Most people know the value of a picture, whether that is a photo, painting, hieroglyphic, or a video. Images are extremely powerful. It’s why they dominate our everyday lives from advertising to social media, to television and other forms of media.
However, while a picture might be worth a thousand words, we also have the power to create thousands more pictures with our words. After all, isn’t that why we developed language? Why we went from simply drawing pictures on cave walls and clay tablets, to writing scrolls, books, and speaking using letters, words, phrases, sentences, etc.? Isn’t that why nearly every social media platform has a space for you to write a caption or comment when you post your picture?
Now let’s imagine that the world is still driven by images, photos, and videos, but you have little to no access to those visuals. How would you feel? You might feel frustrated, confused, or maybe you’re a bit like me and just wonder what’s in the photo?
I’ve been totally blind for more than 25 years and have witnessed some incredible technological changes. I began learning how to use a computer with screen reading software when I was just 7 years old, but screen reading software in the 1990s was extremely expensive and pretty clunky. I could create and open a word document and then print it, and that’s about it.
In 2007, Apple came out with the iPhone and the word began to spread about Voiceover—Apple’s built in screen reader on all of their products. I was a slow adopter of technology and naively thought that I was being left further and further behind as a blind person. So, I continued using my flip phone, memorizing numbers of contacts, and I continued using expensive screen readers and other technology that was becoming the Pony Express to WhatsApp.
I finally jumped on the bandwagon in 2014 and got an iPhone, and then completely switched over to primarily Apple products in 2017. I’d studied the Art and Science of Communication in college and while I knew the written and spoken word weren’t disappearing any time soon, I was living in an increasingly visual world and if I didn’t want to be left further behind then I better learn some basics. Technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, and I would like to share with you how you can take one photo and use your words to allow me and others like me to join the conversation. And here’s the kicker, I have a hunch it will help you as well.
I’m not a digital accessibility expert. I’m just your everyday social media browsing, Amazon shopping, Harry Potter loving Exactly What to Say ® Certified Guide who wants to get more involved in all the great conversations happening out there. So, for the purposes of this article, I’ll keep it stupid simple and only discuss photo descriptions on social media.
Phil says that the worst time to think about what you’re going to say is when you’re saying it, the same can be said when describing a photo or image. So, when you select your media take a second and look at it. Take a 30000-foot view and try to summarize what it is that you’re looking at. Why are you wanting to share this photo and use it to be part of the story you’re telling?
Now let’s actually describe the photo. I always take the approach of trying to answer the questions “who, what, when, where, why, how?” You can apply that framework here. Who/what is in the photo? What are they doing? When was the photo taken? Two athletes running out of the water during the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Then we move into filling in the details. They are both wearing blue triathlon suits with USA written on them. The man on the right of the picture has Guide written on his suit and the man on the left has the name Coon written on his. They are both wearing swim caps and goggles. From here we can of course get into smaller and smaller details about the photo depending on our aim with the photo and the associated caption/post text. However, we should probably talk about where you should write this photo description.
Most people use a social media platform that has an “Alt Text” option. “Alt text” has many uses across the world wide web, but again, for our purposes today we’re going to focus on the social media definition of “alt text” which is a photo description for those who might have trouble seeing the photo.
On Instagram you can find where to put your photo description that you came up with earlier in the “Advanced Settings” button under the heading “Accessibility.” Click on “Write alt text” and then paste or write that photo description that you came up with.
On Facebook click on the “edit photo” option or click the three dots on the upper righthand side of the photo. (Or if you’re a bit like me you’ll push your posts directly from Instagram to Facebook and the image description you created will automatically also appear in the alt text on Facebook.).
On LinkedIn after you select your photo there will be an option to “Edit alt text.” Simply go there and plug in your photo description.
Ok, so now you’ve created a very basic photo description by taking the big picture view and drilling down to some smaller details. This clearly helps Kyle Coon the blind guy who can’t see your photo, but how does this benefit you besides that warm fuzzy feeling in your heart because you helped me out? Well, you are actually helping your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Once your photo description or alt text is posted the AI machines, bots, or whatever magic of the internet is out there go to work and recognize that text and associates it with you. So now your challenge is, can you implement actual keywords and phrases into your photo description so that the bots grab it even quicker and push you up the leader boards of experts?
Let’s take this photo as an example. You could write this photo description:
A book sitting on a table with the title written in big bold orange letters with smaller print in black.
Hmm… Ok, we know what the photo is, but we want to help our SEO and provide context and be as clear and concise as possible. How about this…
A book titled “EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact” written by Phil M Jones.
This is a perfectly solid photo description depending on your aims for the post. If I, Kyle Coon Exactly What to Say ® Certified Guide, is posting this inviting you to buy a copy of Phil’s book so that you too know exactly what to say so you can gain a fair competitive advantage and not be a sleezy salesperson, then it ticks all the boxes of SEO keywords and it gives enough information for anyone who might have difficulty seeing the photo.
If I’m using this photo to illustrate the importance of using bold bright colors and the importance of contrast so that your title pops, well then, I’d adjust the photo description to look something like this…
A book titled “EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY: The Magic Words for Influence and Impact” written by Phil M Jones. The cover is black. The title is in big bold white and orange text with the subtitle written in smaller white font.
The point here is that you are in control of what you want your social media reader to focus on and you can tailor your photo description to benefit people like me who can’t see the photo, and also yourself when it comes to your SEO.
There’s also a side benefit that you might have recognized if you’ve read this far. The benefit is that you’re practicing exactly what to say, when to say it and how to make it count through keeping an eye on your vision by starting with the big picture and then drilling down to the relevant details when they matter.
Bonus
You could have stopped reading before this paragraph, but you’re the exception and are coming from a place of curiosity. You might be wondering “Hey Kyle, how did you know what to focus on in the photos you were describing?” Which is a great question. I’ll let you in on one of my secrets and show you how you can leverage this as well.
I use an app called Be My Eyes, which was originally built for people who are blind or visually impaired to call a sighted person via video chat to help with something as mundane as reading the cooking instructions on a package of cookies or making sure they were selecting the color shirt they thought. I even know someone who used Be My Eyes to help them sign divorce papers.
Be My Eyes has grown in scope to now be able to offer technical support with computers via screen sharing, and they also consult with companies and organizations to improve accessibility so more people who are blind or visually impaired have great work and life experiences. With the improvement in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Be My Eyes now offers an AI component. I can take a photo directly with the app and have the app describe it, or I can go into my camera roll and have Be My Eyes describe it from there. Be My Eyes generates the description and then I merely copy the text, analyze it, adjust the text to fit my needs and post it in the alt text/photo description on social media.
You all are busy people so this is one handy shortcut you can use to generate a decent photo description and then you can quickly edit it to fit your needs, but still try to practice generating your own descriptions as well. It’s good practice for other areas of your business and life.
