Rebekah Lee: Midterm Portfolio – #1 Alt Text Comic

The Project

Google Slides Link

Shown is the black, metallic bedframe of a full sized bed constructed at the corner of a room while missing one more horizontal support for the mattress. It's a mystery why one hasn't been placed.
Jayine’s bedframe is missing one more support bar.
Turns out the last bar won't fit. Holding a wrench, Jayine uses her mighty strength while wearing light blue jeans, a light yellow t-shirt, and her hair in a messy bun. She leans forward, tugging at the support holder on the far right side of the bedframe. It's bent metal that doesn't fit the last support. I sweat for her--what if it doesn't work?
Jayine is now fixing her bedframe by re-shaping the support holder.
The image is dark. Clearly Jayine's been working on this bed for hours. It sits in her empty, white-walled room with white and blue flowered sheets and a thin white blanket, all in the dark. Because she just moved in. She has no lights. But she made her bed in time to sleep through the nights.[End.]
Jayine’s finished bed in her room.

Project Description 

I chose the last three images I took on my phone. I put them in this google slide template and created a comic/storyboard. I had to focus on the interplay between alt text and captions, and use how they interact in an interesting, expressive way. I could tell a story, or even make a non-narrative text-poem that is more impressionistic.

Documentation 

The images I was considering using that I took recently were these six photos. I definitely knew I wanted to use the last photo to show how dark Jayine’s room looked in the end after building her bed. I thought it was comedic how underwhelming the image looks after the hard work and the betrayal that the bed frame wasn’t packed in good condition.

I chose the bed frame skeleton photo because something clearly looks wrong in it, and it creates mystery as the first image.

I chose the second photo of Jayine working a wrench because it’s the solution to the first photo. It also shows Jayine’s hard work, which then leads to the comedic effect of the last, underwhelming and dark image.

I wanted to tell a story with my comic while using alt-text as a way to go in depth like they are secret details only screenreader users would find. Like if someone read my comic using just the captions, it still all makes sense, but the alt-text reveals feelings felt, more context, and even comedic effect and rhymes. I think the build up of the first two pictures contrasts with the last one. It’s a satisfying yet still anti-climactic ending with her finished bed in a light-less room at night. All that hard work for a room that’s still empty.

Jayine. who is wearing a yellow t-shirt and light blue jeans with glasses, her hair up, holding up a peace sign with an unamused smirk, taking a selfie with me, who is wearing a black t-shirt with olive pants making a pouty face. We are sitting on the floor building the beginning of a full black bedframe.
Jayine and Rebekah in a selfie looking tired.
The black bedframe almost complete in Jayine's white walled, hardwood floor room. The focus of the photo is that the frame is missing a support beam.
The bedframe missing a support beam.
The view of Jayine's apartment shows the back, 3rd floor rooftop of the complex. There's a huge chess set, some tables, plants, and ventelation. Behind it are dense trees and some older apartment buildings. In the foreground on the window sill are smiski figures, which are green human like figures in different poses. They are cheering, doing yoga, holding a box, sitting, reading, on a laptop, and thinking.
Jayine’s window view with her smiskis.
Jayine holding a wrench handling the support beams attachment. The metal of the attachment could only be stretched with a tool. Jayine is smiling as she struggles to fix it.
Jayine hard at work to fix her bedframe.
 
A screenshot of a grey hand truck with a large box next to it. The context of this was that Jayine needed one to carry her bedframe and mattress packages.
A screenshot of a hand truck.
Jayine's finished bed with sheets and a thin blanket. The room is dark because the sun went down, the bed looks empty, which gives the image a very empty and unsettling vibe.
Jayine’s finished bed in the dark.
A screenshot of the comic template on google slides. The image is of the incomplete bed frame, and the caption says "Jayine's bedframe is missing one more support bar."
A screenshot of the comic being worked on.

Arranging the images and captions was confusing at first, but it wasn’t too many to organize so I got it soon enough. I decided to arrange it as caption first, then alt-text, as the caption was always more introductory to the image and the alt-text was the more in depth plotline.

The alt-text was fun to come up with, and I even added a little rhyme. This kind of text wouldn’t fit as a caption, but I realized alt-text opens up an expressive and interesting way to describe images. So I described the image objectively, and used that objective description to bring comedic effect.

A screenshot of the last alt text box. It says "The image is dark. Clearly Jayine's been working on this bed for hours. It sits in her empty, white-walled room with white and blue flowered sheets and a thin white blanket, all in the dark. Because she just moved in. She has no lights. But she made her bed in time to sleep through the nights. [End.]"
A screenshot of the last alt text box.

Reflection Questions

What is the theme of the work?

  • The theme of the work is to show how alt-text can be much more than a caption, and therefore a great way to tell stories. I felt more restrained in creating the captions than creating the alt-text, which shows how there is freedom in using alt-text. It can be used in any way the author wants, and it adds so much more to the image.

How is that theme particularly expressed through the modality of the week?

  • It’s expressed through this alt-text because in my captions, including my feelings or any descriptions didn’t feel right, and it wasn’t a way I wanted to caption these images. However, in the alt-text, I wanted to tell a story. I wanted to describe the image objectively, but then also wanted to give context. I wanted to do more with the alt-text than the captions for some reason, and I realize that reason is that writing alt-text feels much more freeing for the author.

Which elements of the work are beautifully/wonderfully/perfectly expressed through the modality?

  • I think the authors subjective feelings are wonderfully expressed through alt-text. Using the alt-text objectively allows the author to provide more context, which then allows for any kind of story. Including the authors subjective feelings in the captions didn’t feel right to me, even though I technically could have done that. Maybe it’s because my experience with reading captions makes me think that captions must be short and objective. So, all of my subjective feelings and storytelling showed through in the alt-text before I even realized.

Which elements are lost or inexpressible through the modality of the week?

  • Exact details are lost in this modality, as I didn’t want to include them in the captions nor the alt-text. Some details are lost and can only be interpreted if you can see the image, such as the light colored hardwood floors, or the thickness of the bedframe, or angle of the images taken.

Who does this project exclude? Who would not be able to interact with this work? Who is this modality *not* accessible for?

  • This modality wouldn’t be accessible for those who aren’t tech-savvy, or for DeafBlind people. The use of a screen reader requires setup and a device, so people who don’t have access to that or the knowledge would not be able to interact with this comic. Some DeafBlind people cannot hear a screenreader or read the screen, so they wouldn’t be able to interact with the comic on a screen.

Now that you’ve identified who is excluded, what is one way you could remix this piece to include another population? (You don’t have to make this part, but think about it and write about it).

  • Maybe for those who have no access to a screen reader or device, you could print out the comic with the captions and images visible, but print the alt-text behind the images, so that you’d have to flip the image to read the alt-text. It’s like you can’t see it initially (just like alt-text), but if you do an action, you can access it.

Additional Modality (if applicable) 

What modality did you apply? 

How did you decide on this modality?

What does the beholder gain from this additional modality? Why? 

Does the beholder lose anything from this modality? What? 

Show documentation of this modality, and describe it if it’s not accessible on a screen (ie, if it’s tactile if it’s a scent)