“So What? What's That to Do With Me?” Expectations of People With Visual Impairments for Image Descriptions in Their Personal Photo Activities

Abstract

People with visual impairments (PVI) access photos through image descriptions. Thus far, research has studied what PVI expect in these descriptions mostly regarding functional purposes (e.g., identifying an object) and when engaging with online, publicly available images. Extending this research, we interviewed 30 PVI to understand their expectations for image descriptions when viewing, taking, searching, and reminiscing with personal photos on their own devices. We show how their expectations varied across photo activities and often went well beyond identifying objects in photos. Based on our findings, we propose design opportunities for generating and providing image descriptions for personal photo use by PVI. The design opportunities for PVI also point to novel support for the sighted for using image descriptions to enrich their experience of photos.

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