[community] Best Practices for Describing Art in Alt Text

Annie Levy annie.c.levy at gmail.com
Fri Nov 17 19:37:07 UTC 2017 

Hello everyone, 

I would also like to thank you all for sharing your insights and resources. This thread is indeed appreciated and comes at a great timing. 

As Teresa mentioned, the Inclusive Design Graduate Program at OCAD has been collaborating with the AGO; we were able to put together a studio-seminar course where students are introduced to multisensory approaches and the creation of translations/interpretations for the multisensory tours at the AGO. 

This course is also included in a thesis investigation (MRP) for my Masters in Inclusive Design; our research aims to study access to art and cultural works, and to examine how multisensory approaches to art and exhibit design impact the experience of a diverse audience, as well as the practices of creative individuals who are introduced to these approaches. The ultimate goal of this research is to discover how access to art and evocative cultural works can be increased. 

It has been a very interesting journey so far, and we are excited to see how it continues to unfold. The Multi-Sensory Studio/Seminar course at OCAD has been highly contributing to this research and we look forward to the "Big Reveal" at the AGO on November 29th at 6pm-8pm. Please join us to explore and interact with multisensory translations/interpretations of original artworks/designs created by the talented students of this class. Your feedback will be highly appreciated! 

Have a great afternoon and weekend!

Best,
Annie 


> On Nov 14, 2017, at 1259PM, Teresa Lee <teresa.lee at alumni.utoronto.ca> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Thanks Andrea for a wonderful question. I was wondering about the same
> thing.
> 
> Pina, I really appreciate you sharing your museum experience.
> 
> This thread is very timely, as inclusive design program at OCAD is
> collaborating with AGO to revamp their multisensory tour through a course.
> My classmates and I are trying to create multisensory representations of
> select pieces (painting, sculptures, installation, etc) at AGO.
> 
> I'm working on translating a piece by the Group of Seven. When I see a
> landscape painting, especially if it resembles a place I've been, a bunch
> of related memories get instantly triggered and sometimes I can
> picture/feel myself in the scene - this is my way of connecting with the
> art and the artist. As I am trying to translate this piece, I am excited to
> bring sound, scent, touch etc. to help other visitors have similar
> experience, yet cautious to not impose/force interpretation/perception of
> the art. Of course, I'm also cautious not to presume artist's intention.
> 
> We will be revealing to the public at the end of the month. Perhaps some of
> you may be interested in attending. I'll share the details shortly.
> 
> Have a beautiful afternoon everyone.
> 
> Teresa
> 
> Teresa SY Lee, B.Sc., BCaBA
> 
> On Nov 14, 2017 12:39 PM, "Feriyal Hallajarani" <fh12li at student.ocadu.ca>
> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> Unfortunately, I haven't seen any "Perfect" alternative description of an
> artwork yet. I recently read this article about verbal/audio description
> tours of "Florine Stettheimer”'s paintings. The verbal description
> perfectly talks about the details of the artworks such as; colors,
> composition and movements, but when you read or listen to it you will
> experience the same thing as reading a business article in your morning
> newspaper.
> 
> You can find the article here at:
> https://stories.thejewishmuseum.org/seeing-florine-stettheimers-heat-
> through-language-41026a0aee4c
> 
> 
> 
> As a sighted person, the philosophy behind an art work means more than the
> artwork itself to me. If our aim is to provide an accessible description of
> an art piece, then we are responsible to communicate that philosophy as
> well. I love "Expressionism" because its goals were not to reproduce the
> impression suggested by the surrounding world, but to strongly impose the
> artist’s own sensibility to the world’s representation. The expressionists
> used the expressive possibilities of color and line to explore dramatic and
> emotion-laden themes, to convey the qualities of fear, horror, and the
> grotesque, or simply to celebrate nature with hallucinatory intensity. They
> broke away from the literal representation of nature in order to express
> more subjective outlooks or states of mind. When you look at one the "Otto
> Dix”'s paintings, all the elements of the painting will awaken your inner
> senses; anger, laugh or sadness. The intention of an artist is what forces
> you to think, to enter your mind and challenge your emotions.
> 
> 
> 
> So how easy is to describe an expressionism artwork to a person with visual
> disability? No one can be “Marcel Proust”!! It’s hard to be him and be able
> to describe a piece of art in those spectacular detailed wordings (although
> I believe he shares his own perception of a painting with the reader but
> still!). Therefore, I believe writing an accessible alternative description
> of a painting needs to be done by the help of art experts and historians.
> 
> (If you’re interested to see some example of painting description is
> Proust’s literature see:
> https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/paintings-in-
> proust-vol-1-swanns-way/
> )
> 
> 
> Thanks and regards,
> 
> 
> *Feriyal Hallajarani | *Web Accessibility Consultant | IBM
> Email: feriyal.hallaj at gmail.com
> Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/feriyalharani
> 
> 
> On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 11:02 AM, Caren Watkins <carenwatkins at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ET3O_iJwA4
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 10:56 AM, Caren Watkins <carenwatkins at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi John, what I know is in 2015 Johanna Contreras held the position
>>> Senior Advisor, Inclusion at the ROM. I'm not sure if she is still there
>> or
>>> even if that position still exists. Keep us posted if possible.
>>> Caren
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Nov 14, 2017 at 10:29 AM, John W (personal) <
>>> 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
>>> 
>>>> 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>
>>>>> 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>
>>>>>> 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
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 519 993 6435
>>>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>>>> Inclusive Design Community (community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca)
>>>>>>> To manage your subscription, please visit:
>>>>>> https://lists.idrc.ocadu.ca/mailman/listinfo/community
>>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>>> Inclusive Design Community (community at lists.idrc.ocadu.ca)
>>>>>> To manage your subscription, please visit:
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>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> *John D. Willis | *
>>>> *CMRP, MDes *Inclusive design, strategy and research
>>>> Toronto CANADA
>>>> 
>>>> Web: www.jdwillis.ca
>>>> LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tojohnw
>>>> Twitter: @TOjohnw
>>>> Skype: johnwillis416
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
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