Accessible Social Media
On this page:
If you are in charge of creating social media posts for your organisation you should follow some of these best practice tips below.
Write hashtags in Title Case
Screen readers have a hard time reading all lowercase hashtags. Use title case instead.
#canyoureadthis – This isn’t very legible.
#CANYOUREADTHIS – This isn’t very legible either (and can appear aggressive).
#CanYouReadThis – This is the best option.
Include image descriptions
Image descriptions are necessary for blind people to experience images using a screen reader. Write a concise and descriptive summary that describes the essentials and add it to the alt text. If that’s not available, use the caption or comment feature instead.
If there are too many words in your image to transcribe, consider using a non-image format instead.
Acessibility info in an event description
If your organisation is having an event it is important to note and include accessibility info in the description. Even if your event isn’t accessible, it’s important be upfront about it to avoid people showing up at your door, only to realise they can’t enter or go to certain parts of the space. Include the following:
- Is the entrance wheelchair accessible? If not, how many steps?
- Are the bathrooms wheelchair accessible? Are they gender binary or neutral? Single-stall or multi-stall?
- Will there be any smoke, scents, or flashing lights?
- Will there be any captions and/or ASL interpreters?
- Will food be served and what kind? (to account for allergies and preferences)
Don’t use too many emojis
Use emojis sparingly, don’t overuse them. Screen reader software will read out every single one. This can make the overall message confusing to these users if there are too many.
Don’t do this: Remember 👏 to 👏 make 👏 your 👏 content 👏 accessible 👏
Do this: Remember to make your content accessible 👏
Resources: Adapted from Alex Chen’s Pocket guide for inclusive social media.
