__NOPUBLISH__
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++resources-to-think-on-and-with-access++
What follows is taken from the Alt-text as poetry workbook that you can find here  >
https://alt-text-as-poetry.net/ . 
We have made few changes for it to fit without the session. 

the alt-texts can be collected here:
https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/etherdump/pad/p/alt-text-as-poetry-texts
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1. A small introduction

Welcome to a techno-disobedient etherpad sheet!
This pad is only reachable locally within the range of the shared portable server. 

To prevent this pad to appear in the 'etherdump' list of pads, you can add the word __NOPUBLISH__ anywhere in the text.

This pad installation includes a system to mark pads to include specific keywords, 'snowpoles'. When ++SNOWPOLES++ are used, pads will be included to an aggregator for future re-editing or publishing: https://circulations.constantvzw.org/aggregations  

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'Snowfields' can be used to mark sections of a pad so that they will appear as edited sections in future pubblications
The text inside the edited section can be written in Markdown syntax:
https://www.markdownguide.org/cheat-sheet/
+++++Alt text as poetry

What Is Alt-Text?

Alt-text (or alternative text) is a written description of an image posted online. It has multiple uses, but we are focused on its role as an essential part of web accessibility. Alt-text allows visual content to be accessible to people who are blind, have low vision, or have certain cognitive disabilities

Alt-text is not visually displayed on a website, so if you aren’t a web developer or a screen reader user, you mostly interact with alt-text by writing it and adding it to your images through designated form fields during the image upload process. When you include alt-text with your images, you contribute to making the internet a more accessible place.

Alt-text is not a neutral topic — what we see and how we name it is political. We recommend doing this excercise in pairs. 

Things to keep in mind for the exercise:
→ Why is this image here?
→ What information is it presenting?
→ What purpose does it fulfill?

Here are three ideas from the world of poetry that we have found to be particularly helpful when writing alt-text:
    
→ Attention to Language
Simply by writing alt-text with thought and care, we shift the process. What words are we using? What are their connotations? What is the tone of our writing (the way in which we’re doing the writing)? What is the voice (who the reader hears)? How do these align with, or contrast, the tone and perspective of the image?

→ Word Economy
People who are new to description have a tendency to overdescribe images. While there are times for long and lavish descriptions, alt-text usually aims for brevity. For most images, one to two sentences will do. Poetry has a lot to teach us about paring down language to create something that is expressive, yet concise.

→ Experimental Spirit
We have so much to learn from poetry about being more playful and exploratory in how we write alt-text. We are not interested in experimentation for experimentation’s sake — we want a kind of experimentation that moves towards better and more nuanced accessibility for alt-text users. There are lots of complex and interesting questions that come up when translating visual information into text. We need to try out different ways of doing this, learning from each other's strategies and techniques.

Our primary intent is to put alt-text on your radar (if it wasn’t already), to get you thinking about it creatively, and to explore a few of the key questions that come up when translating images into text. We hope these exercises make clear that, like all accessibility practices, writing alt-text requires ongoing practice, learning, and collaboration.

Lastly, a reminder that Alt-text is not a neutral topic — what we see and how we name it is political. We recommend doing this excercise with a friend or peers. Someone you feel safe talking through disagreements with and who you trust to respect your boundaries (and vice versa).

2. A selection of images you will use for the assignments

-- Constant selection  --

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/rosa-pipas.png

image from: https://constantvzw.org/site/Anti-Colonial-Tech-through-Resistance-and-Discomforts-Transmediale.html

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/sticky-what_.jpg

Image from: https://constantvzw.org/site/-Techno-desobeissance,246-.html

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/access.png

Image from: https://constantvzw.org/site/A-cane-sticky-notes-another-body-internal-worksession-with-Kaaitheater-and-Dr.html


https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/dude.JPG

imge from (part of related media to about page): https://constantvzw.org/site/-About-Constant-7-.html

-- Kaaitheater selection -- 

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/counterpower-edition-visual.png

Image from: https://kaaitheater.be/nl/agenda/23-24/there-nothing-wrong-people

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/maripositas.png

Image from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw5ObKxtwlG/?hl=nl&img_index=1

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/person.png

Image from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CteGk3mthdQ/?hl=nl

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/christiane.jpg

Image from: https://kaaitheater.be/nl/agenda/23-24/le-present-qui-deborde

-- guislain selection --

https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/guislain-1.png

Image from: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4OB1BqM6Ga/?hl=nl


https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/Guislain-2.jpg

Image from: https://www.museumdrguislain.be/fr/accueil


https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/guislain-4.png

Image from: https://www.instagram.com/p/CtOk2sUtgGh/?hl=nl


https://circulations.constantvzw.org/2024/drempel/images/guislain-3.png

This image was used as a banner on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=785149480317530&set=a.624470316385448




3. The exercise

3.1 warming up





3.2 subjectivity and Audience

Objectivity is an incredibly elusive concept — where is the line between fact and interpretation? As Georgina Kleege writes, do we say “smile” or do we say “lips turned up at the corners”?

For this exercise, select an image you are familiar with, either one of the ones we selected for your institution or another picture on your phone for example.

↳ Describe this image as though you are a complete stranger who has stumbled across it for the first time. Pretend that you’ve never seen it before and have no context for the image

↳ Describe the image again, this time from your own perspective, as though you were describing it to your best friend.

Share your writing and discuss with your partner:
↳ Are the descriptions you wrote similar or different? In what ways?
↳ Is there anything you noticed when writing in those two different modes?
↳ Do you like one description better than the other? Why?
↳ Is there a middle ground between these approaches?

3.3 Sturcture, length, priorities

Pull up one of the images we selected for you.
[A reminder: you and your partner should be working with the same image, but as you follow the next steps, write on your own rather than responding collaboratively.]

↳ Write a single sentence to describe the image. The sentence should capture whatever you think is most important about the image.
↳ Now write a second sentence about the second most important thing in, or about, the image.
↳  Write a third sentence about the third most important thing.

Share your writing and discuss with your partner:
↳ Did you and your partner structure your description in similar or different ways?
↳ Are there things your partner prioritized that you don’t think are as important? Or vice versa?
↳ Any other things you noticed or thought about when you were writing?

3.4 Indentity and representation

This exercise is a chance to think more about describing people. Lots of information about identity is communicated visually, but that information is often filtered through guesswork, interpretation, and bias. When and how do we describe race, gender, disability status, age, height, weight, etc? How do we acknowledge visual cues about the expression of identity without making assumptions about how a person identifies? How do we decide what information about a person is important to understanding the image? How do we respond to the fact that many people have made intentional and specific choices about language related to their identity, but we may not know them or the choices that they’ve made?

With all this in mind:
→ Describe yourself as you are today in 3–5 sentences. What would be important for your partner to know if they couldn’t access visual information about you? If it is helpful to work from an image, take a quick selfie, and describe that.

Discuss with your partner:
↳ Chat about the process of writing these descriptions.
↳ Were there things you felt comfortable describing about yourself that you didn’t feel comfortable describing about someone else? Or vice versa?
↳ What are some of the ways your identity and your politics impacted your approach to these descriptions?
↳ In disability spaces, people are often asked to self-describe images of themselves. What are some pros and cons to this approach?

examples:
Lexi Visco:
I’m a 5 foot 4 inch white person, with long blond hair and short, homemade bangs. I’m in my early 30’s and have faint smile lines that frame my blue eyes. I’m currently writing this in the studio I share with Calvin, which is growing dark as the sun begins to set. I’m barefoot and wearing thick denim pants, a thick, green wool cardigan, and yellow wool beanie.

Calvin Rocchio:
I am a somewhat lanky 6-foot 2-inch white person in my very early 30's. I have a scruffy face and am wearing round gold wire-frame glasses which are tucked into disheveled hair. I'm currently wearing a boxy blue chore jacket, and loose, light colored jeans. My bare feet are resting on the cool wooden floor of Mine and Lexi's studio, which is quite dark as the sun has just set, and we have yet to turn a light on.