Check image descriptions in converted illustrated books
A useful image description explains the information the reader needs. Check captions, relationships and essential values in context, then test how the reader exposes them.
On this page
Separate decorative images from useful figures
- Distinguish decorative images from information-bearing figures.
- Read captions without looking at the picture.
- Check whether essential relationships are explained.
- Test the description in the reading app and screen reader.
Describe the information the image contributes
A decorative flourish may need no spoken interruption, while a chart or diagram often needs more than a short subject label. Identify the figure’s purpose in its paragraph: teaching a structure, comparing values or showing a process. For a process diagram, describe the steps and connections; for a chart, provide key trends and important values in words or a suitable table. Check the description without looking at the picture. If the learning task remains impossible, the description needs more context. Test how the final reading app exposes that information to assistive technology.
Describe the information in the actual research figure
Figure 1 in the published fish-reproduction paper combines three plot panels. A useful description should identify each panel’s subject, the variables and the relationship the surrounding prose asks the reader to interpret. Read the original caption and visible labels before judging the EPUB description. The reviewed EPUBTurn copy retains the plot images but clips lower axis labels in two panels, so those details need the source page. Image retention and a short label such as Figure 1 do not establish an accessible chart. No spoken screen-reader test is claimed.
Image retention does not establish accessibility
Generated illustrations, retained images and EPUB validity do not prove accessibility. EPUBTurn does not guarantee automatic complete image descriptions. Complex images need contextual descriptions and actual assistive-technology testing.
Check the description in its context
An image description should explain the information relevant to the surrounding lesson, not catalogue every visible colour or decorative detail. For the actual research figure, the variables, panel relationships and legend symbols matter; decorative detail may not. For a chart, describe the comparison the paragraph relies on and provide important values where needed.
Read the paragraph, caption and description together without looking at the image. If the explanation repeats the caption but leaves the essential relationship unclear, improve it. Then test how the reader and screen reader expose the description. A good written description and a usable implementation are separate requirements. The guide offers inspection criteria, not a claim that generated images or converted books are automatically accessible.
Judge the description against an actual useful image
Use the NASA hardware sample to distinguish recognising labels from explaining the image. The six component names and Figure 2 caption survived, but those names alone do not describe every pictured component or connection a reader may need. Compare the paragraph’s purpose with the original and check the description exposed by your reading app. EPUBTurn’s retained picture gives you real material to inspect; no complete automatic-description or spoken accessibility result is claimed.
Open the actual source PDF · Download the saved EPUBTurn sample.
For your own document, create an EPUBTurn sample from your PDF, then use the reading checks described here.