Social media & digital accessibility: what to consider?
Social media is an important part of many companies' communication strategy. Social media is used to entertain, inform, entice or activate people. We already wrote about the possibilities of digital accessibility on social media. You can do this to make your communication even more social and inclusive.
Not everyone uses social media in the same way
Social media allows everyone to create and share their own content. But not everyone can participate equally on social media. For example, if you are blind or visually impaired, you might miss that last fun meme. The daily chat at the coffee machine will then be very different for you. The responsibility for creating accessible content lies largely with the creators: the users of social media.
You can post texts and share images. And video is also very popular on social media. Before you know it, you go viral on TikTok, get huge likes on your Facebook post or a whole discussion starts under your LinkedIn post. That is great, of course! So make sure everyone can "see" your fun creations.
Reach more people with accessible social media
About 25% of the Dutch population lacks basic digital skills. They have trouble seeing your cute pictures, for example. Or they have trouble listening to your videos.
People with disabilities are also using social media. An increasing number of older people are using social media: by 2022, the number will rise to 2.8 million over-65s. They use social media for around 82 minutes a day.
So the number of people who need accessible content is also growing. By making your social media accessible and inclusive, you reach more people. As a company or organisation, you thereby engage more people in your communications.
Five tips to make your social media content accessible
Most social media platforms already have options for posting your content in a more accessible way. But you have to do something to do this yourself. The following five tips will help you make your social media accessible.
1. Place text alternatives to images
Some people have difficulty seeing or understanding images. For example, due to an eye condition or illness. Pictures can also be too difficult: they contain too many details or too much information. Or maybe they are just too vague, making it hard to understand what is meant.
With a text alternative, you provide a short description of the image. You have several options for placing text alternatives:
Write an alt text
Most social media these days have the ability to add text alt text to an image. This can be done, for example, on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. This text alternative will then appear in the "code" next to your image.Describe your image in your post
More and more often, you see people putting a description of an image at the end of their post. This is fine, but it can also "pollute" your post a bit. Your communication loses some of its power.Describe your image in the first comment
You can also give a description of your image in the first comment under a post. Many people will read that first comment. So you can also put other relevant information here that you might not have wanted to put in your post.
Our advice is to always use the "real" alt text for images you add in the "code". After all, this functionality is there for a reason.
Example of adding a text alternative to images on LinkedIn.
Tips on how to properly describe your image
There is no point in adding an incredibly detailed description to every image. You really don't need to describe every detail either. That adds nothing. Here are a few tips on how to properly describe your images on social media:
Is a picture really just "for fun"? Then your image is decorative. So an alt text is not necessary.
Tell only the most important thing about your image. So this is good: "A child hugs a service dog." So this is less good: "The picture shows a woman with a service dog. The woman is wearing blue floral trousers. She is wearing black, half-open shoes. She is wearing a white blouse with a turquoise cardigan. The assistance dog has floppy ears and is wearing a red harness. A little boy hugs the assistance dog. The boy is wearing beige shorts, red and black trainers and grey socks. He is wearing a yellow and grey jumper and dark brown hair. You cannot see the boy's face, which is behind the assistance dog's head. They are standing on a dirt track. In the background, we see a green bush and flowers. We also see something of a building in the distance."
Don't make your text alternative too long. Do you need more words? Then your text alternative is probably not good or your image is too difficult. In that case, put the core of your message in your message as well.
2. Add subtitles to videos
Not everyone can hear videos, for example because they are hard of hearing or deaf. On social media, many videos are also played without sound. You might have "secretly" watched some videos on Facebook at the office. Therefore, add subtitles to your social videos.
Design for playback without sound: people choose to watch videos without sound in many situations, such as in public places. Use text and images and add subtitles where possible.
Videos are of course super fun, but not everyone enjoys watching videos. Therefore, in your post, always tell the most important information from the video as well. Sometimes you can also add a short text alternative to videos.
3. Keep your posts concise
You only have a second to get attention on social media. Many people quickly scroll through their timeline. Therefore, be concise in your communication. Place important information at the beginning. Break up longer posts into shorter paragraphs. This helps people who have trouble concentrating or reading. Too much information at once can also trigger feelings of stress or anxiety in people.
Meme of "Mister Basket", broadcaster Maxim - VPRO.
4. Don't use too many emojis
Emojis are small pictures, for example of a smiley, a heart or a flag. They are fun to use in your communications, especially on social media. They are not language-specific and they can add a lot of personality and fun to your messages.
Most icons also have a text alternative. This text alternative is read aloud by screen readers. If you use a lot of emojis, this can be annoying. Also, not all text alternatives make sense to everyone. Here are a few examples of how Voice-Over on Apple pronounces emojis:
š = face with heart-shaped eyes
šŖ = muscles
ā¤ļø = red heart
š¤Ŗ = squinty and grinning face with tongue sticking out
š¤ = face with a zip like mouth
Tips for emojis on social media
Do you use emojis in your text: no problem. The following tips will help you:
Don't place emojis in the middle of a sentence or word
This can be annoying for users of pre-reading software because it interrupts the normal sentence.Place emojis that are clear to everyone
Some unfamiliar emojis also have very weird text alternatives. They may not be very clear to everyone.Use emoji to complement your text
Don't just put a random emoji anywhere. Use them to complement your text, then they will also be less irritating.Don't use emoji's to replace words
Visually, it might be clear what you mean, but it won't be for everyone.Don't repeat emoji's too often
Too many emoji's in a row can be irritating for some users, especially if you fill your whole post with tig red hearts.
5. Make hashtags more readable
Hashtags are used to increase reach. You quickly link your post to other posts that use the same hashtag. It also allows you to add some branding to your post.
Often hashtags consist of several words, for example #InclusiveDesign or #DigitalAccessibility. By starting each word with a capital letter, hashtags are easier to read by all users.
Bonus tip: do not use "cute" fonts
Sometimes you see those crazy fonts on Facebook and even on LinkedIn. You use them to stand out: in fact, with such a special font, you stand out more among all the other posts. Sometimes it is done only in the first sentence, sometimes even the whole article. On LinkedIn, you even see people writing their name or job title with such a special font.
Unfortunately, reading software cannot read these special fonts. Or it will be read out completely wrong. Also, your message will not be found as well. Search engines also have trouble with these types of fonts.
To show what happens, we made a recording of how this kind of text is read aloud by VoiceOver on Apple. We recorded the text "A text in a crazy font looks nice, but can't be read by everyone." had a font generator convert it to all kinds of weird fonts. In the video, you can see and hear how VoiceOver tries to read this up.
Irritating right? So don't use these kinds of tools.
Marrit from Woordprikkels wrote a very comprehensive blog about her experience as a visually impaired person with these kinds of crazy fonts and social media. In her article "Keeping texts on social media accessible for the visually impaired", you can also read other useful tips.
Make your social media self-accessible
With our five tips for accessible social media, you can easily improve your social media strategy. You will reach more people and your social media will be more fun for everyone. Even for people without disabilities.
Get more practical tips for making your content accessible in our training for web administrators. Or follow our training for accessible video to improve your videos. This training is also very interesting for social media managers, influencers and marketers.
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