Assessing Visual Literacy in the Consumers of New Technologies: A Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Since the appearance of the term visual literacy in the second half of the 20th century, many authors have spoken of visual competencies. These competencies are acquired through the use of visual language and an understanding that the use of human and cultural capabilities makes people free to create and interpret messages. Furthermore, since the incorporation of new technologies, any prosumer (producer and consumer) can generate visual communication. This research develops and validates a questionnaire proposal to observe visual literacy in users of new technologies to analyze the state of literacy of image prosumers. This questionnaire is composed of 61 items that are related to habits in the reception, consumption, and production of images; the capacities of perception and visual interpretation; and the cultural aspects of the people who use images as a communicative vehicle. The purpose of this proposal is to facilitate the analysis of common characteristics that explain the moment in which people live from the point of view of visual communication and the cultural differences that are related to this field.