Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented as an image, extending the idea of literacy beyond the interpretation of written or printed text. It rests on the premise that a picture can be read in something like the way text is read, with meaning discovered through a deliberate process of visual interpretation rather than simply absorbed at a glance.
Facts
Core ClaimVisual literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences. 1 FAQs
Who is credited with coining the term visual literacy?
Usually credited to John Debes in 1969.
The term is usually credited to John Debes, co-founder of the International Visual Literacy Association. In 1969 he offered a tentative definition: visual literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences. Earlier uses of the term are documented from the late 1930s to the early 1960s, and because many disciplines use the term, a common definition has been contested since it first appeared in professional publications.
Sources
1. Visual literacy (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationModern visual literacy section, Debes 1969 definition
Visual literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences.
Modern visual literacy section, John Debes attribution
the term it is usually credited to John Debes, co-founder of the International Visual Literacy Association. In 1969 Debes offered a tentative definition of the concept
Lead paragraph, education-level
Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy, which commonly signifies interpretation of a written or printed text.
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