5 tips to make your social media content more accessible
If you book a social media strategy package with me, your deliverables will include some top tips on how to make your content accessible as standard. I started including this around 2022, and since then I’ve had some clients question it: “Why do you care so much about this?”, or “Oh, I don’t think part applies to us”. At which point I usually take a deep breath and start explaining why accessibility is important for every brand and should always be prioritised, even if it does take a little (very little) extra time and consideration.
And for full disclosure, I am a disabled person myself, a few times over. No, I don’t use a wheelchair or a screenreader, and no I don’t “look disabled”, but I am, so I can go some way towards understanding what it’s like to have more obstacles to navigate than others. Essentially, I know how it feels when someone considers disabled people in their comms, and it feels pretty nice. Why wouldn’t you want that for your potential followers, eh?
Accessibility in content is important for a number of reasons:
It’s about human decency. Why would you want to make content that excludes anyone? What message does that send to your community? As the RNIB, put it: “It's a love note that says, ‘we want you here too’.”
Accessibility practices often create a better user experience for everyone. Have you ever watched a Reel with a lot of background noise and no captions? Annoying AF.
Research says, that in the US at least, those with disabilities are more likely to own a digital device, like a laptop or smart phone, than those without. Tech has made it a lot easier for those with disabilities to join in the fun.
As such, making your content accessible means that everyone can join in the conversation, so at the bare minimum, that means more opportunity for engagement on your content.
Convinced yet?
Convinced yet?
I sure hope so. And the good news is that here in 2025 there are a whole boatload of things you can do to help someone with a disability become a customer of yours. Here are 5 of them:
Add alt text
How to add alt text in Instagram
Users who are visually impaired often use screen readers to tell them what’s happening in-app. By adding alt text, a screen reader will read out a description of an image to convey what’s going on and what purpose it’s serving.
Some platforms will generate their own alt text these days, or you can use AI to draft it, but it’s always a good idea to edit it yourself to make sure it meets a decent standard. The key is to keep is clear and concise, but don’t be afraid to add detail - it should paint a picture of what a sighted user sees, complete with nuance and context - it needs to make sense in relation to the caption too..
Alt text should be punctuated properly, always use the correct grammar and be written in plain text - avoid overly flowery language, emojis and slang. No need to add “image of” or “photo of” either - that goes without saying.
Video posts often don’t come with the option to add alt text, so in this situation, add a [Video Description] in the caption or first comment instead. You can also copy your alt text under a [Image Description] heading on a single image post to the caption or comments too!
Use Camel case #LikeThis
Sometimes known as Pascal case too, this just means capitalising the first letter of all the hashtags you use. Not only does this help screen reader software process the words accurately, but it’s a dream for anyone to read! Make it common practice for your content, and especially for campaigns. I promise you you’ll see the benefit.
Use captions for video
Captions are essential for people with hearing impairments, but not only that, they can provide a useful extra tool for neurodivergent people (heyyyyyy!) and non-native speakers too. In fact, closed captions are important for more than just accessibility because they’re searchable, so boost your in-content SEO too by letting the algorithm know exactly what’s being said in your video and allowing it to better index it. Stats also say that many Gen Z and Millennial users prefer to consume media with subtitles.
All the main social media platforms will auto-transcribe your audio for you, so it doesn’t even take that long! Plus, they’ll be editable so you can make sure they’re perfectly accurate. When you add closed captions in-app, you’ll also ensure they’re visible and not covered by the caption or any engagement buttons. Make sure they’re high contrast (black text on white background, or white text, for example) to make them perfectly visible.
Think carefully about your emoji use
Reader, do not worry, I did not post this.
Emojis are a super regular part of life on social, but using them in place of words or to emphasise a point can make things tricky for screen readers. When your post or caption contains lots of emojis, a screen reader will read their full titles out every time, so when you use a lot, it gets annoying and looooong.
Emojis can be great for providing extra context, or cultural nuance, and they can be a great way to promote inclusivity due to their varied choice of skin tone, gender and abilities, however, they can also have different cultural meanings too. Have you ever used a 💦 to a Gen Z to signify sweating at the gym or similar? I have. Mortifying.
Keep emojis to 2-3 per post, and ideally at the end of a paragraph. Don’t use them to replace essential words, for emphasis or for formatting reasons like bullet points. Having to hear “cowboy face cowboy face cowboy face cowboy face” read aloud 10+ times is not cute.
Consider inclusivity in your content
And not just by ensuring you don’t offend. Proactively think about who is using your product or service and all the ways they could look and live. Include and address people of all races, genders (note: there’s more than 2!), sexualities and abilities in your videos, images, articles and email comms – it may not seem like much, but representation matters!
An example: my kid has type 1 diabetes. Her favourite film ever is PIXAR’s Turning Red. Sure, there’s a cute red panda, a very cute boyband and a message of true friendship and growing up in there, but the real reason she loves it? A background character in it wears an insulin pump.
Start off with these points and you’re well on your way to making your content more accessible for your potential and existing audiences. Need more help to navigate the basics, or want to level up your content’s accessibility? Let’s talk.
A Power Hour with me is the perfect vehicle to learn more on this or have an expert check over the steps you’ve taken so far. I can also provide group training for your team, or design you a bespoke guide on best practices packed with actionable tips!
