Template based approach for augmenting image descriptions

Abstract

With the increasing focus on digital learning, it has become extremely important that digital content is available with ease. However, a lot of this digital content is not generated keeping Universal Access in mind. Most of such content available is either completely inaccessible or only partially accessible to the print disabled people. One of the major gaps in accessibility of digital content, especially electronic books is the lack of alternative texts for diagrams and ineffective descriptions in cases they are present. The paper discusses the design of a template, which can help in augmenting descriptions for textbook diagrams. The template consists of various components, which are populated using the information present in the diagram or from the text surrounding the diagram in the textbook. This template provides means for generation of comprehensible diagram descriptions, which not only help the user to visualize the diagram but also create a mental model of the layout of the diagram. Observations made during the user study validate the effectiveness of these augmented descriptions.