Space needs alt text too! Art shoutout to South Asia and Hawaiian healer stones (SBLTN Lab Notes 034)
Alt text for NASA images, Hawaiian healer stones, South Asia type and art, and Indigenous authors by genre
ACCESSIBILITY
The unexpected star of NASA’s Webb images — the alt text descriptions
NASA publicly shared stunning images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The team that produced the alternative text descriptions for those images works for the Space Telescope Science Institute out of Baltimore. They had spent the previous two years discussing accessibility and working with a consulting agency to create an alt text stylebook. Of course you know I had to ask about it and although it’s still a work in progress, they are looking for ways to share their learnings publicly.
Wondering what magic they made? Here’s the alt text for the above image:
The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively clear upper portion. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The smallest of these are small, distant, and faint points of light. The largest of these appear larger, closer, brighter, and more fully resolved with 8-point diffraction spikes. The upper portion of the image is blueish, and has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orangish cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The stars vary in color, the majority of which, have a blue or orange hue. The cloud-like structure of the nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys – an appearance very similar to a mountain range. Three long diffraction spikes from the top right edge of the image suggest the presence of a large star just out of view.
While there are guidelines for alt text, it’s still pretty open to the context of both what’s inside the image and where the image is placed. To combine science and functionality into something that’s also vivid and beautiful hopefully gives people something to aspire to. Accessibility doesn’t always mean sacrificing creativity.
“It’s clear that the NASA digital team put a lot of thought and care into how they described the Webb Telescope images, and their descriptions feel like a love letter to space exploration and the infinite marvels of the universe…Accessibility expands the world for everyone, making even distant stars attainable. It’s a beautiful thing indeed.” - Alexa Heinrich (source)
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Hidden in Plain Sight: The History of The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu in a Changing Waikīkī
If you’ve been around here for a while, you may remember when I shared about the term “māhū” - which is the Hawaiian third-gender identity. The animated short film Kapaemahu reveals the healing power of four mysterious stones on Waikiki Beach and the legendary dual male and female spirits within them.
The Bishop Museum, hosting an exhibit about the stones recently posted the first video of their speaker series. This video discusses the historical findings and artistic choices behind "The Healer Stones of Kapaemahu," including details about the first written version of the moʻolelo, its loss, its rediscovery deep in a library archive, and its restoration — all in the context of the rise of tourism, militarization, and the erosion of Hawaiian cultural identity throughout the 20th century.
You can add upcoming talks that will be on YouTube to your calendar!
The Past, Present, and Meaning of a Hawaiian Monument to Gender Diversity and Healing (September 2)
From Entertainment to Visibility and Respect: An Evening with Legends of The Glade Era and Contemporary Counterparts (October 14)
🎤 SHARE: Does your culture have nonbinary gender identities as well? Let me know!
ART & DESIGN
Time to drool over type design and art history straight from South Asia!
An exceptional type foundry book from Gujarat, India (1940) featuring English, Urdu, and Sanskrit typefaces and decorative elements.
🎤 SHARE: Fun fact: For years I wanted a tattoo in Sanskrit or Devanagari
Time to brush up on more than 10,000 years of Indian art history, thanks to this amazing open-source encyclopedia. My fave part was their “look a little closer” feature that displayed artwork with clickable areas that displayed fun facts!
Signing off from the Starship SBLTN,
Laneen (Pronouns: she/they)
HEARD IN THE HALLWAYS
Want to read books by indigenous authors but not sure where to start? This 2-part graphic offers some suggestions based on genre. Dive in!
(disclaimer: I haven't read these but let me know what you think of you peep some)
🎧 Listening: Aloha Aina Meds by Kuulei Music Ikaakamai
📖 Reading: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk