ADA-compliant websites have been around for a while, but what about your social media? Over time, the major social media platforms have taken steps in the right direction by adding accessibility features. Learning the ins and outs of these new updates can be daunting, so our content specialists are here to help you make sense of them and provide your followers with the best possible user experience.
What Does It Mean for Your Social Media to Be Accessible?
What’s the point of your social media channel? We’re betting it’s to share updates and information about your business, organization, or group with as many people as possible. Social media accessibility helps you do that.
Your followers are a diverse group of individuals, and your approach to social media content should reflect that.
Aligning your content with current standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and 2.2, isn’t just a “nice thing to do.” It genuinely opens the door for people with different visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor disabilities to interact with your brand.
Why Does It Matter?
When your social media is accessible to everyone, you can connect with your entire potential audience.
When you consider that 1 in 4 adults in the United States has a disability, the need to incorporate accessible design into your social media strategy becomes a lot clearer.
Something else to consider is that accessible design usually benefits everyone. A prime example of this is video captioning. This feature is essential for individuals with hearing impairments, but it’s also helpful for viewers who simply have their sound off. Not only is this a win-win situation for your audience, but it doesn’t take much extra effort on your part.
Additionally, there’s now a legal layer to this conversation. The Department of Justice now requires many public entities to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA across web content and mobile apps. That’s a shift that’s reshaping what “accessible” is expected to look like on social media, too.
How Can You Make Your Social Media More Accessible?
Here are some of the best ways to start making your social media content accessible to more people:
Text
Before clicking that “publish” button, take a moment to make sure your text is clear and accessible. How will assistive tools, like a screen reader, read your words aloud? If someone is learning English as a second language, will they be able to understand it easily?
- Avoid slang or overly technical language when possible. It can be hard for non-native English speakers to understand.
- Don’t use all caps. Screen readers have a hard time reading it, and followers might think you’re screaming at them. Just don’t do it.
- Go light on the emojis and put them at the end. Emojis are read aloud by screen readers and can be distracting from the rest of your content.
- Keep sentences short and direct. Break up long captions with line breaks so they’re easy to scan instead of a wall of text.
- Use specific link text. Instead of saying “Click here,” tell people what to expect when they tap.
- Use hashtags correctly. We saved this one for last because it’s so important! When you’re using multi-word hashtags, be sure to use “camel case.” Again, this helps screen readers pronounce everything correctly. (Think: #SocialMedia instead of #socialmedia)
Videos
As we mentioned earlier, video captions benefit your entire audience. But they can also help with searchability and SEO. Here are more ways to make your videos accessible:
- Proofread. Yes, we’re saying it again. Social media platforms will sometimes provide auto-generated captions, but they’re usually far from accurate.
- Descriptive transcripts. Go beyond just the dialogue of a video. It should read much like a script and include descriptions of what is visually happening in the video.
- Keep it simple. Don’t put too much text on the screen at once and use a large font.
- Turn on auto captions. Edit them for accuracy, especially names and technical terms, before publishing.
Beyond that, use high-contrast text over your backgrounds, avoid flashing or rapid strobing effects, and if a video is visually intense, include a quick content or trigger warning.
Images
If you have any experience with websites, odds are you know at least a few things about alt text (text that describes what an image is or what it depicts). It’s an essential feature for individuals with visual impairments and even helps people experiencing connectivity issues. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn all have specific fields for you to add alt text. Here are some tips for using them correctly.
- Proofread. Sometimes alt-text fields auto-populate, but you need to review them for accuracy and clarity. If you want to go the extra mile, you can write your own, focusing on what’s really important.
- Give context. If you’re sharing something like a chart or infographic, be sure to explain what the image tells the viewer. Just saying “Image of a chart” isn’t helpful.
- Rewrite text. If the image or graphic includes any text, be sure to put that in the alt text description.
- Contrast. Images should have sufficient contrast to help people who are colorblind or have other visual impairments.
Not Sure Where to Start?
We know that redoing your social media strategy can be a hard thought to stomach. You’ve put a lot of effort into it, but we promise it’s worth it to expand your audience and make your channels accessible to everyone.
Still not sure you’re up to the challenge? We’re here to help if you need us!
