How to Make Your Social Media Content More Accessible

Do you want to reach more people on social media? Are you looking for a guide to make your social media content more inclusive and accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities? In this article, you’ll discover how to create accessible captions, videos, images, and ads for your social media content so you can market to more people.

Why marketers should prioritize accessible social media

Aside from the occasional inside joke or niche meme, it’s easy to assume that your audience can read, view, and understand your organization’s social media content. In reality, however, your content may inadvertently exclude part of your target audience.

According to the World Health Organization, about 1 in 6 people worldwide live with a disability. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control estimate that 1 in 4 people have some type of disability. Some of the most common disabilities involve cognition and vision, both of which affect how people perceive and process digital content, including social media.

To publish social media content your target audience can reliably interact with, it’s essential to prioritize accessibility. This way, your organization can reach the largest possible target audience, which can improve metrics ranging from engagement and traffic to leads and sales. In other words, accessible content can have a big impact on your bottom line.

In most cases, you can improve accessibility by adding just a few simple steps to your existing social media workflow. Use the tips below as a guide and consult with your legal team to devise an accessibility strategy that works for your organization.

#1: How to write inclusive captions for social media

How easy is it for potential customers to read your social media captions? Use the guidelines below to write captions your audience can read with or without assistive devices.

Choose accessibility-friendly fonts

If you want your social media content to stand out in the feed, you may have considered options like using custom fonts in your post captions. While special fonts can certainly catch attention, they can be difficult for many people to read.

Because these font types are generally made up of special characters instead of standard letters, assistive devices like screen readers can’t process them correctly. This means your headings or entire captions might not be readable for screen reader users.

When in doubt, avoid copying and pasting special fonts from external websites or apps. Instead, only use in-app fonts. If you’re writing a long caption and want certain elements to stand out, consider adding line breaks to make it easier to read.

When aiming for inclusivity, keep in mind that it’s also best to avoid non-standard capitalization. For example, avoid writing words in all caps unless they begin a sentence or are proper nouns.

Simplify hashtags

From brand and campaign hashtags to contextual and location-based terms, hashtags can add value to your social media content. If you typically use short, single-word hashtags, they should be easy to read for both people and assistive devices.

But if your hashtags tend to be more complex and include multiple words, screen readers might not be able to identify where one word ends and another begins. As a result, they may not read the hashtags correctly.

To make hashtags accessible, avoid creating one long lowercase tag. Instead, capitalize each word as in the example below. This tactic will not only help a screen reader decipher the hashtags, but can also help you avoid misunderstood hashtags.

Keep in mind that when you enter hashtags on platforms like Meta Business Suite or the Instagram app, you may see an autocomplete prompt that converts your hashtag into a long lowercase term. Avoid using autocomplete and type in the hashtag manually.

Use emojis to enhance, not replace, words

Emojis can also add context to your social media captions and help them stand out in the feed. But if you use emojis instead of words or fail to add proper spacing, your audience may not understand your captions.

First, try to use emojis as additions to your captions rather than as replacements for words. To make your social media captions more inclusive, avoid interspersing emojis throughout the copy or using them as bullet points in lists. Instead, place them at the end of the caption, where they won’t confuse readers or assistive technology.

Want to include a string of two or more emojis at the end of a post? Make sure to leave a space between each emoji rather than placing them one after the other, as in the example below. Leaving spaces creates greater clarity for followers using assistive devices.

Thinking of replacing emojis with symbols or emoticons? As long as you follow the guidelines above, emojis are better for accessibility. Emojis have defined meanings that screen readers can interpret. In contrast, assistive devices read emoticons as symbols (like “semicolon”) without added meaning, which can confuse your audience.

#2: How to make social media images more accessible

Can potential customers understand the photos, memes, or graphics your team shares on social media? By following the basics below, you can design and share more inclusive creatives.

Apply alternative text

Whenever you post photos, graphics, and GIFs on social media, the platform automatically generates a description of the image. Followers who use screen readers rely on these descriptions to understand your images.

In some cases, the automatically generated description may be fine. But it’s always in your best interest to customize the description with alternative text. When you add descriptive alt text to your social media posts, you get more control over what people take away from your content.

To write effective alt text, explain what the image shows in the most concise way possible. Include details only if they are relevant to the main meaning of the image, and avoid adding non-essential information.

When posting organic content on social media, you typically have two options for adding alt text. Let’s look at how to add in-app alt text and how to write image descriptions in captions.

In-app alternative text

Most major social media platforms support alternative text for image posts, with options for adding alt text either on desktop or in the mobile app. In some cases, you’ll see an option to add or edit alt text on the posting screen. In other cases, you’ll need to open the image editing panel to access the alt text tool. For example, you can access alt text in Business Suite by uploading an image and clicking the pencil icon. In the editing panel, select Alt Text and write a brief description.

If you need to add alt text to a page upgraded to the New Pages experience, you can use a similar workflow in the Facebook app. Create a new post, upload an image, and click the three dots to open the edit menu, tap Edit Alt Text, and write your alt text.

In the Instagram app, the workflow is slightly different. Create a new image post and select Advanced Settings on the posting screen. Then tap Write alt text and enter a short description.

When you add an image to a tweet, you’ll see an ALT button appear directly on the image. You can tap to add unique alt text to each image in the Twitter app or on desktop. Twitter also supports alt text for GIFs, whether you upload them individually or in multimedia tweets with images and videos.

Image Description Alt-Text

Using native platform tools to add alt text is often the simplest and most effective way to make your social media content more accessible. But in some cases, using in-app tools might not fit into your workflow, especially if you use third-party tools to schedule or publish social media posts.

If you can’t add alt text to your posts, include image descriptions in the captions instead. Insert the description at the end of the caption, preceded by “Image” or “Image description.” Then add the same description you would have put in the alt text field.

Consider Color Contrast

If you design social media graphics for your organization, you can take extra steps to make your creatives more inclusive. When placing text on photos or graphics, add a solid background behind the text overlay to make the text easier to read.

When choosing text and background colors, aim for the highest contrast possible. Although black text on a white background creates maximum contrast, it’s not your only option. If you prefer to use your brand colors, for example, use a color contrast checker to confirm that thecontrast ratio is at least 4.5 to 1 which is the standard for accessible digital content.

#3: How to Improve Accessibility in Social Media Videos

For short videos without extended dialogue, a brief video description may be sufficient. But for longer videos with dialogue or complex narration, captions and transcripts are helpful for accessibility.

Video Captions

Most social media platforms automatically add captions to video content so users can experience it without sound or with assistive devices. However, auto-captions are prone to errors, which can make your content harder to understand or even introduce inaccuracies.

Whenever possible, create custom video captions or edit the automated version before publishing. As a video sharing platform, YouTube has the most advanced captioning system. When you upload a video to YouTube Studio, you can upload an SRT file or enter captions directly in the dashboard. You can also use the automatic sync feature to upload a transcript.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter let you upload captions manually but generally only on desktop. To add captions to a Facebook video, create a new post in Business Suite. On the Optimize screen, select the Captions box. Then click to view the settings.

You can upload an SRT file with accurate captions or choose automatic generation. If you choose automatic generation, review the captions before they become available to viewers.

The process for adding captions to a LinkedIn video is similar. Create a new video post, then scroll down to see optimization options. Then upload your SRT file or enable automatically generated captions. You can review the captions before publishing them in the video.

But note that the options tend to be more limited if you upload long-form videos or standard video posts from a mobile device. In most cases, you can’t upload an SRT file but you can edit the automatically generated captions.

If your team creates short-form videos, it’s important to know that this type of content usually has its own built-in captioning tools. For example, you can add captions to a short Facebook video by tapping the CC button in the editing menu.

In the Instagram app, you can add captions to reels by selecting the captions sticker. After the app automatically generates the captions, you can tap to fix any errors or change the font or color.

Video Transcripts

In many cases, it’s also helpful to transcribe the videos you create for social media. By providing a transcript, you give followers another way to understand the content, even if they don’t watch the video.

On most platforms, you can add transcripts directly in the video description. For longer videos, consider publishing the transcript on your organization’s website and linking to these notes in the video description.

#4: How to Create More Accessible Social Ads

While the copy tips above certainly carry over into ads (for example, avoid custom fonts and use emojis carefully), making paid social creatives accessible can be tricky. To run more inclusive ad campaigns, you’ll need to make some adjustments to your workflow.

Image Descriptions

Whenever possible, use the built-in alt text feature when setting up paid social campaigns. For example, LinkedIn Campaign Manager provides an Alt Text tool at the ad level. Upload your creative, then enter up to 300 characters of alt text. Use the approach below to keep your alt text concise.

However, platforms like Twitter Ads Manager and Meta Ads Manager do not support alt text for images. Instead of relying on the platform to automatically generate an accurate description of your ad creative, consider including your own in the ad.

Use the same approach you would for organic images. Add a description to the end of the caption, preceded by “Image” or “Image description.” Then write a brief explanation of the image.

Video Captions

Fortunately, most ad platforms have built-in captioning tools to improve video accessibility. But you may need to dig to find them.

When you upload a video for a Twitter ad, for example, you can’t add or edit captions directly in Twitter Ads Manager. Instead, you can edit the creative and adjust captions in your Twitter Media Library. Plan to upload an SRT file to ensure your Twitter ad has accurate captions.

When advertising on Facebook and Instagram, you can access caption settings directly in Meta Ads Manager. Upload a video creative, select the Edit video button, and go to Subtitles option. Then upload an SRT file directly in Ads Manager.

Note that Google Ads does not allow edting directly in the Asset Library. To add captions to a YouTube video—long or short—go to YouTube Studio to make changes. Any captions you add in YouTube Studio will automatically apply when you use the video in a YouTube ad.

Conclusion

Publishing accessible content on social media can help your organization connect with the broadest possible audience, which in turn can lead to better engagement, more traffic, and higher sales. With the ideas above, you can develop an accessible workflow that aligns with your organization’s goals.

Source Socialmediaexaminer