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Checklist: Creating Accessible Social Media Posts

    Creator: Accessible Libraries

    Date Updated: January 10, 2023

    Overview

    Accessible social media posts increase the number of people your information will reach. If your social media is accessible, it reflects positively on your library because you create an inclusive environment for all patrons. You unintentionally exclude people if your social media posts and tweets are inaccessible!

    This checklist summarizes the information from the «Accessible Social Media» webinar and slides.

    Checklist

    1. Include Alternative Text if you are posting an image or gif.
    2. Use Pascal Case Hashtags at the end of your social media posts.
    3. Limit the number of Emojis in your posts.
    4. Include Captions in any audio media.
    5. Add Audio Descriptions to videos if there are undescribed visual information users need to understand the content.
    6. Consider the colour contrast of your social media posts.
    7. Consider the font attributes you use in your social media posts.

    You can download a simple version of the checklist to use everyday below:

    Accessible Social Media ChecklistDownload

    Include Alternative Text if you are posting an image or gif.

    Alternative Text (alt text) is a textual description of an image for people who can’t see the image (blind/deafblind). Screen readers will read an image’s alt text if it is available.

    What happens when you don’t use alt text to images and gifs in your social media posts?

    If you do not add alt text to your images, some social media platforms use AI to generate alt text, which is often incorrect and confusing. Or screen readers may read the image’s file name or nothing at all, only telling the user there is an «image» or a «graphic» with no label.

    If you do not add alt text, people will be excluded from accessing the full meaning of your social media posts.

    How to create good alt text?

    Describe your images and gifs clearly, and concisely. Please provide the relevant context for the image as it relates to your social media post (e.g., consider why you have included the image in your post in the first place).

    Alt text tips and guidelines

    1. Write for your audience. You will describe an image intended for children (like an image from a storybook) differently than you would a Stephen King book cover.
    2. Use present tense and action verbs.
    3. Describe the physical characteristics of people in images.
    4. If there is text within an image, write it in the alt text.
    5. Descriptions should be objective and free from censorship. People who use screen readers should receive equal access to the information conveyed in images.
    6. You do not need to describe decorative images (purely aesthetic images that do not convey any meaning), but we suggest you refrain from using decorative images in your posts.
    7. When writing alt text, you do not need to include the phrase “This is an image/graphic of…” because screen readers will announce that it is a graphic.
    8. Your alt text should not include information available in the surrounding text (e.g., do not use image captions as the alt text).
    9. Do not use alt text to add extra information unrelated to the image, such as keywords for marketing.

    Some things may be difficult to describe. The goal is to give the reader all the important information in an image.

    Related Alt Text Resources

    Use Pascal Case Hashtags at the end of your social media posts.

    Hashtags are used to group content together by topic or category. A hashtag always begins with the number or pound symbol (#) and cannot have spaces, punctuation, or symbols (other than the number or pound symbol at the beginning). Hashtags can be one-word, multiple words, or phrases.

    You can use hashtags to search for or browse social media posts.

    What is Pascal Case?

    Hashtags and other phrases which combine multiple words should be written using Pascal Case (also popularly referred to as camel case). Pascal Case capitalizes the first letter of each word (e.g., #AccessibleSocialMedia).

    When hashtags are in Pascal Case, screen readers will read each word individually. If you do not use Pascal Case, screen readers have difficulty pronouncing the hashtag, especially if the hashtag is in all lowercase letters or longer.

    The difference between Camel Case and Pascal Case is that Camel Case does not capitalize the very first letter (e.g., #accessibleSocialMedia)

    Hashtag tips and guidelines

    1. Use Pascal Case in your hashtags.
    2. Screen readers will read the word «hashtag» when encountering a hashtag, so having many scattered throughout a post can be frustrating and slows down the reader.
    3. When hashtags are at the end of the text, they won’t interrupt your message.
    4. If you only have 1 or 2 hashtags in your post, it is okay to include them within the sentence.

    Limit the number of Emojis in your posts.

    Emojis are images or icons used in text to convey emotions or visually represent words in a sentence. Each emoji has a description assigned to it, which screen readers will read out. You can use Emojipedia to look up different emoji descriptions.

    How to add emojis accessibly?

    Limit the number of emojis you use in your posts. Using multiple emojis in a row can be confusing and verbose, and the description may not match your intended meaning.

    Using a few emojis in your post can be fun and inclusive! For example, if you use emojis to describe a book, people who use assistive technologies can guess the book title based on the emoji descriptions.

    Include Captions in any audio media.

    Captions are a text version of the audio users need to understand the content. It includes speech (e.g., character dialogues and narration) and non-speech (e.g., descriptions of sounds like birds chirping).

    Media with audio must have captions.

    Captions mean people who need them, and people in public spaces who don’t have headphones can understand your content.

    We understand that captions can be difficult and time-consuming to create. We suggest hiring a stenographer or editing AI-generated captions (like on YouTube) before posting any media with audio. AI-generated captions are often grammatically incorrect and have difficulty picking up different accents and speedy talkers.

    Add Audio Descriptions to videos if there are undescribed visual information users need to understand the content.

    Audio descriptions provide content to persons who are blind and have low vision. It describes any visual information needed to understand the content, including any text displayed in the video. It is also known as described video or video descriptions.

    How to add audio descriptions?

    There are three different ways that audio descriptions can be added to videos:

    1. Audio descriptions can be narration added (in post-production) in the space between characters speaking.
    2. You can add them in YouDescribe by pausing the video and quickly describing the action of the previous scene.
    3. You can integrate them into your video scripts by describing aloud what you’re doing in the video when you record it.

    How to create good audio descriptions?

    Always consider the video context to determine what is important to describe. You need to describe the important visual elements of the scene, information that cannot be understood solely through dialogue and sound effects (e.g., costumes, expressions, actions etc.).

    Audio descriptions tips and guidelines

    1. Consider the volume and placement of your audio descriptions. The audio description track needs to be audible on top of the video but not overlap with the video’s dialogue.
    2. Audio descriptions should be concise.
    3. Aim to be objective, so only describe what you see in the video. Do not reveal key information (e.g., character names or actions) before they are shared with everyone else on the screen and only describe what is occurring.
    4. Describe the physical characteristics of people in the video.
    5. Do not censor your audio descriptions.

    Also, consider adding transcripts for your video and audio media. This will be especially helpful if you need to add a detailed audio description.

    Consider the colour contrast of your social media posts.

    Colour contrast refers to the juxtaposition between colours used in a document, image, chart, table, etc. For example, the contrast between the text and document background. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommend a minimum contrast of 4.5:1.

    Don’t use only colour to convey information in your post, as persons who are colour-blind may not be able to understand the information.

    Use a high colour contrast between your text and background. Persons with low vision may not understand your content if you use colours with low contrast (e.g., gray text on a light blue background).

    Consider how the text contrasts with the background of your post. For example, black text on a white background is accessible, but light grey text on a white background has low contrast and is difficult to read.

    Consider the font attributes you use in your social media posts.

    Font attributes are added to the font or text of your document to change or style it (e.g., font size, colour, font face, line spacing, etc.). Font attributes can make your document inaccessible, so you must consider carefully how and where to apply them.

    What are accessible font attributes?

    Accessible font attributes ensure that the text of your document is readable for persons with print disabilities.

    Font attributes tips and guidelines.

    1. Use easily readable sans serif fonts like Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, and Calibri.
    2. Use a larger font size when possible.
    3. Limit or avoid the use of all caps.
    Accessible Social Media ChecklistDownload

    References

    Accessible Libraries (2022, May 27). Accessible Social Media Webinar Slides. AccessibleLibraries.ca. Accessed December 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://accessiblelibraries.ca/resources/social-media-webinar/

    Accessible Libraries (2022, September 19). Accessible Social Media Webinar Recording. AccessibleLibraries.ca. Accessed December 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://accessiblelibraries.ca/resources/accessible-social-media-webinar-recording/

    Accessible Publishing (2020). Guide to Image Descriptions. Web page. Accessed March 21, 2022.  Retrieved from: https://www.accessiblepublishing.ca/a-guide-to-image-description/

    Accessible Social (2022). Accessible Social. Website. Accessed March 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.accessible-social.com/

    Emojipedia (2012). Smiling Face with Smiling Eyes. Wiki page. Accessed March 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://emojipedia.org/smiling-face-with-smiling-eyes/

    Facebook Help Center (n.d.). How do I edit the alternative text for a photo on Facebook?. Help article. Accessed March 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/help/214124458607871?helpref=search&sr=2&query=alt%2

    Hootsuite (October 15, 2020). Inclusive Design for Social Media: Tips for Creating Accessible Channels. Blog post. Accessed March 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://blog.hootsuite.com/inclusive-design-social-media/

    Hootsuite (June 16, 2021). How to Use Hashtags in 2021: A Quick and Simple Guide for Every Network. Blog post. Accessed April 14, 2022. Retrieved from: https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-hashtags/

    Twitter Help Center (n.d.). How to make images accessible for people. Help article. Accessed March 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/picture-descriptions

    Web Accessibility Initiative (November 29, 2021). Captions/Subtitles. Web page. Accessed May 25, 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/captions/

    Web Accessibility Initiative (November 29, 2021). Description of Visual Information. Web page. Accessed May 12, 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/description/

    Web Accessibility Initiative (October 4, 2019). How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference). Web page. Accessed May 13, 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/

    WebAIM (October 19, 2021). Alternative Text. Web page. Accessed March 21, 2022. Retrieved from: https://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/

    YouDescribe (2022). YouDescribe Homepage. Web page. Accessed May 25, 2022. Retrieved from: https://youdescribe.org/