Comprehensibility is one of the most important aspects of accessibility. Language and images can explain things well – or create hurdles. Especially for people with learning difficulties, poor language skills or cognitive impairments, it is important to make content simple and clear.
Easy-to-read language is a tried and tested method. It follows fixed rules, uses simple words and short sentences. But language alone is often not enough. This is where easy-to-read images come into play. They support the text, make it easier to understand and help to avoid misunderstandings.
But what makes an image “easy”? Are pictograms or icons automatically understandable? And how do you combine images with language in a meaningful way? This article provides an overview of easy-to-read language and shows how to use easy-to-read images in a targeted way to make information accessible to everyone.
Easy-to-read language – a brief overview
Easy-to-read language helps many people to understand texts better. It was developed especially for people with learning difficulties. But it also benefits people who cannot read very well or have a different native language.
In English it is known as “Learning English” or formerly as “Special English”. Both versions follow similar rules:
- Sentences are short.
- Words are simple and familiar.
- Foreign words are avoided or explained.
- Texts are well structured with many paragraphs.
Pictures often help to make the content even clearer. Simple symbols or drawings can explain difficult concepts. Easy-to-read language and pictures therefore complement each other well.
But easy-to-read language is not just “less text”. It has to be well thought out so that everyone can understand it. That’s why there are tests with people from the target group who evaluate texts. This ensures that the language really is easy.
Easy-to-read images – what does that mean?
Easy-to-read images help people to understand information more quickly and easily. They are particularly important for people who have difficulties with text. An easy-to-read image can support an explanation or even replace an entire sentence.
But not every picture is easy to understand. Photos or complicated illustrations can have too many details and be confusing. Symbols or pictograms are not always clear either. For example, a symbol for “doctor” could show a red cross or a stethoscope – but not everyone recognizes this immediately.
Accessible images are clear, simple and direct. They only show the most important things and often have a neutral background and few colors. This keeps the focus on the actual information.
But what exactly do those images look like? Let’s take a look at that.
Clear, simple motifs
An easy-to-read image shows only the most important things. Everything unnecessary is left out. As a result, the message of the picture is understood more quickly.
✅ Good example: A simple drawing of a telephone to illustrate the word “call”. The picture only shows the handset or a cell phone symbol.
❌ Bad example: A photo of a person talking on the phone. Here, the facial expression, clothing or background could be distracting. Some people might ask themselves: Who is this person? Why are they on the phone? Such additional information makes it difficult to understand.
Strong contrasts and clear shapes
Pictures should be clearly visible to as many people as possible. Clear lines, basic shapes and strong color contrasts help with this. This is particularly important for people with poor eyesight or color vision problems.
✅ Good example: A dark umbrella on a light background. The shape is immediately recognizable.
❌ Bad example: A blue umbrella against a dark blue sky. This makes the umbrella difficult to recognize.
Universal comprehensibility
All images should be understood by as many people as possible – no matter what language they speak or what culture they grew up in.
✅ Good example: a smiling face for “happy” or an open door for “entrance”. Such symbols are understandable worldwide.
❌ Bad example: A hat as a symbol for a police officer. Police uniforms look different in every country. Such a symbol could be unrecognized or misunderstood in some cultures. Colors also have different meanings around the world.
Where can you find easy-to-read pictures?
Once the plan has been made to publish your own texts in easy-to-read language and supplement them with easy-to-read images, the question quickly arises as to where to get the images from. Creating them quickly yourself is rarely a good idea, as there are many hurdles along the way. A lot of experience in working with those affected is required for a picture to be truly understood.
Hire professional illustrators
The advantage of professional illustrators is that they can create customized illustrations and symbols that match the style and color scheme of your website. They not only pay attention to comprehensibility, but also to the context and the target group. This results in consistent, high-quality and customized illustrations that are often clearer than standardized pictures. Such customized images are an excellent choice, especially for extensive projects or official documents.
Image databases
There are a number of databases that offer easy-to-read images or icons. These can be used either free of charge or for a fee, depending on the budget and requirements of the project. Here is a small selection.
Lebenshilfe Breme
The picture dictionary from the German Lebenshilfe Bremen offers an extensive collection of symbols and pictures that have been specially developed for easy language. These images are particularly well suited to presenting everyday terms or social topics in an understandable way. They are primarily used in social institutions, in inclusion work and in the education sector. Anyone looking for simple, clear explanations is in good hands here.
https://shop.lebenshilfe-bremen.de/produkt-kategorie/alle-bilder/ (in German)
OpenMoji
OpenMoji is an open collection of emojis and symbols that can be used for easy-to-read language. The collection is license-free, which makes it particularly attractive for anyone looking for simple symbols to use in their projects at no additional cost. OpenMoji offers many easily recognizable symbols that are well suited to visualize basic information.
Metacom
Metacom offers a very large collection of symbols developed for accessible communication and support for people with cognitive disabilities. These symbols are often used in schools, workshops and institutions that work with people with learning disabilities or other disabilities. Metacom’s collection is particularly extensive and covers a wide range of topics, from everyday activities to specialized terms in the field of healthcare. There is a license fee for use, but the quality and wide selection make Metacom a recommended resource for more professional projects.
https://www.metacom-symbole.de/metacom_en.html
AI-generated pictures
And what about AI? Artificial intelligence has made enormous progress in recent years and is increasingly being used to create images. There are now countless AI tools that can generate images based on text descriptions. However, there are some challenges when using AI to create accessible images.
While AI generates images quickly, it is not yet always able to understand the complexity of easy-to-read language. This means that AI-generated images often lack the necessary clarity and simplicity that is important for people with learning difficulties or cognitive impairments. In addition, AI often does not take into account cultural or regional differences, which can be important when choosing images. Training data often has a very American and ableist bias. In addition, many AI-generated images are not technically perfect, which can lead to them being more confusing than helpful.
Despite these challenges, AI offers some advantages, particularly in the rapid creation of simple illustrations. However, anyone working with AI should always check the images critically and edit them if necessary to ensure that they are really understandable for the target group.
Conclusion
Easy-to-read images are a valuable addition to easy-to-read language to make information more understandable and accessible for everyone. In particular, they help people with learning difficulties or cognitive impairments to better understand the content. The most important characteristics of easy-to-read images are clarity, simplicity and a universal design that takes cultural differences into account. Both professional illustrators and image databases can be helpful sources. AI-generated pictures offer quick solutions, but often require careful consideration to ensure they are truly understandable. Overall, it is crucial that images and text are well aligned to ensure accessibility and improve communication for all.
