17. Check and Publish Visual Work Accessibly

Confident with AI course contents

Part Four: Create Visual Media

Define finished, check proportionately and publish an equivalent accessible experience.

Estimated time: 10 minutes. Last reviewed: 11 August 2026.

What you need to know

This page stands alone. No previous AI knowledge is required. You need access to an AI assistant only for the activity.

Learning outcome: By the end, you will choose and write the accessible alternative appropriate to one visual work.

The lesson

Accessibility is part of the work, not an apology added after it.

Check spelling, identity, continuity, composition and essential meaning before publication.

Choose alt text, an extended description, captions, a transcript or audio description according to purpose.

Quality checks by medium

• Still image: subject, prominence, embedded text, anatomy, mood and unwanted symbolism.
• Comic: reading order, character continuity, dialogue ownership, spelling and contradictions.
• Video: movement, continuity, spoken wording, audio, captions and visually essential information.
• Branding: name, logo, colours, symbols, unintended associations and audience expectations.

Write for the work’s purpose

Concise alt text should communicate the image’s purpose and essential information without repeating nearby text. Use an extended description when detail, relationships or a visual story cannot fit concisely. Time-based work may need captions, a transcript and audio description because these serve different access needs.

Do not overclaim checking

Record which checks were actually performed. A model description is evidence, not a visual guarantee. If no screen-reader, intended-audience or professional design review took place, do not imply that it did.

Try it

Write alt text for one finished image. If concise text cannot carry its purpose and essential detail, add an extended description. For a video, also identify whether captions, transcript or audio description are needed.

Checkpoint

A person who cannot see the work receives its purpose and essential information without redundant filler.

• Previous: 16. Create Animation and Video
• Course contents
• Next: Models, Open Weights and the Changing Frontier

About this course

Confident with AI was created by Charli-Jo Tyrer in association with the Technology Association of Visually Impaired People (TAVIP).

Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.