1 in 6 people live with a disability. Thatโs approximately 1.3 BILLION people worldwide! ๐
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Making your content accessible & inclusive shouldnโt be an afterthought. It should be in the pipeline before you even begin creating your content. If your content isnโt accessible & inclusive, youโre leaving a massive portion of your audience on the sidelines. Games are meant to be played by everyone & content is meant to be enjoyed by all, so why not open the doors even wider? ๐ชโจ
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So, how do I make my social media content more accessible & inclusive?
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These are our top 5 tips to make your social media content more accessible, which anyone can implement straight away ๐ช
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Tip 1: Write Effective Alt Text for Accessible Content ๐ฑ
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Screen readers use Alt Text to describe images, GIFs & other media out loud to people with visual & cognitive disabilities. Alt Text is important as itโs the bridge of context between your content & your community ๐จ
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โ Paint a story: What emotions & reactions does the image spark for you?ย
โ Be descriptive: Is it a photo, illustration, screenshot or GIF? Include people, objects, colours, text, & important visual elements.
โ Keep it relevant: Focus on what descriptions add value & remove the fluff!
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โ Donโt use Alt Text as a meme or for sales pitches: Alt Text is there to explain the image, not for you to make jokes at the expense of accessibility.
โ Donโt make assumptions: Only describe whatโs in the image/GIF, as making assumptions about whatโs happening can be confusing & remove context.
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๐ก Pro Tip: Imagine youโre explaining the image to a friend over the phone. Keep it conversational but detailed ๐
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
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Tip 2: You Can Boost Video Engagement By Adding Easy-to-Read Closed Captions to Videos ๐บ
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Up to 92% of viewers watch videos with the sound OFF on mobiles, & 80% are more likely to finish a video with subtitles, according to a study by Verizon!! ๐ฑ
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โ Add clear captions to videos: The majority of video editing programs have tools to add captions & your own branded flair easily ๐
โ Ensure the platformโs UI doesnโt hide captions: Every platform & aspect ratio is different, so as a general rule for short-form content, keep captions central & up high. For long-form content, captions are generally good at the central bottom of the video.
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โ Donโt rely on auto-generated captions: They can make mistakes & cause confusion if the wrong word is used, so double-check if you use auto-generated captions!
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Closed captions help the hard-of-hearing community, people in noisy spaces, non-native speakers & even multitaskers (yeah, we see you ๐). Check out our TikTok to see how we make closed captions on-brand & full of life ๐
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
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Tip 3: Improve Readability with High-Contrast Colours When Creating Social Media Content ๐จ
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Aesthetic & branded guidelines are important, but so is readability. Your amazing graphics wonโt have much of an impact if people canโt read it ๐ฌ
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โ Use highly contrasted colours between text & background: This helps users with low vision or colour blindness engage with your content! Dark grey text on a black background? Nope. Bold white text on a navy background? Now weโre talking ๐
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๐กPro Tip: Use a Colour Contrast Checker to determine whether your chosen aesthetic passes the accessibility test.
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
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Tip 4: Capitalise Words in Hashtags for Accessibility #๏ธโฃ
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๐ง Fun fact: Camel case is a writing style that capitalises the first character of each word where spaces & punctuation are unavailable, such as in programming or hashtags ๐
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โ Use capitals at the beginning of each word in a hashtag: Screen readers can struggle to read hashtags when everything is in lowercase, so when a hashtag is #LikeThis, it helps them differentiate & read out the words properly ๐ฌ
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
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Tip 5: Create Inclusive Social Media Content by Considering Diverse Audiences Beyond Your Own Lived Experiences ๐ค
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No matter how targeted your audience & community is, theyโre an incredibly diverse bunch with different experiences. Content that feels โnormalโ to you may be challenging for others, so create content with a large group of people in mind to make it as accessible & inclusive as possible ๐
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โ Read accessibility guidelines & facts
โ Use inclusive language
โ Keep researching & implementing
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
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TLDR ๐ง
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Prioritising accessible content is an absolute game-changer, as it not only helps more people understand & enjoy your content, but it expands your audience, helps your content be more relatable & strengthens your reputation in advocating for accessibility & inclusiveness ๐
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๐ต Use Alt Text for images & GIFs to help screenreaders
๐ต Use easy-to-read closed captions
๐ต Use colour contrast tools to check if your colours stand out enough
๐ต Capitalise the first letter in each hashtag
๐ต Think beyond your own lived experiences
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So, what did you think of our top 5 digital accessibility tips to make your social media content more inclusive? Remember that this list isnโt exhaustive, & these are just a few of the MANY ways to level up your content! The more you learn, the more you can change & the more you can advocate for inclusive content ๐
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