Aug 26, 2021

Have you made your social media accessible?

The use of social media increased significantly during the pandemic, whether that was to keep in touch, post about what was going on or businesses using this opportunity as their way of communication. 

By making small changes to your social media content, you can make it more accessible. Most of these changes can be made on the platform and don’t require you to do lots of extra work. 

The little changes really do make a big difference to those who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing. 

A lot of smartphones or devices already have settings that make it easier for a user including text to speech functionality, magnifying software or the abundance of apps available to download to do all sorts.

Here are ways to make your social media accessible: 

• Alternative text

  When posting a visual on social media you might see the option to an alternative text (alt text) or sometimes also seen as an image description, this is where you can describe the image in a sentence or so.  

A screen reader will read this out to someone who is blind or visually impaired so they can imagine and paint the picture in their head. 

Tip: there’s no need to write an essay’s worth of text, pick out key features enough to make out the image.

• Addition of subtitles on videos

  Make sure if you are adding subtitles to videos where people are speaking that they are easy to read. Subtitles are also good to have because a lot of people will be on platforms with their sound off. 

Tip: there are lots of apps that can do this for you so you.

• Hashtagging in CamelCase

  When using hashtags in your caption, capitalise the letter of each word. This means the screen reader will read it out correctly but it also makes it easier to read in general for everyone.

#MakeYourSocialMediaAccessible

• Using emojis sparingly

  When putting emojis in captions think about the fact a screen reader will pick up on them, that means if you put a lot of an emoji it’ll read it like “Money with wings. Money with wings. Money with wings. Money with wings.”

Tip: instead of using an emoji to substitute a word, use an emoji at the end of a sentence.

All these small actions contribute to making your social media more accessible, helping you reach a larger audience. 

As technology continues to develop, keep an eye out for further ways to make your social media accessible. 

Looking for marketing help?

Here at FinanceStream, our experienced team have the tools and skills to make your finance business stand out. Whether you need help creating social media templates or consistently posting on all your social media platforms, we can help. 

Got any questions or just want to have a chat? ​​email enquiries@financestream.co or call us 0333 242 0658.

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