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. It is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media. Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be "read" and that meaning can be discovered through a process of reading. It is a concept that relates to art and design but it also has much wider applications. Visual media is a linguistic tool with which we communicate, exchange ideas, and navigate our complex world.

The term “visual literacy” was first used in 1969 by John Debes, the founder of the International Visual Literacy Association, who defined it as “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. The development of these competencies is fundamental to normal human learning. When developed, they enable a visually literate person to discriminate and interpret the visible actions, objects, symbols, natural or man-made, that he encounters in his environment” .

Visual literacy is not just restricted to art history and film studies, it is important for everyone. Maps can show geographical information much better than a verbal or textual description. Charts and graphs can clearly describe the growth or decline of population, financial performance of a company, etc. Cartoons can sum up a viewpoint or opinion. Visual literacy, and the skills associated with it, can aid learning in all areas of the curriculum.

Examples of visual literacy skills include the ability to determine the nature and extent of the visual materials needed, find and access needed images and visual media effectively and efficiently, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of visual representations, and use them to create and communicate knowledge, or to devise new ways of representing insights. A visually literate individual is both a critical consumer of visual media and a competent contributor to a body of shared knowledge and culture.