Visual Layout Analysis

The automated process of examining the spatial arrangement and visual properties of elements within a document to infer meaningful structural relationships between them. In accessibility contexts, visual layout analysis is used to automatically generate metadata about how objects relate to each other — such as containment, proximity-based grouping, and directional connections via arrows — enabling screen readers and alternative interfaces to convey document structure that is otherwise only perceivable visually. This technique is particularly important for making presentation slides and diagrams accessible to blind users.