Accessibility Checklist for Social Media & Emails

Writing

• Format Hashtags Correctly:
  • Hashtags with multiple words should have the first letter of each word capitalized, so that screen readers can tell apart words. For example, instead of #fourthofjuly, use #FourthOfJuly
  • Hashtags are best placed at the end of a post, not in the middle of a sentence. Screen readers may read “hash” or “number” before each hashtag (or read out as a link), making it annoying to read.
  • More information about hashtags can be found here
• Use Plain Language. You can see examples of plain language here
  • Provide definitions for unusual words or acronyms. If an acronym is used for the first time, spell out the word and provide the acronym in parentheses next to it

Images

• Text should have proper contrast with the background. Backgrounds should be darkened or lightened if there is text overlaying it. Here are examples of good & bad contrast.
• Don’t use only color to differentiate things. People can be colorblind!
  • Charts should not only use colors, but patterns or matching icons/text too

Alternative Text

• Include alternative text when the platform allows it. Social media management tools should already provide a way to do this.
• Alt Text is a full replacement of the image or video. You should still be able to fully understand the content by reading the alt text, if for example it ever fails to load.
• Do not use all-caps, even if the image itself uses it. Some screen readers may read them as an acronym and read individual letters, or more modern screen readers may read them in a shouting tone!
• Don’t repeat content already mentioned in the post.
• Do not include links. These are not clickable, nor will screen readers have a good time with reading them. They should be included in the post body instead.
• You do not need to mention if it’s an image or video, as screen readers already announce this. However, it can be helpful to know whether it is a screenshot, painting, infographic, map, etc.
• It should directly relate to and be relevant to the content of the post. Automated tools can struggle with this, so it is important to review and edit manually if used (and is good practice in case automated tools get something wrong, which happens often!).

Emails & The Web

Emails can be HTML documents! So a lot of the same applies for both!

• Sectons Writing and Images also apply!
• Make sure images include alt text. See the Alternative Text section, and here’s how to write alt text in different software
  • Important information should be included in the text body. Some users may have images blocked!
• Text should be easy to read:
  • At least 11pt (15px) font size
    • For Websites: You should be using relative units instead! (but avoid using relative units for padding) (There is also a new meta text-scale tag coming to Chromium)
  • Legible sans-serif font
    • For Websites: I like using the user’s system font!
  • Broken up into short paragraphs
  • Should have good contrast, see Images section
  • Avoid using justified-text. Text should always be left-or-right-aligned.
• Links should be descriptive. Avoid text like “this” or “click here”, and instead use something like Article about link text or Writing helpful links