Guidelines on Including Image Descriptions with your Journal Article

Text alternatives for visual content allow visually impaired readers to get similar value from images and other non-textual material as other readers. They ensure that those using screen readers and other assistive devices can access the full content of an article. Authors are requested to supply descriptions for all figures included in journal articles. A template is provided below. This document offers some guidelines for best practice.

Image descriptions may also be referred to as ‘alt text’ (alternative text), although our articles have scope for longer descriptions that can include more information than typical alt text tags (they have the same function).

An image description should present the same information and serve the same purpose as the visual content it is describing. It should not simply replicate the figure caption. The information a description supplies should be an addition to what is already supplied in the main caption and to what is included in the text. The description should include everything in the image that is essential to the article, without overlapping with any information provided elsewhere.

The amount of detail needed will depend on the audience, the nature of the image, and the part that the image plays in the article. (For example, in a description of a historical portrait, whether the subject’s style of dress is described, and in how much detail, will depend on whether this information is relevant to the article.)

A template for image descriptions can be found here. Please fill this in and return it as an email attachment with your article proofs.

Questions to consider when drafting alt-text captions

  • Why did you include the image?
  • What purpose does the image fulfil?
  • If you had not been able to include the image, what words would you have used to serve the same function or present the same information?
  • What does the image add that is not already conveyed in the surrounding text?

General tips

  • The description should have a clear structure that works from the general to the specific
  • Write in the present tense, and use complete grammatical sentences
  • Don’t repeat information already supplied in the surrounding text or in the figure caption
  • The description should not introduce any new terms or concepts that are not discussed or defined in the surrounding text
  • Avoid acronyms and symbols
  • Be concise: try to stick to two or three sentences
  • While the audience for the descriptions should be the same as that for your article, don’t assume any prior knowledge, other than what is included in the article (in advance of the reader encountering the image)
  • Don’t include phrases such as ‘image of’ or ‘picture of’ – it will already be clear to the screen reader user that they have reached an image – unless such wording is required by the context (e.g. if an image is a pencil drawing and this is not mentioned in the surrounding text or the figure caption)
  • Keep descriptive language objective
  • If an image has text, include this in the description, if it is required for an understanding of the image

Automatically/AI generated image descriptions

These rarely provide the level of utility required by image descriptions, but as the author you are best placed to judge their output. Any captions generated in this way should of course be checked prior to submission. While it is tempting to try to save time by automating the process, finding a way of doing so and then checking and editing the results will probably end up taking longer than simply writing the description yourself.

Two examples

A young boy with closely cropped hair is shown from the hips up, looking off to our left. He is richly dressed in an embroidered pink tunic with a thin white ruffle at the neck, over which is draped a voluminous black cloak, almost falling off his shoulders. The cloak has a silver Maltese-style cross on the left breast. An ornate sword hangs from his hip. In his right hand he holds a brown glove. The background is plain brown.

Caption: Titian, Ranuccio Farnese, 1541–1542, oil on canvas, 89.7 × 73.6 cm, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress Collection.

Description: A young boy with closely cropped hair is shown from the hips up, looking off to our left. He is richly dressed in an embroidered pink tunic with a thin white ruffle at the neck, over which is draped a voluminous black cloak, almost falling off his shoulders. The cloak has a silver Maltese-style cross on the left breast. An ornate sword hangs from his hip. In his right hand he holds a brown glove. The background is plain brown.

A wide shot of a barren plain strewn with pale rocks under an empty sky. In the background, similarly barren low hills or steppes stretch off into the distance on the other side of a shallow valley. To the right of the image is a group of large white tents around a ruined stone wall. A silhouetted figure sits on the ground, looking out across the valley. To the far left of the image, in the distance on the other side of the valley, is another group of white tents.

Caption: Roger Fenton, Plateau of Sebastopol VIII, 1855, salted paper print, 21.9 × 36.4 cm, Getty Museum Collection.

Description: A wide shot of a barren plain strewn with pale rocks under an empty sky. In the background, similarly barren low hills or steppes stretch off into the distance on the other side of a shallow valley. To the right of the image is a group of large white tents around a ruined stone wall. A silhouetted figure sits on the ground, looking out across the valley. To the far left of the image, in the distance on the other side of the valley, is another group of white tents.

Sources and further reading