How to Make Your Social Media Accessible
As a digital marketer, ensuring your content reaches a diverse audience is essential. Making accessibility a central part of your content planning not only benefits people with specific needs but also enhances the experience for all users. Here’s how to make your social media content accessible.
What is Accessibility?
Accessibility means ensuring your content is sensible, meaningful, and usable for as many people as possible. Consider these questions: Will people with visual impairments get the same information as fully sighted users? Will people with neurodiverse needs understand your message? Accessibility is about catering to all users, not just a minority. Design and develop your creative assets (text, images, videos) to be accessible, allowing everyone, regardless of abilities or disabilities, to engage effectively. Follow established guidelines like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to make your content more accessible. For more tips, check our accessibility guidelines and podcast on digital accessibility.
Why is Accessibility Important?
Accessibility is crucial for several reasons: Benefits Everyone: Broadens the potential audience and enhances user experience for all. Improves SEO: Search engines favor content that follows best practices for usability. Compliance: Helps businesses meet legal requirements, reducing the risk of lawsuits. Enhances Brand Reputation: Builds a positive brand image, fosters customer loyalty, and promotes an equitable digital environment. Promotes Inclusivity: Ensures equal access to information and services, demonstrating respect for all users.
Issues to Consider
When developing an accessibility plan, consider users with visual and auditory impairments, mobility impairments, and neurodivergent users. Visual and Auditory Impairments: According to WHO, 2.2 billion people worldwide have some form of vision impairment. Use alt text and screen readers to make content accessible. Neurodiversity: Recognize alternative thinking styles such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, and ADHD.
What is an Accessible Social Media Post?
Effective accessible posts: Have clear line spacing. Use short, concise paragraphs. Place hashtags at the end. Include descriptive links (not just ‘click here’). Limit emojis and mentions to avoid distraction.
Best Practices for Accessible Social Media Posts
Use Clear, Readable Fonts: Avoid over-formatting text, as it can be distracting and unreadable by screen readers. Choose easy-to-read fonts for images and video captions. Use Appropriate Color Patterns: Don’t rely on color to convey information. Use high-contrast color combinations for readability. Provide Image Descriptions and Alt Text: Add concise alt text to describe visual details. Include text from images in the description. Avoid using emojis, links, and hashtags in alt text. Provide Captions and Audio Descriptions for Videos: Add captions for spoken words, tone, emotions, and background sounds. Use audio descriptions to explain on-screen actions and expressions. Making social media content accessible ensures everyone can engage with your posts effectively, promoting inclusivity and enhancing user experience. Follow these guidelines to create content that reaches and resonates with a broader audience.