to hear about what color a specific cat is and what position they're laying in and so on. I have an app that's supposed to be able to to describe photos, and I have multiple cats, but I don't know what cat it's talking about without it mentioning color, which it doesn't always lol. Plus, it's just interesting to know. Like if someone has an orange and white cat, I can say my Harley is orange and white also. Plus, I read a lot so am used to vivid descriptions that happen to include color. It's ok though if you don't feel like typing out vivid descriptions. This is only my preference, and I've come across plenty of visually impaired people that would rather have brief descriptions.
Piterotody 2 points 2y ago
This made me think that the ability to choose between both, or to have the second one after feeling interested by the first one might be a great feature to be implemented on the internet. Or maybe even a single text that states the general idea and then describes it further.
Example: "a cat in a window looking at a squirrel. the cat has a short, black hair...", etc.
At least that makes a lot more sense to me, as someone who can see, as I don't really pay attention to details in pictures if the subject doesn't call my attention. Very descriptive texts can be very time and energy consuming if you don't care about the subject.
Example: "a cat in a window looking at a squirrel. the cat has a short, black hair...", etc.
At least that makes a lot more sense to me, as someone who can see, as I don't really pay attention to details in pictures if the subject doesn't call my attention. Very descriptive texts can be very time and energy consuming if you don't care about the subject.
aaronespinozaca 1 points 2y ago
What you are describing is something developers do on websites as a link or a button that people can press if they want more information about a photo. I rarely see it on sites though.
Piterotody 1 points 2y ago
Do they let you choose the amount of detail, though?
aaronespinozaca 1 points 2y ago
I don't think they have a level, like low, medium, high.
It's just the normal alt text and the alt text that has more information.
It's just the normal alt text and the alt text that has more information.
BlueRock956 1 points 2y ago
I'm hardly ever satisfied with picture discriptions. Specially because people are not described in detail.
siriuslylupin6 1 points 2y ago
Very nice of you to ask and be super considerate. I think your description skills are great. The more detail is better I think. I think people would always appreciate as much detail as possible that’s why they want a description of a picture. I think vague descriptions are great but not all that useful.
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
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