Social Media Accessibility 101

Presentation Downloads

• Survival Guide to Screen Reading Apps (PDF)
• Your Awesome Guide to Amazing Alt Text (PDF)

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the ability for people with disabilities to use, obtain, and interact with information and resources with the same, or a relatively similar, ease of use.

Our aim should be “inclusivity,” not just “accessibility.” It’s not about creating a separate experience, but developing solutions for people of all abilities to access the world in the same manner.

Who is impacted by accessible social media content?

“VoiceOver has totally changed how I use social media and the web!” – Lindsay

“Everyone deserves the chance to enjoy and be inspired by content.” – Cruz

“If it looks complicated I probably will just skip it.” – Ben

Examples of Accessibility in Social Media

Alternative text descriptions

They let me Photoshop cool stuff at work sometimes. #StarWarsDay pic.twitter.com/TJuYQaLOH5

— Ashi ??‍? (@AshiDesigns) May 4, 2018

Alt text for the above image reads: A photo of a student studying in the UA Little Rock library next to some large windows. Outside, a scene of the desert planet Jakku from Star Wars can be seen where space ships are shooting at each other.

Stay warm & dry, Aggies!

Keep those rain boots and umbrellas handy this week. ☔️ #tamu pic.twitter.com/PEF1p3AUm4

— Texas A&M University (@TAMU) October 15, 2018

Alt text for the above image reads: Photo of Aggies walking on campus with umbrellas on a rainy day.

Put a penny on Sulley! ?⁣ ?: Langford⁣ ⁣ [photo descriptions: Sulley from Monsters Inc. in Langford with pennies around his feet and Sulley standing next to Mike Wazowski]

A post shared by Texas A&M University (@tamu) on Oct 9, 2018 at 5:48pm PDT

Happy Wednesday! Image description: a golden retriever guide dog puppy is being held up and looks straight into the camera. #iamgdb

A post shared by Guide Dogs for the Blind (@gdb_official) on Oct 3, 2018 at 2:55pm PDT

Will Ron launch another rocket during tomorrow’s Great Texas Shootout? Catch fall beep baseball on Facebook at 9AM CST. https://buff.ly/2yzjhzx #BombsAway #BoomGoesTheBeep #MuscleUp #ItsGooooooooone #Goodbye⠀ . ⠀ [Image description: Ron Jordan of the Tyler Tigers unloads on a pitch.]

A post shared by National Beep Baseball Assoc (@nbba76) on Oct 12, 2018 at 7:28pm PDT

And that’s a strike! Reveille IX helped her handler Mia Miller throw out the first pitch at tonight’s @aggiebaseball game…watch our Story for more sights and sounds from opening day!

A post shared by Texas A&M University (@tamu) on Feb 15, 2019 at 5:25pm PST

Captioned Videos

Remember the Abercrombie & Fitch smell? Of course you do — it was designed for you to remember. Marketing is constantly begging for our attention: we’re surrounded by lights, photos, and ads everywhere we go. The constant traffic in our vision is effective, but there’s another form of marketing that’s almost too subtle to detect, and yet research has shown that it might be the most effective of all: the marketing for your nose. We explain at Youtube.com/Vox. #Abercrombie #marketing #advertising

A post shared by The Goods by Vox (@thegoodsbyvox) on Sep 27, 2018 at 3:04pm PDT

Audio Description

So what can you do about it?

Tip #1: Learn how to make awesome alt text.

Tip #2: Get your captions and transcripts correct.

Tip #3: Add audio description for videos and broadcasts.

Tip #4: Check your contrast, too.

Tip #5: Avoid dense, overly verbose content.