How to make your social media marketing content more inclusive with accessibility

There are over one billion people who live with a disability or impairments, and an estimated 15-20% of the UK population are Neurodiverse. Now imagine how many of those people are looking at your content.

Creating more accessible content is not only simple but also ensures that everyone can connect with your brand, your space is inclusive, and you reach as many people as possible. Win-win, right?

Keep your text as CLEAR as you can

This goes for all text, from your captions to your visual content. So many fonts look absolutely gorgeous and high-vibe, but a lot of them are inaccessible as they can't be picked up on screenreaders and can often be difficult to read.

So, try to keep it simple wherever you can.

Think about size, too. When adding text to graphics and images, make sure you don’t need to zoom in to read it. Top tip - if you’re creating something on Canva, zoom out to around 25%. This is roughly the size the text will be when browsing on a mobile device. 

Add Alt text to your images

Did you know most social media platforms give you the Alt text option for your posts? For people with visual impairments, screen readers read the Alt text to describe the image to the user. 

You can also add an image description or short descriptive text into the caption which is especially handy for posts with graphics. 

Check your colour contrast

You don’t want anyone squinting at your content or scrolling past because it hurts their eyes. So thinking about your colour choice is an important one. Unless you’ve got superhuman eyesight, white text on a cream background is not the one.

To make sure there is enough contrast between your text and background colours, there are many colour contrast checkers online where you can enter the hex code to see if it passes the accessibility test. I like to use https://www.accessibilitychecker.org/

Utilise closed captions on all video content

I don’t know about you, but more often than not I watch videos with no sound. Adding captions to your videos and stories not only lets us scroll in silence, but more importantly it makes them accessible to people with hearing impairments. 

A lot of platforms let you add captions directly when posting, or you can download apps to transcribe and do the work for you. You can change the font, and size, and even match to your brand's colours.

Descriptive links

When adding links to your content, try and avoid vague phrases such as “Click here” or “Tap for more!” Adding a description to your links makes your content easier to navigate. 

Try “Join the Content Clinic here” or “Read my Accessible Content blog” Let your followers know exactly what they’re clicking on!

Yes, it’s an ongoing process, but these simple steps can help you create a digital space where everyone feels included. 

It’s not just a big step towards inclusivity, but can hugely boost your online visibility too.

Give them a go for your next piece of content and let us know how you get on.