Over the past two decades, social media platforms have revolutionized communication, offering unparalleled convenience and connectivity to users around the globe. However, as technology evolves, the accessibility gaps within these platforms and the devices we use to access them are becoming increasingly apparent to users with disabilities and disability advocates.
For instance, studies show that only 72% of U.S. adults with disabilities own a smartphone, and just 62% have their own laptop or desktop computer. These figures highlight significant disparities in the kinds of access to technology enjoyed by those with and without disabilities. As our reliance on social media continues to grow, addressing social media accessibility has never been more essential. Let’s examine some commonly cited social media accessibility challenges and explore best practices for creating equitable digital experiences for all users.
Why social media accessibility matters
For many users, social media platforms play a major role in communicating and connecting with the world around them. Not only do individuals utilize social media to stay “tuned in,” but many businesses have opted in recent years to incorporate social media into their branding and marketing efforts. By failing to adequately prioritize accessibility on social media platforms, business owners and content creators aren’t just delivering sub-par experiences – they’re actually limiting their own potential.
Inaccessible social media content limits community engagement, diminishes user experience and can contribute to negative public perception of a brand. That’s why it is so important for businesses, organizations and individual creators to embrace accessibility as part of their efforts to build more engaged, inclusive communities.
Social media accessibility requirements
Social media accessibility isn’t just a key business consideration for brands aiming to expand their reach — it’s also a legal requirement for today’s business owners. Let’s take a closer look at some of the legal requirements creators and business leaders should keep in mind when assessing the accessibility of their social media content.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA is a United States civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on a person’s disability status. While the ADA originally pertained primarily to the accessibility of physical spaces, US courts have upheld in recent years that its accessibility requirements should extend to virtual spaces as well. Failing to comply with the standards outlined by the ADA can result in harsh non-compliance consequences ranging from reputational damage to legal challenges and hefty fines.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
WCAG is a comprehensive breakdown of accessibility standards as dictated by the World Wide Web Consortium. WCAG provides clear and specific guidance for creating accessible digital spaces. Its key tenets dictate that all content published online — including on social media platforms — should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for users of all backgrounds and abilities.
Common barriers to accessibility on social media
For some individuals with disabilities, social media content is not inherently accessible enough to provide equitable and comparable experiences to those enjoyed by individuals without disabilities. Here are some common examples of barriers to accessibility in social media and their impacts on users with disabilities:
- Lack of captioning and transcription. For users who are Deaf or hard of hearing, audio and video content without captions or transcripts is often not sufficiently accessible. When a video or audio file is uploaded to a social media platform without complementary captions or transcripts, a substantial portion of an audience stands to feel alienated, thus significantly limiting the reach of the content.
- Poor visual design. Social media platforms or posts must be specifically designed to support the needs of individuals with vision and eye disorders, such as those who are blind or have low vision. Low color contrast, overly complex images or small fonts can make content difficult for users with visual disabilities to perceive and understand, thus negatively affecting accessibility.
- Non-accessible interactive features. Many of us take for granted the sheer number of buttons, forms and navigation menus we encounter on digital platforms. However, if these elements are not properly designed and optimized, they become more or less useless to individuals who rely on screen readers or other assistive technologies to help them navigate digital spaces.
- Inadequate descriptive content. Many social media platforms are video and image driven, but images without alt text or videos without audio descriptions may not be fully accessible for audience members who are blind or have low vision. Alt text plays a critical role in maximizing accessibility because it allows screen reader users to fully engage with posted content via mediums that they can perceive and understand. Audio description serves a similar purpose because it provides audible descriptions of the visual elements of video content to provide more equitable and engaging content experiences to users with vision-related and other disabilities.
- Time-sensitive interactions. Short time limits for certain actions (e.g., disappearing stories, messages, etc.) can pose challenges for users who need additional time to process information, as well as for individuals who utilize assistive tools to browse social media platforms. These time limits can significantly impact user experience for individuals with disabilities and prevent these community members from fully participating and engaging in digital spaces.
How social media platforms are addressing accessibility
Leading social media platforms have increasingly come to recognize the importance of online accessibility, and many are actively working to enhance inclusivity through various initiatives:
- Automated and live captioning. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube now offer automatic captioning for video content posted on their websites and applications. Many platforms also offer video transcription capabilities that provide users with full-length read-outs of the text of an online video, which can serve as valuable accessibility tools for individuals with a wide range of support needs.
- Alt text for images. Many platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn offer alt-text capabilities to make images shared on users’ feeds more readily accessible for screen reader users.
- High-contrast and readable fonts. Some advanced video platforms like TikTok and Instagram have rolled out features aimed at enhancing text readability through customizable fonts and color contrast settings. In addition to offering automatic captions, TikTok also provides users with the option to create manual captions in a variety of colors, sizes and formats to further customize their accessibility options.
Best practices for social media accessibility
While recent improvements to social media platforms have shown great promise in enhancing digital accessibility for social media users with disabilities, there are some additional considerations to keep in mind when seeking to maximize the inclusivity of your online content. Built-in and automatic accessibility features are a great jumping off point for creators and business leaders looking to enhance their accessibility offerings. However, it is important to continually supplement and build upon these foundational elements to more effectively support audience members of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Companies like Verbit specialize in helping content creators and business entities enhance their accessibility offerings in ways that support their existing goals, workflows and brand presence. Here are just a few of the solutions Verbit offers to help brands and individuals create more inclusive social media content:
- Industry-tailored closed captioning. Verbit’s state-of-the-art speech recognition technology is trained using industry-specific language models in order to generate more accurate, comprehensive captions of live and pre-recorded content. Verbit’s captions are accurate enough to support vital accessibility requirements but come in at a mere fraction of the price of other advanced captioning solutions.
- Interactive transcripts. Verbit’s transcription offerings are designed to help brands and end-users get more mileage out of their audio and video transcripts. With Verbit’s fully searchable transcripts and generative AI transcript insights, users of all backgrounds and abilities can more readily engage with and learn from audio and video content shared on social media platforms.
- Comprehensive audio description. Verbit also offers industry-leading audio description capabilities that are meticulously crafted to preserve creators’ artistic visions while providing more accessible content experiences to audience members who are blind or have low vision. With the addition of Verbit’s SmartPlayer, users can easily tune in for digital video content when and where they choose and in ways that work for them.
Make you social content more social
Social media accessibility is not just a technical requirement — it’s a legal and moral imperative. Accessible social media content provides users and community members of all backgrounds and abilities with more inclusive, engaging content experiences that make them feel seen, heard and understood. By maintaining an awareness of common accessibility barriers and tools for addressing them, business owners and content creators can more effectively leverage the ever-growing power of social media to cultivate more impactful, equitable content that evolves with its audience.
At Verbit, we understand that your account is your voice. That’s why we are constantly working to upgrade our accessibility offerings to more effectively meet the cultural moment as well as the changing needs of modern social media users. From live captioning and transcription to top-quality post-production audio description, Verbit offers a variety of products and services that can help business leaders, social media marketers and content creators expand their reach while keeping accessibility at the forefront.
Reach out today to learn more about Verbit’s state-of-the-art assistive technology platform and to discover how accessible social media content can help lay the foundation for a more inclusive digital future.