[community] Best Practices for Describing Art in Alt Text

Tue Nov 14 15:41:23 UTC 2017

Thanks all for this important and valuable feedback and advice! I'm disappointed to hear about the inaccessibility of the ROM exhibition, excited to hear about the IDRC audio tours, and ever-more committed to figuring out innovative ways of doing this work!

Andrea

________________________________
From: John W (personal) <pickupwillis at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2017 10:31 AM
To: Caren Watkins
Cc: Andrea Lamarre; community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca
Subject: Re: [community] Best Practices for Describing Art in Alt Text

to add to John's comment: when I asked about alternative formats at the show I went to last week, I was offered a tour three hours later for an extra fee. Disappointing indeed.

On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 10:29 AM, John W (personal) <pickupwillis at gmail.com<mailto:pickupwillis at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi Caren, one possibility is that the show I'm referring to is a visiting exhibit from Sweden, so thei reasoning may be that the ROM is not wholly responsible for how it is put together. However, I am writing to the ROM to express my concern that the institution should be educating its partners around the world that here in Ontario we do not mount shows that cannot be experienced inclusively by all patrons.

I would like to cc my comments to the Senior Advisor - do you have a name?

j

On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 10:23 AM, Caren Watkins <carenwatkins at gmail.com<mailto:carenwatkins at gmail.com>> wrote:
I'm wondering what happened to the position of Senior Advisor, Inclusion at the ROM? Johanna Contreras, the accessibility advisor at the ROM spoke at the Accessibility Conference in Guelph a couple of years ago and the museum seemed to be heading in a very good direction!

On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 9:52 AM, John Willis <pickupwillis at gmail.com<mailto:pickupwillis at gmail.com>> wrote:
I am afraid I have no expertise in this area, except as a user of alternative text - and I hope once these best practises are identified we can all send them to the Royal Ontario Museum, where the current show on Viking culture is an  apalling example of non-inclusive Design: very text heavy, no audio, no tactile, no braille. Really shocking for a publicly subsidized institution

Good luck Andrea, your work is very important!

John D. Willis
Design & innovation in Public Services

> On Nov 13, 2017, at 15:02, Andrea Lamarre <alamarre at uoguelph.ca<mailto:alamarre at uoguelph.ca>> wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> I am wondering if anyone has come across best practices for describing art in alternative text? I can find many examples of best practices for alternative text in general but not for art specifically.
>
>
> I want to do justice to the art but I am not always sure what the intention of the artist was in creating the piece, nor am I always sure myself what the elements of the art piece are. I am trying to balance respect for artistry and respect for accessibility. My words about the art will necessarily be coloured by my own interpretation of the piece.
>
>
> Any thoughts would be very welcome.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Andrea
>
>
> Andrea LaMarre
>
> PhD Candidate, FRHD
>
> Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition
>
> University of Guelph
>
>
> Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator
>
> ReVision Centre for Art and Social Justice
>
>
> alamarre at uoguelph.ca<mailto:alamarre at uoguelph.ca>
>
> 519 993 6435<tel:519%20993%206435>
> ________________________________________
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--
John D. Willis | CMRP, MDes
Inclusive design, strategy and research
Toronto CANADA

Web: www.jdwillis.ca<http://www.jdwillis.ca>
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tojohnw
Twitter: @TOjohnw
Skype: johnwillis416

--
John D. Willis | CMRP, MDes
Inclusive design, strategy and research
Toronto CANADA

Web: www.jdwillis.ca<http://www.jdwillis.ca>
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tojohnw
Twitter: @TOjohnw
Skype: johnwillis416