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The picture is horizontally split in two by a undulating wavy line, with a nebula-filled cloud at the bottom and a relatively clear upper part, like dots scattered in two star domains, showing countless stars of different sizes. The smallest stars are tiny, distant and faint spots of light. The largest one looks bigger, closer, more dazzling, and even with octagonal diffraction stars. The upper part of the image is blue, with wisps of translucent cloud stripes rising slowly from the nebula below. The above is the alternative text provided by NASA for this James Webb Space Telescope photo. Source: NASA, a team from Baltimore is responsible for providing alt alternative text for these stunning photos, which everyone can "see".

People have been amazed since NASA publicly shared photos taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (James Webb Space Telescope, JWST). But people are not only shocked by the important cosmic experiences or laws that may exist in the cosmic details shown in these photos, but many people are also moved by the thoughtful alt text description behind the picture. Alt text is an alternative text that describes the current picture using specific text content in situations where some pictures cannot be displayed properly or in special browsers used by the visually impaired. )

Kate Meyers Emery (Kate Meyers Emery) wrote on Twitter: "if someone tells you that alt text is not important, show them the alt text description provided by NASA for Webb Space Telescope images." "they can convey these miracles and beauty in words, bringing these amazing scenery close at hand." The Royal National Institute for the Blind wrote on Twitter: "this is not only an amazing picture from NASA, but also an excellent example of how to use alt text. What do you think?"

Alexa Heinrich (Alexa Heinrich) wrote in an accessible, emailed newsletter: "it is clear that NASA's digital media team put a lot of thought and effort into describing the images taken by the Webb telescope, and they described it like a love letter to space exploration and infinite miracles in the universe." The accessibility of words broadens everyone's horizons, and even distant stars are within reach, which is indeed a beautiful thing. "

The alt text feature on social media platforms allows people to describe images through text, so that blind or visually impaired people can use screen reading technology to know what is displayed on the screen. In other words, it allows everyone to see the image. In the photos recently shared by NASA, it lets everyone know that they are seeing colorful celestial scenes of different shapes.

Of course, it is not uncommon for NASA to include these descriptions in the photos. Surprisingly, these texts are so poetic and scientifically accurate.

One of them reads: "this picture is horizontally split in two by a undulating wavy line, with a nebula-filled cloud at the bottom and a relatively clear upper part, like spots scattered in two star domains, showing countless stars of different sizes. The smallest stars are tiny, distant and faint spots of light. The largest one looks bigger, closer, more dazzling, and even with octagonal diffraction stars. The upper part of the image is blue, with wisps of translucent cloud stripes rising slowly from the nebula below. "

Blind people, people who want to know more about astronomy, or people who know how to use words to make sentences can appreciate this description.

If you don't need to use alt text to interpret images, it's easy to ignore this feature. But the communication supported by NASA's photos is important because they show how easy it is to get more people to experience an immersive feeling.

The team who created the descriptions, who work at the Institute of Space Telescope Science in Baltimore, USA, have been watching the public opinion and public reaction on the matter.

"it's exciting to see how much impact these texts have on people," said Tim Rhue II II, chief informal education expert at the Space Telescope Science Institute. In the eyes of many people, this is a very personal matter. Most importantly, we do this because we want everyone to have access to astronomy. After all, for many people, astronomy and dinosaurs are the gateway to science. "

Lu said that the combined images seen by the public were the result of the joint efforts of a team of writers, designers, scientists and educators. He saw the photos only a week earlier than the public. The team took a relatively short time to create images instead of descriptive text, but the alt text was not an afterthought. For the past two years, they have been talking about accessibility and working with a consulting firm to create alt text styles. In the process, they practice writing descriptions and understanding what doesn't work.

"'one picture is worth a thousand words'. I used to think that brevity was very important, but this is a common misunderstanding." Lu pointed out that recent photos need more words to interpret them. "each photo has a description of more than 1000 words, and we can continue to write."

An extended description of the image and alt text can be found by clicking on the gallery on the Webb Space Telescope website. One of the alt texts begins: "two views of the Southern Ring Nebula are shown side by side. Both pictures have black backgrounds, dotted with bright small stars and distant galaxies. Both images show that the star-shaped nebula is a deformed oval with a long axis from top left to bottom right." Lu said that the team listened to public opinions through email, social media and websites, and that for him, personal stories were the most influential.

"as a blind man who has dreamed of studying astronomy since the age of 6... thank you not only for remembering to write an alternative text for this picture, but also in such a poetic way," software developer / accessible Katie Durden wrote on Twitter. "I may never know who you are, but you touched my heart today-the author of the alt text." Kelly Lepo responded on Twitter, part of a "small team" that created the alt text at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Dayton shared the tweet and said she had dreamed of seeing stars since childhood. "you use alt text to bring me closer to that dream than ever before," Dayton wrote. "I don't know what to say to thank you."

Original text link:

Https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/20/nasa-images-accessible-text/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjE5NDM4MTgyIiwicmVhc29uIjoiZ2lmdCIsIm5iZiI6MTY1ODc0Njc2MiwiaXNzIjoic3Vic2NyaXB0aW9ucyIsImV4cCI6MTY1OTk1NjM2MiwiaWF0IjoxNjU4NzQ2NzYyLCJqdGkiOiIwNDgzMWUwYi1mZTg1LTQ5NTctYTEyMC0xNDIyYjI5ZGZhYzgiLCJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy53YXNoaW5ndG9ucG9zdC5jb20vZGMtbWQtdmEvMjAyMi8wNy8yMC9uYXNhLWltYWdlcy1hY2Nlc3NpYmxlLXRleHQvIn0.WtN5IyqBmTE-G3V3fiMwaqYUz9rpdKZnyfBCqouE8jc

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: global Science (ID:huanqiukexue). | Matt Benoit translation | Wei Shuhao revision | Wang Yu

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