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"That's in the eye of the beholder": Layers of Interpretation in Image Descriptions for Fictional Representations of People with Disabilities

Published: 17 October 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Image accessibility is an established research area in Accessible Computing and a key area of digital accessibility for blind and low vision (BLV) people worldwide. Recent work has delved deeper into the question of how image descriptions should properly reflect the complexities of marginalized identity. However, when real subjects are not available to consult on their preferred identity terminology, as is the case with fictional representations of disability, the issue arises again of how to create accurate and sensitive image descriptions. We worked with 25 participants to assess and iteratively co-design image descriptions for nine fictional representations of people with disabilities. Through nine focus groups and nineteen interviews, we discovered five key themes which we present here along with an analysis of the layers of interpretation at work in the production and consumption of image descriptions for fictional representations.

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      cover image ACM Conferences
      ASSETS '21: Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
      October 2021
      730 pages
      ISBN:9781450383066
      DOI:10.1145/3441852
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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      Published: 17 October 2021

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      1. Alt text
      2. design system
      3. fictional users
      4. image description
      5. representations of disability

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      ASSETS '21 Paper Acceptance Rate 36 of 134 submissions, 27%;
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      • (2024)Party Face Congratulations! Exploring Design Ideas to Help Sighted Users with Emoji Accessibility when Messaging with Screen Reader UsersProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36410148:CSCW1(1-31)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
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