USER Lab

USERLab Work on the Cration of Text Alternatives for Images

USERLab has conducted extensive work to help developers create good text alternatives (including alt text) for images.

ISO/IEC 20071-11 Guidance for alternative text for images

Lisa Tang and Jim Carter led the development of  ISO/IEC TS 20071-11:2012 Information technology -- User interface component accessibility -- Part 11: Guidance for alternative text for images within ISO/IEC JTC1/SC35/WG6 User interface accessibility. This work was supported by grants from Microsoft Canada.

The introduction to ISO/IEC TS 20071-11 states:

The saying that "A picture is worth a thousand words" recognizes that images can present a wealth of information. It is important that alternative textual descriptions or representations be used to present the user with a comprehensive account of the purpose and content of images to people unable to see or interpret them.

Text alternatives help people who cannot see the images to understand what the image is of or the purpose it serves by providing the same information in textual form. Text alternatives can be useful to those with visual impairments, those who turned images off in order to improve webpage loading speeds, and those who cannot understand the image being displayed. This document provides guidance for web and document developers to help them create informative descriptions for various types of illustrations

This international Technical Specification contains:

Text Alternatives Tool for Images (TATI)

Jim Carter and Lisa Tang developed a tool that can help developers to fulfill and go beyond all of the requirements and recommendations of ISO/IEC 20071-11, Text Alternatives Tool for Images (TATI). This tool is freely available hosted by USRELab and can be used without any previous knowledge regarding ISO/IEC 20071-11. Organizations can also obtain a copy of this tool to install on their own system. This work was supported by the E. (Ben) and Mary Hochhausen Access Technology Research Award of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

This tool contains:

USERLab Accessibility Demonstration Exercise on Creating Text Alternatives

USERLab Accessibility Demonstration Experiences (ADEs) are "interactive exercises designed to be delivered via the web to introduce people to various aspects of computer accessibility" in about an hour. These exercises are designed to help people understand the needs and expectations of users with disabilities, rather than to become experts in issues and technologies. The  USERLab Accessibility Demonstration Exercise on Creating Text Alternatives aquaints people with the need for text alternatives and the use of TATI in helping to create good text alternatives.

Lisa Tang's PhD Dissertation on Producing Informative Text Alternatives for Images

The PhD dissertation of Lisa Tang on Producing Informative Text Alternaties for Images provided the basis of ISO/IEC 20071-11 and of TATI. This work was supported by grants from Microsoft Canada.

This dissertation contains:

Please note: This page does not use fancy frames or tables in order to increase its accessibility to individuals with special needs.