A person uses social media on their smartphone
Social media accessibility means that everyone can join in the conversation and the weird and wonderful things that take place online. It's a love note that says, ‘we want you here too’.
There are around 2 million blind and partially sighted people in the UK who can enjoy your content if it’s accessible.
Here’s a guide on how you can make your content accessible.
We’ve created a social media checklist to keep handy and tick off before you post on social media.
Image descriptions make images accessible for blind and partially sighted people. It's also known as alt text. They’re simply a written description of an image. Image descriptions aren’t for adding photo credits, inside jokes, extending copy or for boosting Search Engine Optimisation.
Image descriptions should be added to all images, memes and GIFs and should include all copy included in the image.
Videos featuring beautifully shot footage accompanied by music are really popular, but did you know they’re not accessible for blind and partially sighted people?
Here are our top tips to help make sure your video content, whether it’s a quick self-shot clip or a multi-million pound advert, is accessible to all.
To make sure your videos are accessible to people who are blind and partially sighted, we’d recommend making sure they are always either audio-led or audio described. This comes with the added bonus of making sure your messaging is really clear for all.
We all use hashtags on social media, like reacting to a trending moment. Did you know you need to format them so they’re accessible? Camel Case is when you capitalise the first letter of each word in hashtags, #LikeThis. It means that they’ll be read out correctly by screen readers and it also makes them easier to read for everyone. Win win!
We love emojis, you love emojis! When it comes to accessible social content, they should be used with care.
If someone’s using a screen reader, they have to listen to the full name of every single emoji being read aloud.
Our top tips are:
It might be tempting to use a fancy font generator to make your content stand out. However, they’ll stand out for a lack of accessibility too.
Not only can they be difficult to read, they’re also inaccessible for screen reader users. Screen readers will often say “bold” or “italic” before or in between each letter making it almost impossible to understand. Some screen readers will even skip words altogether. Stick to the standard fonts so your copy is easy to read for everyone.
Here’s a rundown of the accessibility features you can use on different social media platforms.
And don’t forget, our Social Media Checklist, is a handy guide to make sure your content is accessible before posting.
Remember, it’s important to add alt text when sharing images on Facebook. To add alt text to your Facebook posts Upload your image> tap ‘edit’> add alt text>save
We also recommend copying and pasting your image descriptions at the bottom of the main post copy, so they can be accessed by everyone – not just those using a screen reader.
Check out Facebook’s dedicated accessibility page for more.
On X/Twitter, when someone adds alt text to their images, an ‘ALT’ badge appears in the bottom left-hand corner. It’s easy to add too: upload your image>click 'add image description'>describe your image, including all copy> save.
You can also add an alt text reminder so that you never forget to add alt text on Twitter, here’s how: Go to ‘settings and privacy'>Choosing ‘accessibility, display and languages.’ >tick ‘receive image description reminder’.
There’s more accessibility info here: Twitter information about making images accessible.
When uploading photos, make sure you add alt text, by navigating to the “Advanced Settings > Accessibility > Write alt text” at the bottom of the menu while you’re editing your post.
We also recommend copying and pasting your image descriptions at the bottom of the main post copy, so they can be accessed by everyone – not just those using a screen reader.
Bear in mind that if you schedule a post using third-party software, there’s currently no way to add alt text. So, make sure you edit the post to add some as soon as it goes live.
When creating content for Reels, we’d recommend following our advice in the video accessibility section, including making the content audio led or audio described and using subtitles.
You can also make the most of the voiceover function, which allows you to add further description to your content.
Remember, that text you overlay onto videos is not accessible to screen reader technology, so don’t rely on it to get your message across.
Reels allows you to add auto-generated subtitles, but always remember to check them before you post.
There’s no way to add alt text to describe images on Stories. A workaround we’ve found for this is to type text onto your Story with an image description. It’s up to you whether you display this in your content, alternatively you can hide it behind an image and screen readers will still be able to read it out.
Stickers, such as Q&A and Location stickers, are not currently accessible to screen readers. So, make sure you type text describing them, including the question you’re asking (for example) onto your story somewhere.
You'll find further Instagram accessibility information on the Instagram website.
Like X/Twitter, you know when someone has included alt text as there is an ‘ALT’ badge on the image. And like X/Twitter, it’s easy to add: Upload your image> click the 'alt' button>Add your description>click done.
TikTok is a new and exciting social media platform. However, it’s really important to note that TikTok is missing some key accessibility features, and the ones it does have are not well publicised or used.
TikTok can be a headache to navigate using screen reading technology. This means that being on the app can be a confusing and frustrating experience and that even if accessibility features are used.
TikTok doesn’t currently have an alt text feature. It also doesn’t allow screen readers to access the text you type on-screen and overlay onto photos and videos.
The result of this is that photo carousels, a hugely popular feature, are completely inaccessible to blind and partially sighted people. The same goes for videos which combine a trending song or audio with a short video clip and text written on the screen – if there’s no voiceover or text-to-speech bringing it to life.
It’s possible – and easy – to make your TikTok content accessible to all.
Here are our top tips:
For more info on accessibility: TikTok Commitment to accessibility information.
Like the other social platforms, it’s important to add alt text to images you’re sharing on LinkedIn. Here’s how: Upload an image>edit photo>click edit>amend your alt text>click done.
LinkedIn allows alt text of up to 1,000 characters. Similarly to Instagram and Facebook, it’s good practice to add an image description to your post itself. This means that the information is displayed visually too, making it accessible for everyone.
RNIB is not responsible for the content of external sites
To find out more about the importance of inclusive digital content and gain an understanding of the challenges blind and partially sighted people face every day due to the lack of accessible communication, sign up for RNIB's inclusive communications masterclass.
The one-day session has been designed to give you all the tools you need to create inclusive digital content, while also highlighting the role we play in the creation of accessible information.
