Social media is a great place for inclusion and community building. People belonging to various demographic groups can text, video chat, exchange images, and other visual or textual content. A unique bond is created as a result. However, the lack of accessible posts across platforms can be excluding. Users relying on accessibility tools can have a hard time participating in social media culture. Thanks to modern tools and practices, brands can make their profiles inclusive and accessible. This article shares some tips on how to adjust posts so everyone can enjoy them.
Subtitles and Closed Captions
If you’re thinking of launching a video marketing strategy, then subtitles and closed captions should be high on the list of priorities. This feature allows users with cognitive disabilities or hearing impairments primarily to enjoy the content. Also, it’s useful for foreign speakers or learners of the language. Similarly, some users choose to consume content in public spaces or in the late hours. In such cases, they can keep up with the latest videos without disturbing anyone around them. Ultimately, on the SEO side, having video transcripts is a great booster. While subtitles cover only what is said, closed captions provide additional information. Whatever you decide to go with, make sure to adjust them to the chosen format.
Moderate Use of Emojis
Emojis are great for descriptions, especially on social media. They’re informal, interesting, and captivating. More importantly, every emoji is descriptive enough, so additional explanations are unnecessary. However, this can also be a problem sometimes. Content creators tend to overdo it with emojis because they want to convey more with fewer characters. This practice makes content inaccessible to most users. The solution isn’t to avoid using them. Instead, be moderate in their use. Before you add an emoji, think about their place. For instance, profile names shouldn’t contain emojis. Additionally, question the trends that focus on the overuse of the same emoji. Reading such posts could be quite demanding for screen reader users.
Hashtags with Camel Case
The easiest way to make posts more readable is to keep spacing between words. However, social media posts generally contain hashtags. The hashtag convention doesn’t allow for spacing between words but there’s a workaround. Some prefer using camel case in this situation. The capitalization of the first letter of every word in a phrase is known as the camel case. The words in this naming convention look like camel’s humps. Users can understand and interpret the hashtags more clearly when they’re written like this.
Alt Text with AI
SEO experts always stress the importance of alternative or alt text for images on websites and social media. It’s a concise and informative description of the posted image. Although it’s simple to add, it’s often overlooked or incorrectly used. Some think it’s a place for adding CTAs or additional information. The best advice for their use is to keep it as simple as possible. There’s no need to cram words in the description since the usual limit is 125 characters. This leaves little or no room for keywords which makes it more valuable for SEO. Apart from relevant keywords, make sure to provide context if necessary.
Conclusion
As much as social media is devoted to inclusion, sometimes the nature of its posts can exclude users. With these tips, that doesn’t have to be the case with your brand. Now you can make posts more user-friendly and nurture a more inclusive online community.
You may also like: Stop Creating Boring Content: How to Get Your Audience Hooked and Interested on Social Media
Image source: elements.envato.com
