Social Media Accessibility

When possible, always make your social media posts as accessible as possible (i.e., ensure images have alt text, videos have captions when necessary). Here are some resources to help you get started:

• LinkedIn accessibility guide
• Facebook accessibility guide
• X accessibility guide
• Instagram accessibility guide

Writing Effective Alternative Text (Alt Text)

When digital content is read by people with cognitive disabilities, or vision loss, they often use a screen reader, an assistive technology or software application specifically designed to read information displayed on a screen out loud. Along with reading the text on the screen, this software announces key elements to help the reader navigate a document. For example, the screen reader announces such page elements as headings, tables, lists, and figures, which is why alt text is necessary. Alternative text provides a description of non-text content for screen reader users and at times for all users when images do not load.

Creating Accessible Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are one of the most basic elements of any digital experience. Writing good link text can improve accessibility of your emails, web pages, documents, and digital content overall. You can improve both usability and accessibility of links by making them concise, descriptive, and meaningful by providing context. Links provided without context can be ambiguous and confusing to individuals who use screen readers.

For detailed examples on how to write effective alt text and create accessible hyperlinks, review the Writing Accessible Hyperlinks section.

Additional Resources

Hootsuite has a lot of great tools and guides on their website. Check out their social media accessibility blog for up-to-date tips.

For additional information on social media accessibility, check out the Digital.gov Federal Social Media Accessibility Toolkit.