If you are trying to build a brand and want to reach as many people as possible, it is important that you make your content accessible to disabled people, because if you don’t only some disabled people will be able to enjoy your content. Most people have some concept of what accessibility looks like in a store, but when it comes to social media, people tend to forget about accessibility. As a disabled blogger, I am always thinking about how I can make my posts more accessible for disabled people because I know how frustrating it is to have constant barriers, and I don’t want someone to not be able to access my content due to the lack of accessibility. It takes a little more time to make your content accessible, but it’s well worth it and doesn’t take as long as people think, and can be quite simple. I think that sometimes people are too lazy to make accessible content, but a lot of the time, I don’t think it was intentional and people don’t know how because they don’t personally struggle with it. How do you make your social media content accessible?
Provide image descriptions on photos– As a disabled person, I have no difficulty looking at an image and understanding what it is because, although I do need glasses to read, I can see well when I am wearing them. Some disabled people who are legally blind or have significant vision loss may struggle with seeing images and will not understand what it is without an image description. Social platforms will automatically provide image descriptions for people who can’t see images, but often, they are not accurate. Screen readers can help describe an image to people who can’t see it, but if you don’t have accurate image descriptions, people who can’t see will struggle to understand what your photo is all about, and you are only going to get accurate image descriptions if you do it yourself. It does not take a whole lot of extra time to describe a photo and any text that is there, but it is necessary for blind people who can’t see them. Image descriptions are an important part of accessibility because although most of my audience will probably not need the image description, there will be some people who do.
Add clear subtitles to your videos- When I make an Instagram reel, I always will have subtitles because I am talking in all my videos, and not everyone will be able to watch my video and hear what I am saying. Social platforms often will have automatic subtitles, but personally, I don’t rely on that because the subtitles often are too small and inaccurate. It took me a while to figure out how to get larger, accurate subtitles on my reels, but now that I know it’s relatively easy and I don’t know why everyone isn’t doing it because when you have subtitles, it makes it so people who can’t hear what you are saying can still watch it and understand what it’s about. There are times that my subtitles are a little off because sometimes I don’t realize I made a mistake until it is posted and it’s too late, but for the most part, my subtitles are relatively accurate and readable because I go and edit them to make sure they are, which does not take long at all. I still add video descriptions like I would with a photo because, although blind people may be able to listen to your video, they won’t be able to watch it.
Make audio versions of your posts- When you have both audio and readable versions of your posts, everyone can enjoy them. As a disabled person, I prefer to read posts because it’s a lot quicker than listening to them, but if you were blind, you would probably rather listen to them because you can’t see the words that are written. It is time-consuming to make audio versions of your posts, and some creators may not be comfortable creating video content, but it’s accessible, and you will reach a larger audience when you have both audio and readable versions. At the moment, my new blog does not have audio versions of posts because I am currently focusing on building my blog before I do anything else, but my previous blog had audio versions of posts that did help get me more views.
Ditch the fancy blog design- When I first started blogging, I used a lot of themes that had fun designs, but I stopped using them and have stuck to simple colors because I have learned that although these designs may make your blog look more visually appealing, it can be difficult for some disabled people to read through. Stick to simple light colors because fancy designs are not accessible and make it more difficult for people with visual impairments to read through. The only time I would say that it’s okay to use a design is if it’s as a border, and any writing on your blog is not covered by the design. Simple designs are not as fun, but you can choose colors that represent your personality without compromising accessibility on your blog.
Make a trigger warning on posts with flashing lights- There are a lot of cool effects that can elevate your content, but unfortunately, some of these effects can trigger disabled people and make them unwell in a matter of minutes. If you post a video or photo that has flashing lights, please do a trigger warning because flashing lights trigger some people with migraine disease and can cause people with epilepsy to have a seizure. You should always have a trigger warning on these types of posts to let people let can’t handle them know when to look away before it’s too late.
Make your hashtags accessible– Hashtags are not accessible because screen readers often will read them as one word, which can be confusing for someone who is blind and can’t see the text. You can make hashtags more accessible by simply writing hashtags before you list them, or you can capitalize the first let in each word to help screen readers be able to recognize when there are two different words.
Accessibility can sometimes be a little time-consuming, but if you are a business and don’t follow ADA guidelines at the bare minimum, you could get yourself in a lot of trouble. There are a lot of ways you can make your business more accessible, and not all disabled people will have the same definition of accessibility because not all disabled people struggle with the same tasks. You need to prioritize accessibility in your social media posts just as much as you would your physical office, because people discover your business from social media, and if it’s not accessible, disabled people aren’t going to fall. As a disabled advocate, I know that there are some things about my blog that are probably not accessible to some people, but I do try to make it as accessible as possible because when you try to be accessible, it tells me the challenges of disabled people matter to you, even if you don’t always get it right. I don’t expect businesses to nail accessibility on the first try because we are all learning, but some people don’t even try. Please try to make your social media content accessible, and don’t forget about disabled people! How do you make your social media content accessible to disabled people? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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