Effortless Methods to Ensure Your Social Media is Inclusive
Check out Pilot’s top three ways to create accessible social media content.
Why is Accessibility Important for Social Media Posts?
Just like other areas of your digital footprint, accessibility is important for social media because you want to ensure that your content is understandable for everyone, including people with disabilities. To achieve this, practice developing content that is user-friendly for all. Non-accessible social media content may cause a disruptive experience for your audience and deter people from interacting with your pages. The more accessible your content, the more people can engage with it, and the larger your audience becomes. Making your social content more accessible and inclusive for all is a win-win experience.
If you want to see how accessible your current social media content is, check out this social media accessibility best practices and toolkit guide by Level Access here.
Pilot’s Top Three Ways to Create Accessible Social Media Content
Captions & Transcriptions within Videos
Utilizing captions and transcriptions in social media videos, including Instagram reels and TikTok videos, can make a significant difference in accessibility for all. For example, they may help your audience understand foreign languages, reduce background noise, or provide context for users who do not have their sound on. Captions and transcriptions also improve the SEO of your videos by giving search engines more content to crawl! Additionally, captions can increase audience engagement, as many articles reveal that people are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available. See an article about how subtitles and captions can increase video views by 80% here. Overall, captions and transcriptions can be a useful tool in improving the overall quality of your social media videos.
Create Accessible Text
There are various ways to create accessible text across your social media posts. One key approach is to write in plain language. This means avoiding overly technical terms to ensure that people unfamiliar with your industry can understand your content. Additionally, try to avoid using industry-specific jargon that may make your posts difficult to understand. Writing in plain language makes your content more accessible to newcomers to your industry, as well as non-native speakers. Other tips for creating accessible text include avoiding run-on sentences, presenting the most important information at the top of the post, and more. Learn more from our blog about writing alt text.
Making Visual Content Accessible
Ensuring your visual content is accessible can be done in several ways, including providing warnings on content that might impact someone with photosensitivity, and avoiding complex arrangements of text, image and colors that may be difficult for users to read. Another way to make visual content accessible is to use clearly labeled buttons and calls to action, which will improve the overall user experience. Please see some examples of social media posts below that are simple and easy for users to read and understand. Provided by Canva.
These specific posts are accessibility-friendly because they have a clear call to action. The “We’re Hiring” post includes an “Apply Now” call to action, and the “Cocktail Party” post invites the audience to join them for their next party on May 15th. All the primary information is organized in a way that is easy to read. The posts don’t have too many color variations, and the text is large. These posts also include clear and direct imagery and symbols. The “We’re Hiring” post features an arrow pointing to the call to action, while the “Cocktail Party” post includes images of cocktail glasses and friends cheering. Please see an accessibility tool to help with fonts, colors, etc. here.
Maximize Engagement with Accessible Social Media Content
There are numerous effective strategies for creating social media content that is both accessible and engaging. Whether you’re new to accessibility or looking to refine your existing approach, our goal is to provide you with the knowledge and tools needed to ensure your social media content is inclusive and resonates with a diverse audience. Let us support you in making your social media platforms welcoming to everyone.
Reach out to our accessibility team at accessibility@pilotdigital.com for more help.
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