Accessible Social Media Guide

Adapted from Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities Handout on December 21, 2017

Readout of Workshop | http://nyc.gov/mopd

Web Accessibility Checklist

 

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility refers to the design of an experience that can be enjoyed by all people. Something tat is not accessible disregards a select population of people that are left out of the experience entirely. Typically, this is thought of in terms of physical spaces (ramps, elevators, etc.) but this also applies to digital ones as well.

Digital Accessibility

People with disabilities use assistive technology to interact with computers, tablets, and smartphones. A person from the blind community can use a screen reader to have the contents of the screen read out loud to them.

How can someone make social media accessible?

Include a written description for any images or photos.

Images add flair to social media posts, making them more attractive, attention grabbing and simpler to understand. Without an image description, a person using a screenreader cannot extract any meaning from the content.

Photo of large colorful fireworks lighting up the sky above downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty
Image Description: Photo of large colorful fireworks lighting up the sky above downtown Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty

 

Writing Image Description

Ask the following questions and combine your answers for the description.

Image Description: Photo of the Verrazano Bridge closed down to vehicles as thousands of NYC Marathon Runners run across it in the same direction.
Image Description: Photo of the Verrazano Bridge closed down to vehicles as thousands of NYC Marathon Runners run across it in the same direction.

Where is the photo being taken?

The Verrazano Bridge

Who is in the photo?

Thousands of runners

What are they doing?

Running in the NYC Marathon

Why is this photo being taken?

To show the spectacle of the Marathon, specifically how the bridge is closed.

 

Adding Image Descriptions to Social Media Posts

Option 1: Descriptions are added onto the content of the post itself labeled “Image Description”

Option 2: Descriptions are added with alt-text, an invisible text written onto the image. Twitter users can enable alt-text in their account settings under “accessibility.” Once enabled, users can write descriptions directly onto their images before posting. (Must be posting native on twitter.)