12 Activity 1: Multiple points of access

Erin Lee

Activity background

This activity is intended to encourage the visitor to recognize the experience of understanding both an informative and complex image for blind and partially sighted individuals (BPSI). You will be asked to access the image using multiple points of access (e.g. text description, assistive technology).

The activity is structured with a cascade model. It is encouraged to work through the steps in numerical order to experience the methods that BPSI use to access information from an image. In addition, I encourage you to consider what it is like to receive a text description in place of the image and consider what information is lost in this translation when the final image is revealed.

This activity is estimated to take 15-20 minutes to complete both parts which are; the informative image and the complex image. It is suggested that you complete both parts to obtain the full experience of working with different types of images.

Please note, the goal of this activity is to encourage individuals who do not use assistive technology to better understand the challenges faced by BPSI with accessing content from an image. If you are blind or partially sighted and would like to skip activity 1, you may consider moving onto activity 2 by clicking “Next: Activity 2: Share and reflect.”

Part 1: Informative image

Informative images convey “a concept or information that may be expressed in a short phrase or sentence” (W3, 2019). The alternative text or text description should contain a description of the meaning of the content that is displayed in the image.

Please walk through the following steps to obtain the information conveyed by the image from multiple access points. 

Step 1: Alternative text

In order to access the content in this image, oftentimes alternative text is provided of what the image conveys. Screen reader users may use software such as Jaws, NVDA or VoiceOver to access this content.

Please take a moment to read the alternative text of the image that we are exploring in this activity. The actual image has been deliberately left out of this step and will be revealed as you complete each step.

Alternative text of the image

Six swimmers racing against one another in individual lanes. The stroke they are swimming is butterfly.

Step 2: SeeingAI

This step of the exhibit requires you to download a free app. If possible, please access the source from which you may download apps. This might be either your App Store, Google Play, Playstore, etc. and download “SeeingAI.”

SeeingAI is a free app developed by Microsoft that brings together the cloud and AI for an intelligent app, it is intended to help users navigate the world. This app translates the visual world into an audible experience. The user can hold their phone up, to hear information about the world. This can be used to recognize a number of things; including text, documents, people or scenes.

Instructions

Once the app has downloaded:

  1. Open the app
  2. On the bottom of the screen there are options to choose the type of object you are interacting with. For this image, click “Scene”
  3. Open this image
  4. You now have to capture the image. To do this hold your phone up to the computer screen and click anywhere on your phone screen to capture the image
  5. Allow it to process
  6. Read the description
In the next section “Part 2: Complex image” you will have the opportunity to walk through the same two steps with a complex image. Once part 2 is completed there is a reflection section highlighting some key takeaways.

Part 2: Complex image

In this part you will explore a complex image, through an infographic that explains the three dimensions of inclusive design. Infographics are considered a “complex image [that] contains substantial information- more than can be conveyed in a short phrase or sentence” (W3, 2019).  Graphs, charts, diagrams and illustrations may be used in the employment setting, for individuals using assistive technology these complex images can often be difficult to access the meaning. For complex images, alternative text are required in two forms. A short or text description is used to provide a quick overview of what the image conveys. A long description is a textual representation of the essential information that the image conveys.

Step 1: Alternative text – long description (textual representation)

Infographics like the one we will explore on the three dimensions of inclusive design may be tagged to be made accessible, or often alternative text and a long description may be provided.

Please take a moment to read the long text description of the three dimensions of inclusive design. The actual image has been deliberately left out of this step and will be revealed as you complete each step. 

Textual representation

The infographic shows the three dimensions of inclusive design. The three dimensions are depicted by three interconnected circles, each with branching circles depicting sub-topics of each dimension. The first dimension is recognize diversity and uniqueness. As individuals spread out from the hypothetical average, the needs of individuals that are outliers, or at the margins, become ever more diverse. Most individuals stray from the average in some facet of their needs or goals. This means that a mass solution does not work well. The second dimension is inclusive process and tools. Inclusive design teams should be as diverse as possible and include individuals who have a lived experience of the users the designs are intended for. This also respects the edict “nothing about us without us” without relegating people with disabilities to the role of subjects of research or token participants in design exercises. The third dimension is broader beneficial impact. It is the responsibility of inclusive designers to be aware of the context and broader impact of any design and strive to effect a beneficial impact beyond the intended beneficiary of the design (IDRC, n.d.).

Step 2: SeeingAI

Please note, if you’ve already downloaded the app in step 2 of part 1 you can move on to the blue box below to walk through this step.

This step of the exhibit requires you to download a free app. If possible, please access the source from which you may download apps. This might be either your App Store, Google Play, Playstore, etc. and download the app “SeeingAI.”

SeeingAI is a free app developed by Microsoft that brings together the cloud and AI for an intelligent app, it is intended to help users navigate the world. This app translates the visual world into an audible experience, the user can hold their phone up to hear information about the world. This can be used to recognize a number of things; including text, documents, people or scenes.

Instructions

Once the app has downloaded:

  1. Open the app
  2. On the bottom of the screen there are options to choose the type of object you are interacting with. For this example, click “Document”
  3. Open this image
  4. You now have to capture the image. To do this hold your phone up to the screen and click anywhere on the screen to capture the image
  5. Allow it to process
  6. Read the description

Step 3 (Final step of both parts): Reflection

Take a moment to consider the information you received in the first two steps of both parts of this activity compared to the actual image.

Access the image from option 1, informative image.

Access the image from option 2, complex image.

It may have been observed that screen readers will provide the level of detail that a text alternative offers. Alternative text and long descriptions are particularly important for blind and partially sighted individuals when accessing information in an image. Were you able to take a moment to consider what is lost in translation?

The second step, SeeingAI, may have demonstrated that while new technology shows promise it isn’t always reliable in conveying the full meaning of the image. This was particularly evident with the complex image, the infographic of the three dimensions of inclusive design.

Blind and partially sighted individuals (BPSI) vary in how they may access technology. Often, they develop workarounds and strategies for receiving information provided on their computer. While new and emerging technologies have the potential to open up a new method of access for information there is still much room for these technologies to be developed and fully meet the needs of BPSI in the workplace.

References

Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC). (n.d.). Welcome to The Inclusive Design Guide. The Inclusive Design Guide. https://guide.inclusivedesign.ca/

Web Accessibility Initiative. (2019). Complex images. Web Accessibility Tutorials. https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/complex/

Web Accessibility Initiative. (2019). Informative images. Web Accessibility Tutorials. https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/informative/

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