How do you make a post on Twitter/X accessible?
Love it or hate it, there’s no getting away from the fact that many people use X (formerly known as Twitter). That is also the case for people with disabilities. Using X to get support from a company or to stay in touch with friends is something that has been popular in some disability communities, as the text-based nature of posts has traditionally been quite accessible.
But text isn’t the only type of content shared on X. Here are three quick tips that can help you make your posts more accessible, no matter who your audience is.
1. Turn on image description reminders
This feature reminds you to add alt text to images before you post. If you try posting without alt text, a pop up appears allowing you to add it.
- Go to “Settings and Privacy”.
- Navigate to “Accessibility, Display and Languages”.
- Select “Accessibility”.
- Scroll to find the option “Receive Image Description Reminder”.
- Turn this option on.
Once activated, you will receive reminders to add alt text to your photos.
This is a big deal for those with sight loss as alt text can be used by a screen reader to describe the image to a user.
2. Add captions to your videos
There are many apps you can use to add captions to videos automatically. While AI (artificial intelligence) generated captions won’t be as good as human written captions, they may be a useful solution for small businesses, individuals, or content creators.
In general, try to imagine how your video will be received if someone has a sensory disability. If they can’t see it, can they still follow along or is it just music? If they can’t hear it, are they missing out on information in a voiceover? These are things you need to think about before sharing videos online.
3. Describe your links
When Twitter rebranded to X, the way links were displayed changed. Instead of getting the text of the headline such as 5 accessibility tips you need to know, you now just get the web address such as https://ialabs.ie.
If you just post a link, the user has no idea what the link you shared is about. Make sure to describe what someone can expect if they click a link. This makes life easier for those with disabilities, but your able-bodied customers will benefit too.
For example:
“Have you heard these 5 great tips about accessibility?
Check out this article we wrote to learn about the small things you can do to make your website more accessible: https://link here”
Accessible Social Media Grows Your Audience
Making your social media content accessible is important. If a post on X gets a million impressions and even 5% of your audience can’t access the information it contains, you have just lost out on 50,000 potential customers. That sucks, and 5% is just a conservative estimate.
If you would like a hand getting your websites, documents or content to an accessible standard, IA Labs can help. Call us now on +353 1 224 8086 or use the contact form below.
