Social Media

Social media is ubiquitous, but not all social media is accessible. Although many of the major platforms have started to build accessibility features into their platforms, social media can still be very inaccessible for people with disabilities. This inaccessibility is due to inflexible and inaccessible platforms, as well as inaccessible content that is generated and shared on social media. Since there is so much user generated content on social media, it is important to only post accessible content and to be a critical consumer and distributor of content. 

Opportunities and Challenges 

Accessibility opportunities  

  • Can show multiple representations of content.  
  • Can connect to a large numbers of users.  
  • Can provide links to accessible content.  

Accessibility challenges 

  • Not all platforms are equally accessible.  
  • Accessibility is sometimes not possible with social media platforms.  
  • Some of the accessibility fixes in social media platforms are difficult to implement. 
  •  Updates can interfere with previous accessibility fixes and practices.  

Learn More about Accessible Social Media

There are some general resources on accessible social media, but it is also important to dive deeper into the specific platform that you plan to use. Each platform has challenges and opportunities that need to be explored individually. 

Social Media Suggestions

  • Learn more about the accessibility opportunities and challenges within a specific platform
    • What accessibility features are built into the platform (alt-text, closed captions, etc.)?
    • What are the known issues? 
    • Are there current workarounds for the issues?
  • Implement the accessibility essentials  
    • Accessible headings  
    • Alternative text 
    • Color contrast 
    • Descriptive links 
    • Accessible tables and charts 
    • Captions and transcripts 
    • Clear language 
  • Consider the fonts that you use (avoid serifs and highly stylized fonts) 
  • Use camel case for hashtags  
  • Use more than one social media platform 
  • As needed, create multiple formats of the content 
  • Include information about the accessibility contact