Images of Text

Digital text is essential for accessibility because it can be read, resized, and repurposed by assistive technologies, whereas images of text lock information into a rigid visual format. When text is flattened into an image, it becomes completely invisible to screen readers and impossible for users to customize to their visual needs.

Why Using Digital Text Is Important

• Screen Reader Compatibility: Assistive technologies can instantly read digital text aloud or convert it to a Braille display. Assistive technologies cannot read images of text and therefore can create a poor user experience for long passages.
• Lossless Zooming: Digital text stays perfectly crisp when a user zooms in up to 400%. Images of text can pixelate and blur when enlarged, making them unreadable for users with low vision.
• Reflow and Responsiveness: Digital text automatically wraps to fit smaller screens or magnified views. Text within an image gets cut off, forcing users to scroll horizontally back and forth to read a single sentence.
• User Customization: People with dyslexia, low vision, or cognitive disabilities often use browser extensions to change fonts, increase letter spacing, or switch to high-contrast color schemes. Images of text cannot be adjusted for these needs.
• Searchability and Translation: Digital text can be instantly searched using "Find" shortcuts and converted into other languages via automated translation tools.

How to Convert Images of Text to Digital Text

To convert an image of text to digital text, you can use optical character recognition (OCR) software. OCR software uses a computer algorithm to convert images of text into digital text. Google Drive and Microsoft OneNote provide free built-in OCR tools.

Because OCR conversion is conducted by software, the converted text may not be 100% accurate. It is important after using OCR to check over your content and fix any errors resulting from the conversion. If you need to edit the text in a PDF, make sure you have Adobe Acrobat installed.

Example of an Image That Has Text

If you try to zoom in (CTRL + for PCs or Command + for Macs), the text will become blurry and pixelated.  A screenreader cannot read this text to the user.

Example of Digital Text

The following text is typed onto the webpage.  When you try to zoom in, notice the text will grow or shrink without losing quality.  Screenreaders can read this to the user.

It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times.