Navigating Permissions, Preparing Captions, and Writing Alt-text: Critical Components for Publishing with Images

Date and Location TBA, Spring 2025

This seminar provides an overview of critical components authors are responsible for when publishing with images. Notably, it will offer a timely discussion of new requirements to prepare alt-text for images in books or articles that will be made available in digital formats, including e-books, according to an EU rule coming into force in Summer 2025. The seminar will offer:

  • An overview of fair use, copyright, and permissions for publishing with images, whether your own photographs or from museums, books, and other sources
  • An introduction to constructing effective image captions
  • Guidance on new requirements regarding alt-text for images and practical advice on how to write quality alt-text
  • Workflows and tools for managing and tracking these components
  • Discussion of strategies for cultivating a citational practice and mobilizing the critical role captions, alt-text, permissions, and acknowledgement play in your project

With brief case study presentations by, tentatively:

  • Jessica Landau, Assistant Instructional Professor, Committee on Environment, Geography, and Urbanization
  • Ellen Larson, Associate Director, Center for the Art of East Asia, University of Chicago
  • Benjamin Saltzman, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Chicago