Create Content for Everyone
Forward-focused organizations make sure their social media content is accessible and inclusive.
An estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability. This represents 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of people (Disability Key Facts).
Think about how your office/department/college uses social media to engage, outreach, or recruit. Now think about how your inaccessible social media content limits your reach and effectiveness on these platforms.
Why not create content accessible for all?
Accessible Social Media Top 3
- Clear alt text for every image
- Readable visual design for graphics
- Accessible multimedia (captions and transcripts)
What is Alt Text?
Alt text describes the content and purpose of an image for people who use screen readers. It serves as a written replacement for the image, helping users of assistive technology understand what the image shows and why it matters.
Best Practices:
- Every image in your social posts should have alt text. Why? It supports more inclusive engagement and helps reach a wider audience.
- Understand your image's purpose. Consider how the image adds meaning to your message then put that into words.
- Describe who is doing what and where. Keep your wording clear and informative, and avoid phrases like “image of” or “picture of,” since screen readers already identify images automatically.
- Keep it short and sweet. Many social media platforms limit character use. Long alt text creates a poor experience for those using screen readers.
Take a look at the image on the left and try writing alt text for it. Then click the tabs below to see how your description compares.
- Football team.
- Old Dominion football players in light blue uniforms burst onto the field through a cloud of smoke, led by a coach signaling ahead, as a packed crowd cheers from the stands above.
- College football players in light blue uniforms run onto the field through smoke as fans cheer in the stands.
Readable Graphics
Event flyers, posters, brochures, and data infographics are all images and require alt text that conveys all key information shown.
Because social media platforms have alt text limits, keep content focused and easy to describe. If the information cannot be clearly communicated within those limits, the design may not be suitable for social media.
Avoid:
- Overly complex or data-heavy visuals (infographics)
- QR codes as the only way to access information (users are already on their devices)
- Poor color contrast that reduces readability
Use a color contrast checker to ensure your design is accessible and easy to read on the web.
Memes
Humor helps capture attention on social media through a setup and a punchline, where the punchline creates a surprising twist. The challenge with memes and other humorous images is making them accessible while still preserving enough context for the joke to be understood.
Meme Alt Text Example:
Toddler clenching fist in victory with a smug face.
Overlaid text on top: “Arrives Home”
Overlaid text on bottom: “Music ends as you finish parking.”
A 2019 Carnegie Mellon University study resulted in researchers identifying five guidelines people should keep in mind when writing alt text in order to translate an image’s humor best:
- Explain the character’s actions
- Explain emotions
- Explain facial expressions
- Tell the source (such as TV or film)
- Describe anything distinct about the background
Humor helps capture attention on social media through a setup and a punchline, where the punchline creates a surprising twist. The challenge with memes and other humorous images is making them accessible while still preserving enough context for the joke to be understood.
Meme Alt Text Example:
Toddler clenching fist in victory with a smug face.
Overlaid text on top: “Arrives Home”
Overlaid text on bottom: “Music ends as you finish parking.”
A 2019 Carnegie Mellon University study resulted in researchers identifying five guidelines people should keep in mind when writing alt text in order to translate an image’s humor best:
- Explain the character’s actions
- Explain emotions
- Explain facial expressions
- Tell the source (such as TV or film)
- Describe anything distinct about the background
Why Captions & Transcripts
Captions are not just an accessibility tool for deaf and hard-of-hearing users. They’re widely used by hearing audiences as well for things like watching videos in noisy places, on mute, or to improve comprehension and focus.
Best practices:
- Add captions to videos so spoken content is readable
- Provide transcripts for audio or video content when possible
- Don't use third-party tools to post, you lose accessibility options
(Transcript available on YouTube platform)
Alt Text & Captions How-To
Check out the Facebook Help Center for accessibility features and information.
To instantly become more accessible on Instagram, don’t use the Stories feature for business purposes. There isn’t a way to add alt text, captions, or a descriptive audio track to give visually impaired users any idea of what you’re trying to communicate.
Twitter has greatly increased accessibility options—especially when posting images.
- Accessibility Features of X – includes links to help pages with instructions on how to add alt text to images, captions to videos, and more.
LinkedIn’s website and content perform OK from an accessibility standpoint, and their internal team has shown dedication to creating a more inclusive environment.