Below is a lightly edited version of a talk I gave on accessible memes for low vision. A better way to open this might be with a talk box and the sentence “once upon a time, not too long ago.”
When I talk to classmates from middle school and high school, I am often surprised to find out that more people remember me as being a huge fan of Bon Jovi than they remember me as having low vision. This isn’t to say that no one noticed that I had trouble seeing (since I often received large print materials and bumped into things), but my love for Bon Jovi and talking about their music was far more memorable.
I discovered this when I noticed several friends had sent me a link to a meme going around that was inspired by the lyrics to the Bon Jovi song “Livin’ on a Prayer,” which everyone knew was my favorite song. However, when I first encountered this meme, I had absolutely no idea what I was looking at or why someone would send this. Something that should have been a fun opportunity to reminisce was prefaced with me trying to figure out what was going on and sharing the importance of accessible memes for low vision.
In an effort to increase awareness about accessible memes and the importance of high quality alt text and image descriptions, here is a story about my experience trying to make sense of “lemon on a pear” as someone with low vision who primarily accesses information visually, and how I finally figured out the joke.
What I see when looking at memes
While this isn’t an exact simulation of what my vision looks like, here is an example of what the “lemon on a pear” meme would look like to someone that experiences double vision and blurry vision like I do, and how this image would look when positioned 18-24 inches from my face on a computer screen. This does not account for other characteristics that impact my level of usable vision, such as:
- Sensitivity to bright lights and the screen brightness on my device
- The angle of the device display- phone and tablet displays can be tilted or held at an angle
- The use of filters on the image, which can impact image clarity
- Varying image resolutions across platforms, or if an image has been compressed
- The visually cluttered layout of social media with lots of buttons and icons
It’s also worth noting that the accompanying text each time I saw this meme was slightly different, and this is just one version of it.
Related links
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- Two of Everything: Living With Double Vision
- Using PicsArt To Simulate Low Vision
- Learning To Explain Usable Vision
- How I Take Math Tests With Double Vision
First impression: did you do this?
The first time someone sent me the “lemon on a pear” meme, it was accompanied by the caption “halfway there.” When I looked at this image posted without alt text, I saw a low resolution green blob leaning against a yellow blob. I thought it was a picture of balloons, and that the caption was related to someone being halfway done with something they were working on. I shared that the photo looked great, and asked if they were planning on adding more colors to the picture, and if they would consider making the background less gray. Understandably, this was met with confusion.
Related links
- How To Write Alt Text For Amateur Art
- Tips For Creating Art For Visually Impaired Friends
- How I Talk About Disability With New Friends
- Using PicsArt To Simulate Low Vision
- Choosing Device Wallpapers and Backgrounds With Low Vision
Second impression: why is this surprising?
The second time someone sent me this meme, it was accompanied by the caption “whoah”, and the same picture that I had seen on the other post. This post had alt text that said “an artistic image of a green pear positioned next to a lemon with the peel intact on a white background.” With the accompanying caption “whoah,” I figured there was something especially interesting about this photo, either because of who took the photo, the camera used to capture it, or because there was some deeper meaning. I still haven’t processed that this was supposed to be anything but a fruit picture, and asked the person who sent it to me who took this picture or how they did it. Again, met with confusion.
Related links
Third impression: halfway there (to getting the joke)
When I encountered this meme for the third time, it was with the caption “we’re halfway there, whoah”, followed by alt text that said “a pear against a lemon, still life.” I still thought it was someone working on their art, but laughed because this was now the third time I had seen this picture, so I figured it had to be funny somehow and I just wasn’t getting it!
Fourth impression: I guess I’m not a fan
I’ve now seen this image four times in the span of three days with different captions, and this next one was sent to me with the caption “only real Bon Jovi fans know.” The accompanying alt text said the image was “fruit.” I sent a screenshot of just the photo to my friend and said “I keep seeing this image. Did someone from Bon Jovi make it or something?” Without the caption, my friend said they had no idea what I was talking about. I jokingly told myself I must not be a fan of the band.
Fifth impression: a completely different image
A different friend sends me a link to a meme with the caption, “whoah, we’re halfway there, whoah”, followed by a picture with the alt text “lipstick wearing bear.” With the accompanying song lyrics, I realize that “lipstick wearing bear” sounds kind of similar to “livin’ on a prayer”, though it would have been much funnier if the alt text said “lipstick on a bear” like the song, since this is how the person who posted it expected audiences to read/recognize the image. Honestly, I’m happy at this point that it seems more people are talking about Bon Jovi.
Related links
Sixth impression: lemon on a pear!
It has now been almost a week since I saw the first version of this picture, and this is the first time I got the joke. One of my friends sent me a screenshot of the picture with the caption “whoah, we’re halfway there, whoah,” and wrote their own alt text/image description describing the image as “lemon on a pear.” Hey, that sounds like “livin’ on a prayer!” I finally understood what the joke was, and why people had been sending it to me.
As an honorary mention, here are some other versions of alt text for the “lemon on a pear” meme that my friends found on social media websites and suggested I include in this post:
- Tommy and Gina
- Bon Jovi fruits
- The lyrics to the song “Livin’ on a Prayer,” copy and pasted into the alt text box
- YouTube link to the music video
- Orange and an apple
- A recent headline about Jon Bon Jovi
Related links
Lessons on accessible memes for low vision
While some creators may argue “it doesn’t make a difference if we make it (accessible) or not,” sharing accessible memes for low vision and blind users can make a huge difference in not only improving the user experience of the app, but also providing clarity and context that can help audiences be part of conversations about memes and connect socially with others. I felt a bit self-conscious about the fact I didn’t understand this joke due to visual impairment, and had no idea how to say something like “thank you for sending this to me, can you tell me what it says and why you sent it?” Here are a few takeaways on making memes accessible for low vision users like me, based on my experience:
Give away the punchline
Alt text for memes should include the punchline of a joke. I didn’t process that “pear against a lemon” could potentially be “lemon on a pear”, the latter of which was how the user was expected to interpret the image. Specifying that it is a reference to a Bon Jovi song in the alt text wasn’t necessary.
Highlight key visual elements
Some pictures may require more or less description than others. If I was viewing this picture in an art museum, I would like to know that it was a photograph, but in the context of a meme it doesn’t really have much significance. This picture could have a completely different lemon and pear and the joke would still work— the fact it is specifically a photo has nothing to do with it.
Add alt text and/or image descriptions
A lot of my confusion originated from the fact I was looking at a low resolution photo with baseline double vision and blurry vision, something that can be even more noticeable/distracting at night, which is when I was often looking at these images. Having alt text and/or image descriptions in a place where they can be easily located gave me the opportunity to view this content in an accessible format, and participate in a conversation about the content my friends had shared.
Alt text badges on images and image descriptions being included in captions also makes it easier for my friends to share accessible content with me, even if they do not personally use assistive technology. Alt text badges “expose” alt text so anyone can read them regardless of if they have a screen reader enabled, and are commonly found on text-based platforms like BlueSky, X, and Mastodon.
Audio narration can also serve as an accessibility tool
After telling the “lemon on a pear” story, one of my friends sent me a short video they had found where the chorus of the song plays, and then cuts to audio of someone singing “Squidward on a chair” to the tune of “Livin’ on a Prayer.” While I don’t browse much short-form video content because I am sensitive to strobe and flashing lights, this highlighted another possibility for accessible memes through audio narrated images and video description.
Avoid specialty characters and/or emoji
An honorary mention for meme accessibility goes to another time I encountered this meme with alt text that contained what I presume was the lemon and pear emoji, but instead read “U1F34B on a U1F350,” which I have to admit isn’t as catchy as the original. While emoji included in image descriptions can be recognized by screen readers, they can be challenging to recognize visually or may not render correctly, so I recommend avoiding things like decorative text and emoji when writing alt text or image descriptions.
Related links
- How To Write Alt Text For Amateur Art
- How To Add Alt Text On Social Media
- Creating Audio Narrated Images For Low Vision
- How To Write Video Descriptions For TikTok
- Emoji and Low Vision
- How To Make Accessible ASCII Art and Emoji Memes
More resources on accessible memes for low vision
- How To Write Alt Text For Memes
- Seven Myths About Alt Text
- How To Write Alt Text For Gifs
- How To Make Your Instagram Feed Accessible For Visual Impairment
Published October 31, 2023. Updated December 2024