Social Media

You know, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

Hashtags #ShouldBeCapitalised

Do this so that text to speech software will be able to read the correct words out separately. It also makes hashtags easier to read for everyone. And it prevents accidentally worded hashtags!

Example:

✅  I like #TheLocalOffer

Also, use words not acronyms. Though it may feel very well known to you, it's unlikely anyone else will instantly recognise your unwieldy acronym hashtag.

#SENDIASS is probably one people need to learn, though!

Reposting

If you repost from another organisation, make sure it's clear who they are. Starting from a repost on a Local Offer Facebook page, it took me 6 clicks to find out that the PDA society is the Pathological Demand Avoidance (part of the Autism spectrum).

Describe social media

Twitter

Configure your Twitter settings so that you get the option to add an audio description to images you post. This is not an automatic function yet so you have to go to the Settings > Accessibility to set it up.

Set up image description – Twitter Help Center (opens in new tab) (opens in a new tab)

Instagram

You can give a detailed description of your images right when you post it, or you can edit the alt text.

Edit the alternative text – Instagram  (opens in new tab) (opens in a new tab)

Facebook

Edit the alternative text - Facebook  (opens in new tab) (opens in a new tab)

Describe GIF images

People add GIF images to make their posts funnier, warmer, have another dimension. If you do not include a description of the GIF someone using text to speech software will miss out on that.

Add a description of the GIF to your tweet, or this will happen to your computer.

Spongebob getting more and more angry typing on the computer, which lights up in flames.

Caption videos and multimedia

This is useful for deaf people and also for people who have the sound turned off on their mobiles. (I never have the volume up on my phone, especially if there are other people around. If a video doesn't have captions, I won't watch it.)

Provide a transcript for audio and video content. This makes the content available for

• deaf people
• people without headphones
• search engine bots - so everyone can find it