Defining Visual Texts and Visual Literacy
When you think of the word text, what do you think of? You might think of words in a book, on a Web site, or even a text message. The word text, however, is not necessarily confined to only words on a page or screen. The word roots for text are from Latin meaning "to weave." In fact, another word that comes from a similar root is textile, a fabric that is woven or knit (see "textile"). From this idea of a finished product that is woven together, we can conclude that a text draws from multiple sources, or to be more metaphorical, several fibers come together to create a fabric.
With that idea in mind, text, particularly over the last half of a century in philosophical and literary circles, has come to include visuals, such as photographs, graphs and charts, and video. Sometimes, they are referred to as visual texts, and just as words on a page are read and interpreted, so are these visuals. As Messaris and Moriarty (2005) point out, this interpretive skill has become the first component of what has come to be known as visual literacy, where "understanding visual images" is complemented by "the ability to create or use images as a means of expression or communication" (p. 482).
