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Effective Practices for Description of Science Content within Digital

Talking Books

WGBH & AccessThe Caption CenterThe Caption Center (est. 1972) (est. 1972)

– Captions television, home videos, feature films Captions television, home videos, feature films

– CD & DVD-ROMCD & DVD-ROM

– Streaming videoStreaming video

Descriptive Video ServiceDescriptive Video Service (est. 1990) (est. 1990)– Describes television, home videos, feature films Describes television, home videos, feature films

by inserting key visual elements during pauses by inserting key visual elements during pauses in dialoguein dialogue

National Center for Accessible MediaNational Center for Accessible Media (est. 1993)(est. 1993)– supports national policy decisionssupports national policy decisions– develops technical solutions develops technical solutions – conducts research conducts research – promotes advocacy via outreachpromotes advocacy via outreach

STEM Image Description

DAISY Digital Talking Books– Provides standard for accessible digital books

NIMAS: National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard– Requires publishers to provide textbooks in digital form, including images, for students with print disabilities

– Without image descriptions, many dtbs remain largely inaccessible.

National Science Foundation – Funded NCAM to develop guidelines for making STEM images accessible

Project Partners

NCAM

American Foundation for the Blind

American Printing House for the Blind

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic

George Kersher, RFBD and DAISY

Larry Scadden, Scientist and frmr NSF

Program Officer

Project GoalProvide Research-Based Guidelines for

making STEM Images Accessible.

Project Process1. Collect Images and Descriptions2. Evaluate And Refine Descriptions

• 2 Round Delphi Survey• 15 Blind STEM Professionals and graduate students• 15 Sighted “Describers” from AFB, RFBD and APH

• User Testing• 60 B/VI STEM Focused Adults (including STEM

Professionals and Graduate Students)

3. Publish Results

What Images?

STEM Description Guidelines

ncam.wgbh.org/publications/stemdx

Brevity

The most frequent recommendation from respondents was for more brevity in description.

It takes people with visual impairments more time to read books and articles than people without visual impairments and the process should not be further slowed down by unnecessarily long image descriptions.

BrevityPREFERRED Descriptive Practice:• The Venn diagram shows 2

intersecting circles, one labeled Africa 93 and the other labeled Asia 155. The area of intersection is labeled 70

PREVIOUS Descriptive Practice:• The figure is a Venn diagram and

shows 2 intersecting circles inside a large rectangle. The circles do not touch the rectangle. The circle on the left is labeled Africa and the number 93 is under Africa and above the circle. The circle on the right is labeled Asia and the number 155 is under Asia and above the circle. The intersection of the 2 circles is shaded and has the number 70 in the shaded region.

Data

Description should focus on the data and not extraneous visual elements.

Elaborately illustrated diagrams often contain key data that can be made accessible by presenting the data separate from description of the overall image.

PREVIOUS

Description emphasizes visual

PREFERRED

Description emphasizes data

Clarity

If the reader needs to listen to a description several times because it is poorly written or is presented in a confusing manner, then it is not accessible.

Clarity

Drill-Down Organization

Drill-Down = brief summary followed by extended description and/or specific data.

Drill-Down organization allows the reader to either continue reading for more information or stop when they have read all they want.

Drill-Down

The figure is a pie chart.

Title: Figure 5-2. Distribution of injury deaths by intent: United States, 2003-2004.

• Unintentional 67%• Suicide 19%• Homicide 11%• Undetermined 3%• Legal intervention or

operations of war less than 1%

Tables

Tables, charts and graphs should be presented as tables, not as narrative description. Proper coding (captions, table headers, and table data) provide better access to tables than narrative description. Brief summaries or overviews of the charts should be presented before the tables.

Tables

Processes

Processes that are presented visually can be converted into nested lists with good results.– Flow Charts – Diagrams – Illustrated Chemical Reactions– And More!

PREVIOUS

PREFERRED

Mathematics

Math equations should be marked up with MathML and rendered in a way that is preferable to the individual reader.

Narrative Description

Many STEM images are best described by linear, narrative description or “traditional” description. Follow the guidelines!– Brevity– Drill-Down Organization– Clarity – Emphasis on Data

Narrative Description• The fish embryo is long, narrow and

straight. Its head is small, round, and contains gill arches. A large flap extends to the left, from just below the head to the middle of the embryo. A segmented bony structure runs the length of the embryo on the right.

• The reptile embryo is much longer and fatter than the fish embryo, but is curled into a fetal position. Its head is bent forward and is twice as large as that of the fish embryo. The reptile embryo has twice as many gill arches as the fish embryo, but the flap on the left side is only half as long. A segmented bony structure runs the length of the embryo on the right.

• The bird embryo is curved more than the fish embryo, but is not as long or as curved as the reptile embryo. The head of the bird embryo is almost as large as that of the reptile embryo, but has fewer gill arches. A flap the same size as that of the reptile embryo extends to the left. A segmented bony structure runs the length of the embryo on the right. Arrows point to the gill arches of all three embryos.

Navigation Control

Description presented as text is generally preferred over recorded audio because text readers provide superior navigation control.

Properly marked up HTML, especially lists and tables, provides speedy and independent access to data that is unavailable through traditional linear, narrative description.

Four Words to Remember

Brevity

Data

Clarity

Control

The Breathing Process

Diagram of the breathing process.

Inhalation• A muscle at the base the lungs, called the diaphragm, moves downward.• Inside the lungs, pressure decreases and air rushes in.• Ribs move upward and outward.• Volume of the chest cavity increases.• Air flows into the nose and mouth.

Exhalation

• Diaphragm moves upward.• Inside the lungs, pressure increases and air moves out.• Ribs move downward and inward.• Volume of chest cavity decreases.• Air flows out through the nose and mouth.

A diagram titled: The Promise of Stem Cell Research.

A petri dish is labeled, Cultured Pluripotent Stem Cells. Arrows connect the dish of Stem Cells to the following items:

• Identify drug targets and test potential therapeutics• Toxicity Testing• Tissues/Cells for Transplantation

Bone marrow for leukemia & chemotherapy Nerve cells for Parkinsons & Alzhiemer's disease Heart muscle cells for heart disease Pancreatic islet cells for diabetes

• ? (left blank)• Study cell differentiation

Understanding prevention and treatment of birth defects

An illustration labeled, "Geological unconformities."

• The illustration shows a cross-section of a grassy hill, with five horizontal layers. The layers alternate between layers of rock and layers of soil.

• In one area, a U-shaped section of mixed rocks and soil cuts down from the surface through four layers. This section is labeled "mixed strata."

• The hill slopes down to trees and water. The steep slope is not grassy and the layers are visible. This is labeled "exposed buried strata."

• On the other side of the water is a smaller hill with three horizontal layers that match the first three layers of the first hill.

How the Woodpecker Avoids a Headache

This page contains several captioned illustrations of a woodpecker.

1. The central illustration shows a woodpecker gripping a tree branch with its feet. The woodpecker stands upright on the vertical branch. The woodpecker is yellowish-green with brown and white showing on the edges of its wings and tail feathers. Its breast and head are lighter green, with bright red feathers across the top of its head. Its beak is sharply pointed.

2. A diagram shows a woodpecker's skeleton. Caption: The woodpecker is superbly adapted for chipping away wood and picking out insects

from cracks. The beak is very strong with a chisel-like tip, and the neck muscles highly developed for hammering. Even more remarkable are the flexible, elongated hyoid bone which enables the tongue to be greatly protruded, and the complex muscles which push the tongue in and out, stiffen it for spearing insects or move it from side to side to explore the crevices of a rotting log.

3. Diagrams compare a woodpecker's foot to a magpie's foot. The magpie's four toes all point roughly forward, like our fingers, while the woodpecker's toes point in all four directions.

Caption: The woodpecker's skeleton shows several special adaptions. The skull is particularly sturdy to withstand the force of the blows as it hammers with its beak; the leg bones are large and strong; the end of the spine curves downwards to enable the tail feathers to act as a prop. One toe of the woodpecker's foot is reversed to give a strong grip

4. A diagram shows a woodpecker's fanning tail feathers. Caption: The feathers in the woodpecker's tail are exceptionally stiff, and the outermost

feathers are reduced in size, allowing the tail to act as a prop.

5. On a diagram of a woodpecker's skull, labels point to different bones and muscles. – The tip of the woodpecker's tongue: "Horny barbed tip to spear larger insects."– The outside of the woodpecker's long tongue: "Sheath of skin."– The inside the woodpecker's mouth: "Muscles which can stiffen the tongue or move it

from side to side."– Muscles at the top of the woodpecker's neck: "Muscles which pull the tongue in."– The back of the woodpecker's skull: "Muscles which when contracted push the tongue

out."– A thin bone that starts near the woodpecker's eye and curves backward around the

bird's skull to the base of its tongue: "Hyoid bone."

An illustration shows a cross-section of the human heart.

The heart is made up of four chambers, two smaller ones on top (the left and right atrium) and two larger ones below (the left and right ventricle.) A series of arteries and veins carry blood to and from the chambers. Valves separate some of the chambers and blood vessels. The diagram includes the following labels.– right atrium: small upper chamber– superior vena cava: carries blood from above into the right atrium– inferior vena cava: carries blood from below into the right atrium– right pulmonary veins: small blood vessels connected to the right atrium– right ventricle: large lower chamber– tricuspid valve: separates the right atrium and right ventricle– pulmonary artery: carries blood from the right ventricle to the lungs– pulmonary valve: separates the right ventricle and pulmonary artery– left atrium: small upper chamber– left pulmonary veins: small blood vessels connected to the left atrium – left ventricle: large lower chamber– mitral valve: separates the left atrium and left ventricle– aorta: carries blood from the left ventricle to the rest of the body– aortic valve: separates the left ventricle and the aorta

Thank You!

• There are many more examples on the Guidelines Website.

• We will be adding more examples and training sessions.

• Please take a short post-training survey at:

ncam.wgbh.org/ncam_workshop_surveys.html

Contact Information

Bryan GouldProject ManagerWGBH National Center for Accessible Mediabryan_gould@wgbh.org

ncam.wgbh.org/publications/stemdx