feb12b.indd


February 2012  97 C&RL News

The importance of images and visual media 
in contemporary culture is changing what 
it means to be literate in the 21st century. 
Today’s society is highly visual, and visual 
imagery is no longer supplemental to other 
forms of information. New digital technolo-
gies have made it possible for almost anyone 
to create and share visual media. Yet the 
pervasiveness of images and visual media 
does not necessarily mean that individuals 
are able to critically view, use, and produce 
visual content. Individuals must develop 
these essential skills in order to engage ca-
pably in a visually oriented society. Visual 
literacy empowers individuals to participate 
fully in a visual culture.

Visual literacy defined
Visual literacy is a set of abilities that enables 
an individual to effectively find, interpret, 
evaluate, use, and create images and visual 
media. Visual literacy skills equip a learner 
to understand and analyze the contextual, 
cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and 
technical components involved in the 
production and use of visual materials. A 
visually literate individual is both a critical 
consumer of visual media and a competent 
contributor to a body of shared knowledge 
and culture.

In an interdisciplinary, higher education 
environment, a visually literate individual 
is able to:

• determine the nature and extent of the 
visual materials needed,

• find and access needed images and 
visual media effectively and efficiently,

• interpret and analyze the meanings of 
images and visual media,

• evaluate images and their sources,
• use images and visual media effectively,
• design and create meaningful images 

and visual media, and
• understand many of the ethical, legal, 

social, and economic issues surrounding the 
creation and use of images and visual media, 
and access and use visual materials ethically.

Visual literacy and higher education
Across disciplines, students engage with 
images and visual materials throughout 
the course of their education. Although 
students are expected to understand, use, 
and create images in academic work, they 
are not always prepared to do so. Scholarly 
work with images requires research, inter-
pretation, analysis, and evaluation skills 
specific to visual materials. These abilities 
cannot be taken for granted and need to 
be taught, supported, and integrated into 
the curriculum. 

Notably, some K–12 and higher education 
standards include visual literacy as one of 
several key literacies needed for success in 
contemporary society.1 Many discussions of 
transliteracy, metaliteracy, and multimodal 
literacy also include visual literacy among 
the literacies important for today’s learners. 
A diverse body of literature on visual literacy 
and visual studies also exists. Yet standards 
outlining student learning outcomes around 

Visual literacy competency standards 
for higher education
Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, October 2011

by the Visual Literacy Standards Task Force

ACRL standards and guidelines



C&RL News February 2012  98

interdisciplinary visual literacy in higher 
education have not been articulated. The 
“Visual Literacy Competency Standards for 
Higher Education” addresses this gap in the 
literature and provides tools for educators 
seeking to pursue visual literacy with college 
and university students.

The “Visual Literacy Competency Stan-
dards for Higher Education” establish an 
intellectual framework and structure to 
facilitate the development of skills and com-
petencies required for students to engage 
with images in an academic environment, 
and critically use and produce visual media 
throughout their professional lives. The 
standards articulate observable learning 
outcomes that can be taught and assessed, 
supporting efforts to develop measurable 
improvements in student visual literacy. In 
addition to providing tools for educators 
across disciplines, the standards offer a 
common language for discussing student 
use of visual materials in academic work 
and beyond.

Visual literacy and information 
literacy
The “Visual Literacy Standards” were de-
veloped in the context of the “Information 
Literacy Competency Standards for Higher 
Education,” and are intended to comple-
ment the “Information Literacy Standards.” 
The “Visual Literacy Standards” address 
some of the unique issues presented by 
visual materials. Images often function as 
information, but they are also aesthetic 
and creative objects that require additional 
levels of interpretation and analysis. Finding 
visual materials in text-based environments 
requires specific types of research skills. 
The use, sharing, and reproduction of visual 
materials also raise particular ethical and 
legal considerations. The standards address 
these distinct characteristics of images and 
visual media and challenge students to de-
velop a combination of abilities related to 
information literacy, visual communication, 
interpretation, and technology and digital 
media use.

Implementation and use of the 
standards
The standards may be used as a whole, 
or in part, depending on curricular needs 
and overall learning goals of a program 
or institution. A visual studies course or a 
year-long series of courses involving visual 
materials may be an appropriate context 
for full implementation of the standards. In 
other circumstances, the individual standards 
may be more useful as stand-alone tools for 
teaching and assessing specific sets of learn-
ing outcomes. Depending on the assignment 
or project, it is possible that two or three of 
the standards would be applicable and use-
ful, but the remaining standards would not 
be relevant. Implementation of the standards 
may also vary across disciplines, depending 
on how visual materials are used in that dis-
cipline. Individual disciplines may choose to 
articulate additional discipline-specific visual 
literacy learning outcomes. 

The standards follow a linear structure, 
but it is understood that student informa-
tion behavior is iterative.2 Students may 
search, interpret, and evaluate simultane-
ously. Appropriate learning outcomes may 
be employed as needed, and visual literacy 
learning may not necessarily follow a pro-
gression from Standard 1 to Standard 7.

Visual literacy education is typically a 
collaborative endeavor, involving faculty, 
librarians, curators, archivists, visual re-
sources professionals, and learning tech-
nologists. Integrating visual literacy into the 
curriculum requires partnerships and shared 
implementation strategies across academic 
departments and units. Libraries play an 
important role in this process by selecting 
and providing quality image resources, 
developing research and subject guides for 
images, teaching image research strategies, 
and raising awareness of the ethical use of 
visual media. Libraries are also established 
partners in working with students to develop 
the critical thinking and evaluation skills 
essential to participation in visual culture.

The accessibility of visual materials and 
the needs of differently abled individuals, 



February 2012  99 C&RL News

including visually impaired students, is an 
important consideration in visual literacy 
instruction and standards implementation. 
Adaptive or assistive technologies, such as 
audio descriptions of visual materials or 
multimodal access to visual media, could 
be components of an accessibility strategy 
for visual materials.

Standards development process
The “Visual Literacy Competency Standards” 
were collaboratively written by the members 
of the Visual Literacy Standards Task Force 
(VLTF), using the “Information Literacy 
Competency Standards” as a foundational 
document. In March 2010, the ACRL Informa-
tion Literacy Standards Committee gave sup-
port to the ACRL Image Resources Interest 
Group’s (IRIG) proposal to develop “Visual 
Literacy Competency Standards.” The Visual 
Literacy Standards Task Force reviewed the 
visual literacy and standards literature and 
developed a public bibliography in Zotero; 
appointed an Advisory Group comprised of 
librarians, technologists, curators, and ad-
ministrators; created a blog for communica-
tion and community engagement; conducted 
open meetings and discussion groups; and 
engaged in outreach with multiple organiza-
tions. The first public draft of the standards 
was distributed in February 2011.

Notes
1. Two of these standards are “Standards 

for the 21st-Century Learner,” “American 
Association of School Librarians,” 2007, 
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/
guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/
AASL_LearningStandards.pdf; and “NCTE 
Framework for 21st Century Curriculum 
and Assessment,” National Council of 
Teachers of English, 2008, www.ncte.org 
/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Positions 
/Framework_21stCent_Curr_Assessment.pdf.

2. Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisen-
berg, Truth be Told: How College Students 
Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital 
Age. Project Information Literacy, Infor-
mation School, University of Washington, 

2010. projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2010 
_Survey_FullReport1.pdf.  

Standards, performance indicators, 
and learning outcomes

Standard One. The visually literate stu-
dent determines the nature and extent 
of the visual materials needed.

Performance Indicators:

1. The visually literate student defines and 
articulates the need for an image.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Defines the purpose of the image with-

in the project (e.g., illustration, evidence, 
primary source, focus of analysis, critique, 
commentary).

b. Defines the scope (e.g., reach, audience) 
and environment (e.g., academic environment, 
open Web) of the planned image use. 

c. Articulates criteria that need to be met 
by the image (e.g., subject, pictorial content, 
color, resolution, specific item).

d. Identifies key concepts and terms that 
describe the needed image. 

e. Identifies discipline-specific conven-
tions for image use.

2. The visually literate student identifies a va-
riety of image sources, materials, and types.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Explores image sources to increase fa-

miliarity with available images and generate 
ideas for relevant image content.

b. Investigates the scope, content, and 
potential usefulness of a range of image 
sources and formats (e.g., digital, print, 
subscription databases, open Web, books 
or articles, repositories, personal creations).

c. Identifies different image and visual 
media types and materials (e.g., paintings, 
prints, photographs, born-digital images, 
data models).

d. Articulates ways images can be used 
to communicate data and information (e.g., 



C&RL News February 2012  100

charts, graphs, maps, diagrams, models, 
renderings, elevations).

e. Recognizes that existing images can 
be modified or repurposed to produce new 
visual content.

Standard Two. The visually literate 
student finds and accesses needed im-
ages and visual media effectively and 
efficiently.

Performance Indicators:

1. The visually literate student selects the most 
appropriate sources and retrieval systems for 
finding and accessing needed images and 
visual media.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Identifies interdisciplinary and disci-

pline-specific image sources. 
b. Articulates the advantages and disad-

vantages of various types of image sources 
and retrieval systems.

c. Recognizes how the image search 
process is affected by image rights and use 
restrictions.

d. Uses specialized online or in-person 
services to select image sources (e.g., online 
research guides, image and reference librar-
ians, curators, archivists, disciplinary experts).

e. Selects the most appropriate image 
sources for the current project.

2. The visually literate student conducts ef-
fective image searches.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Develops a search strategy appropriate 

to the image need and aligned with avail-
able resources. 

b. Recognizes the role of textual informa-
tion in providing access to image content, 
and identifies types of textual information 
and metadata typically associated with images 
(e.g., captions or other descriptions, personal 
or user-generated tags, creator information, 
repository names, title keywords, descriptions 
of visual content). 

c. Recognizes that images are often orga-
nized differently than text-based information 
and that this affects the way images can be 
accessed (e.g., absence of full-text search, 
variations in controlled vocabularies, lack of 
subject terms).

d. Identifies keywords, synonyms, and 
related terms for the image needed, and 
maps those terms to the vocabulary used in 
the image source. 

e. Uses images to find other images 
through exploration, social linking, visual 
search engines, or browsing.

f. Performs image and topical research 
concurrently, with each informing the 
other in an iterative resource-gathering 
process.

g. Assesses the quality, quantity, and ap-
propriateness of images retrieved, and revises 
the search strategy as necessary.

3. The visually literate student acquires and 
organizes images and source information. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Retrieves or reproduces the needed 

image using appropriate technologies or 
systems (e.g., download functions, copy and 
paste, scanning, cameras).

b. Accesses physical objects as needed to 
support the image research objective (e.g., 
site visits to archives, repositories, museums, 
galleries, libraries).

c. Organizes images and the information 
that accompanies them for personal retrieval, 
reuse, and scholarly citation. 

Standard Three. The visually literate 
student interprets and analyzes the 
meanings of images and visual media.

Performance Indicators:

1. The visually literate student identifies in-
formation relevant to an image’s meaning.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Looks carefully at an image and ob-

serves content and physical details.



February 2012  101 C&RL News

b. Reads captions, metadata, and accom-
panying text to learn about an image.

c. Identifies the subject of an image.
d. Examines the relationships of images 

to each other and uses related images to 
inform interpretation. 

e. Recognizes when more information 
about an image is needed, develops ques-
tions for further research, and conducts ad-
ditional research as appropriate. 

2. The visually literate student situates an 
image in its cultural, social, and historical 
contexts.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Describes cultural and historical factors 

relevant to the production of an image (e.g., 
time period, geography, economic condi-
tions, political structures, social practices).

b. Examines the purposes and meanings 
of an image in its original context.

c. Explores choices made in the pro-
duction of an image to construct meaning 
or influence interpretation (e.g., framing, 
composition, included or excluded elements, 
staging).

d. Describes the intended audience for 
an image. 

e. Explores representations of gender, 
ethnicity, and other cultural or social identi-
fiers in images.

f. Investigates how the audience, context, 
and interpretation of an image may have 
changed over time. 

3. The visually literate student identifies the 
physical, technical, and design components 
of an image.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Describes pictorial, graphic, and aes-

thetic elements of an image (e.g., color, 
composition, line, shape, contrast, repeti-
tion, style).

b. Identifies techniques, technologies, or 
materials used in the production of an image.

c. Determines whether an image is an 
original or a reproduction.

d. Examines an image for signs of editing, 
alteration, or manipulation (e.g., cropping, 
color correction, image enhancements).

4. The visually literate student validates in-
terpretation and analysis of images through 
discourse with others. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Participates in classroom and other 

discussions about images. 
b. Seeks expert and scholarly opinion 

about images, including information and 
analysis found in reference sources and 
scholarly publications.

c. Informs analysis with discipline-specif-
ic perspectives and approaches.

Standard Four. The visually literate stu-
dent evaluates images and their sources.

Performance Indicators: 

1. The visually literate student evaluates the 
effectiveness and reliability of images as 
visual communications.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Evaluates how effectively an image 

achieves a specific purpose.
b. Assesses the appropriateness and impact 

of the visual message for the intended audience.
c. Critiques persuasive or manipulative 

strategies that may have been used in image 
production to influence interpretation.

d. Evaluates the use of visual signs, symbols, 
and conventions to convey meaning.

e. Analyzes the effect of image editing or 
manipulation on the meaning and reliability 
of the image.

f. Determines the accuracy and reliability of 
graphical representations of data (e.g., charts, 
graphs, data models).

g. Evaluates images using disciplinary cri-
teria.

2. The visually literate student evaluates 
the aesthetic and technical characteristics 
of images.



C&RL News February 2012  102

Learning Outcomes:
a. Evaluates the aesthetic and design 

characteristics of images (e.g., use of color, 
composition, line, shape, contrast, repeti-
tion, style).

b. Evaluates the technical characteristics 
of images (e.g., resolution, size, clarity, file 
format).

c. Evaluates the quality of image repro-
ductions, based on indicators such as color 
accuracy, resolution, manipulation levels, and 
comparison to other reproductions. 

3. The visually literate student evaluates 
textual information accompanying images.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Evaluates information that accompa-

nies images for accuracy, reliability, cur-
rency, and completeness. 

b. Uses observation of visual content to 
evaluate textual information.

c. Verifies information that accompanies 
images by consulting multiple sources and 
conducting research as necessary.

4. The visually literate student makes judg-
ments about the reliability and accuracy of 
image sources. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Assesses reliability and accuracy of 

image sources based on evaluations of au-
thority, and point of view or bias. 

b. Makes judgments about image sources 
based on evaluations of image and informa-
tion quality.

c. Critiques how an image source may 
create a new context for an image and 
thereby change its meaning.

Standard Five. The visually literate 
student uses images and visual media 
effectively.

Performance Indicators:

1. The visually literate student uses images 
effectively for different purposes.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Plans for strategic use of images and 

visual media within a project.
b. Selects appropriate images and visu-

al media aligned with a project’s purpose.
c. Integrates images into projects pur-

posefully, considering meaning, aesthetic 
criteria, visual impact, and audience. 

d. Uses images for a variety of pur-
poses (e.g., as illustrations, evidence, 
visual models, primary sources, focus of 
analysis).

e. Uses images for subject-specific and 
interdisciplinary research, communication, 
and learning.

2. The visually literate student uses tech-
nology effectively to work with images.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Uses appropriate editing, presenta-

tion, communication, storage, and media 
tools and applications to prepare and 
work with images.

b. Determines image file format, size, 
and resolution requirements for a project, 
and converts images accordingly.

c. Edits images as appropriate for qual-
ity, layout, and display (e.g., cropping, 
color, contrast).

3. The visually literate student uses prob-
lem solving, creativity, and experimenta-
tion to incorporate images into scholarly 
projects.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Experiments with different ways of 

integrating images into academic work.
b. Uses visual thinking skills to clarify 

and solve problems.

4. The visually literate student communi-
cates effectively with and about images. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Writes clearly about images for differ-

ent purposes (e.g., description, analysis, 
evaluation).



February 2012  103 C&RL News

b. Presents images effectively, con-
sidering meaning, aesthetic criteria, visual 
impact, rhetorical impact, and audience. 

c. Discusses images critically with other 
individuals, expressing ideas, conveying 
meaning, and validating arguments. 

d. Includes textual information as needed 
to convey an image’s meaning (e.g., using 
captions, referencing figures in a text, incor-
porating keys or legends).

e. Reflects on the effectiveness of own 
visual communications and use of images.

Standard Six. The visually literate stu-
dent designs and creates meaningful 
images and visual media. 

Performance Indicators:

1. The visually literate student produces 
visual materials for a range of projects and 
scholarly uses. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Creates images and visual media to 

represent and communicate concepts, nar-
ratives, and arguments (e.g., concept maps, 
presentations, storyboards, posters).

b. Constructs accurate and appropri-
ate graphic representations of data and 
information (e.g., charts, maps, graphs, 
models).

c. Produces images and visual media for 
a defined audience.

d. Aligns visual content with the overall 
purpose of project. 

2. The visually literate student uses design 
strategies and creativity in image and visual 
media production. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Plans visual style and design in relation 

to project goals.
b. Uses aesthetic and design choices 

deliberately to enhance effective communi-
cation and convey meaning.

c. Uses creativity to incorporate existing 
image content into new visual products.

3. The visually literate student uses a variety 
of tools and technologies to produce images 
and visual media.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Experiments with image-production 

tools and technologies.
b. Identifies the best tools and technolo-

gies for creating the visual product.
c. Develops proficiency with a range of 

tools and technologies for creating images 
and visual media.

4. The visually literate student evaluates 
personally created visual products. 

Learning Outcomes:
a. Evaluates personally created visual 

products based on project goals.
b. Evaluates personally created visual 

products based on disciplinary criteria and 
conventions. 

c. Reflects on the role of personally 
created visual products as a meaningful 
contribution to research, learning, or com-
munication.

d. Validates personally created visual 
products through discourse with others.

e. Revises personally created visual prod-
ucts based on evaluation.

Standard Seven. The visually literate 
student understands many of the ethical, 
legal, social, and economic issues sur-
rounding the creation and use of images 
and visual media, and accesses and uses 
visual materials ethically.

Performance Indicators:

1. The visually literate student understands 
many of the ethical, legal, social, and eco-
nomic issues surrounding images and visual 
media.

Learning Outcomes:    
a. Develops familiarity with concepts and 

issues of intellectual property, copyright, 
and fair use as they apply to image content.



C&RL News February 2012  104

b. Develops familiarity with typical li-
cense restrictions prescribing appropriate 
image use.

c. Recognizes one’s own intellectual 
property rights as an image creator.

d. Identifi es issues of privacy, ethics, and 
safety involved with creating, using, and 
sharing  images.

e. Explores issues surrounding image 
censorship.

2. The visually literate student follows ethi-
cal and legal best practices when accessing, 
using, and creating images.

Learning Outcomes:
a. Identifi es institutional (e.g., museums, 

educational institutions) policies on access 
to image resources, and follows legal and 
ethical best practices.

b. Tracks copyright and use restrictions 
when images are reproduced, altered, con-
verted to different formats, or disseminated 
to new contexts.

c. States rights and attribution informa-
tion when disseminating personally created 
images.

3. The visually literate student cites images 
and visual media in papers, presentations, 
and projects.

Learning Outcomes: 
a. Gives attribution to image creators in 

citations and credit statements to acknowl-
edge authorship and author rights.

b. Includes source information in cita-
tions and credit statements so visual materi-
als can be reliably found and accessed by 
other scholars and researchers.

c. Cites visual materials using an appro-
priate documentation style.  

Appendix 1: Sources and bibliography
In preparing the standards, the taskforce 
consulted a broad range of literature on 
visual literacy, related literacies, and educa-
tion standards. The complete bibliography 
consulted is publicly available in the ACRL/
IRIG Visual Literacy Bibliography in Zotero 
(http://www.zotero.org/groups/acrl_irig
_visual_literacy_bibliography).

Key sources
Bamford, Anne. The Visual Literacy White 

Paper. Adobe Systems Pty Ltd, Australia, 
2003. http://www.adobe.com/uk/education
/pdf/adobe_visual_literacy_paper.pdf.

Choi, Youngok. “Effects of Contextual 
Factors on Image Searching on the Web.” 
Journal of the American Society for Infor-
mation Science and Technology 61, no. 10 
(2010): 2011–2028.

Green, David. Using Digital Images in 
Teaching and Learning: Perspectives from 
Liberal Arts Institutions. Academic Com-
mons, 2006. http://www.academiccommons.
org/fi les/image-report.pdf.

“Information Literacy Competency Stan-
dards for Higher Education.” Association 
of College & Research Libraries, 2000. 
http://www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl
/standards/standards.pdf.

Nixon, Andrea Lisa, Heather Tompkins, 
and Paula Lackie. Curricular Uses of Vi-
sual Materials: A Mixed-Method Institutional 
Study. Carleton College, Dean of the Col-
lege Offi ce, 2008. http://apps.carleton.edu
/curricular/support/assets/CUVMFinal
.PDF. 

Visual Literacy Standards Task Force

Denise Hattwig, Chair
University of Washington

Joanna Burgess
Reed College

Kaila Bussert
Cornell University

Ann Medaille
University of Nevada, Reno