New Easy Read clients are often not sure about the best type of image to use for their Easy Read documents - here's our super short common sense guide to Easy Read images.

At Easy Read Documents HQ we often use Photosymbols, the "industry standard" for UK Easy Read documents.

For easy reading and heightened accessibility stock photos, or well-taken and well-composed photos work equally as well.

A local photo of a landmark, project or person will help the reader to relate more closely to the subject and is often preferable to a generic or stock photo which may only vaguely resemble the object, person or place being described in the text.

Often a combination of PhotoSymbols, stock photos and local photos can work well. Depending on the number of local photos provided Photosymbols images can be used to plug the gaps or bolster the images for the entire document where only a small selection are provided.

There really aren't any hard and fast rules for Easy Read images, but here are a few rules of thumb:

The subject in the photo should be clear and the image crisp and traditionally composed (no kooky angles or Expressionistic lighting, this is not an art project!)
The image can be easily recognised by the audience at a relatively small size (say 300 x 300 pixels)
White or high contrast backgrounds (like the PhotoSymbol image on the right) are preferable
High resolution photos are ideal, as this allows you to crop an image and retain clarity.

Got any other ideas or suggestions about Easy Read images? Email us at findouthow@ic-works.co.uk