We as humans tend to shy away from discussing ethnicity, race, gender, disability, and age for fear that we would misjudge and use the wrong language. Remember, that whether you want to or not, you can immediately see these characteristics when you look at a photo. This is information that people with print disabilities should get as well so that readers can make their own interpretations.

In order to be objective, we suggest using the following terminology to describe skin tone:

• Light Skin Tone
• Medium-Light Skin Tone
• Medium Skin Tone
• Medium-Dark Skin Tone
• Dark Skin Tone

This is the same system that is used to label emojis with different skin tones. You can also use terms such as Black, White, Asian, Middle Eastern, etc. but only if it can be determined in the surrounding text.

You can identify the subject as male or female, man or woman, only if it can be clearly identified. Try to describe the physical characteristics and avoid using the terms “masculine” or “feminine” since it is more interpretive than descriptive. There is a delicate balance to strike between inclusive language and robust description; do your best, and ask for opinions from others if you need to.

Avoid describing age by prescribing a number or the decade because someone could appear young, but actually is in their fifties. Instead, use terms such as:

• baby
• toddler
• teen
• adult
• middle aged
• young
• old, etc.