Post Image
  Social media has become the bedrock of human existence in the 21st century; the different social media handles that exist have all aim to create a relatively hassle-free experience for their users. These social media platforms are known to have made updates to provide the best user experience for as many people as possible, including those experiencing severe vision impairment, and have incorporated the use of text-to-speech programs so as to make navigating the digital world easier.
Read more about Social Media
An inclusive brand with a social media account that creates regular content for a diverse range of users will likely achieve a lot more than its competitors. By addressing barriers in a variety of ways, many people are bound to engage its content. Non-inclusive content and experiences push people away and if this factor is not discovered on time, the brand could witness a major setback online.

Inclusive Content Tips for Social Media Managers

  1. Text: Writing with clarity makes your content more accessible and understandable to the readers. The trend where people use custom fonts in their bios, posts, and Tweets to add aesthetic interest to the text should be discouraged. These custom fonts are not accessibility-friendly; this is because text-to-speech programs and screen readers are going to skip over the characters without reading, ultimately causing confusion to the user. Instead of customizing the text, try sticking to using regular fonts that are permitted on the platforms. Let your content be in plain language. Do not use slang, avoid jargon, slang, or any other technical terms that are of no importance.
  2. Emoji: Emoji have become a huge part of social media. They are used in individual chats and even in mainstream marketing. Emoji can be read aloud by assistive tech. But desist from clouding your content with too much. Instead, use emoji in moderation so that your content can be read easily by any screen-reader app.
Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
  1. Hashtags: In Twitter and Instagram, Hashtags have become one of the trends in social media that has gained so much popularity, often appearing at the end of a great number of posts. Since most people are often fond of reading the trending Hashtags moment instead of the content, you need to pay attention to how hashtags can disrupt the flow of a screen reader. Capitalize the first letter of each word to make hashtags more legible. This will be easy for everyone, including those with vision impairment.
  2. Images with Expressions: Captions are important for viewers with hearing impediments, children learning how to read, and they can enhance the viewing experience for people watching in their non-native language. Always make sure that the images you publish can be interpreted by a screen reader Some social media platforms allow you to add alternative text (alt-text) to image and GIFs posts so they can be described by a screen reader. If it is not possible to add alt-text to the images, then try a descriptive caption to accompany the post.
In conclusion, it is important for everyone to take their time to consider how inclusive their social media posts are and to find ways to improve the content they are putting out on the digital space. Making an effort to create more accessible and inclusive social media content will ensure that people engage posts readily. Featured Image Source: Neil Patel
Got a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com
You might also like:
This article was first published on 24th March 2022

ernest-chigaemezu

Ohia, Ernest Chigaemezu is a writer, editor, and grade teacher based in Jos, Nigeria.

Comments (0)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *