[BlindMath] long descriptions of mathematical images

[Alex Jordan]

Thank you Nikita,

Would it be ok practice for the alt text to direct readers to the long
description in the figcaption, instead of offering a short description?

Alex

On Sat, Jul 9, 2022, 4:46 AM Nikita via BlindMath <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hi Alex.
> For long descriptions of images, it is better to use special semantic tags
> <figure> and <figcaption>
> For example:
>
> <figure aria-labelledby="img1">
> <img id="img1" alt="Short description">
> <figcaption>
> <p>Long description.</p>
> </figcaption>
> </figure>
>
> The content of the <figcaption> element can be visually hidden or made into
> an expandable spoiler, as in your prototype.
> Sincerely, Nikita.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Alex Jordan
> via
> BlindMath
> Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2022 3:26 AM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Alex Jordan <alex.jordan at pcc.edu>
> Subject: [BlindMath] long descriptions of mathematical images
>
> Hello,
>
> I contribute to some open source projects in math education. A
> challenge with images on the web in the context of math education is
> how to describe them for screen reader users. The normal advice for
> alt text does not always apply, since you often would like the reader
> to extract something from the image without directly telling them what
> they are supposed to get out of it. And if alt text becomes too long,
> then some screen readers cut it off at 100 characters or so.
>
> I wanted to ask this community if you know of good strategies for this
> issue.
>
> I also want to ask for criticism of a method I am experimenting with.
> In this method, I follow the image with an HTML details tag with a
> summary tag. The img alt text asks you to read the longer description
> in the details tag. There is an aria-describedby that references the
> div within the details tag where the description lives. Here is a toy
> example:
>
> https://spot.pcc.edu/~ajordan/temp/graphdetailssummarytest.html
>
> May I ask this community, in particular blind AT users, for feedback?
> If you follow that link, what criticism/commentary/observations do you
> have about this method for describing an image? Please forgive me if
> the description itself is poorly written.
>
> Thank you,
> Alex
>
> --
> Alex Jordan
> Mathematics Instructor
> Portland Community College
>
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