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Accessible Social

Recommended Reading

Articles, blog posts, and other resources that provide valuable insights about disability and digital accessibility in relation to social media.

135 Video Marketing Statistics You Can't Ignore
Source:
InVideo

The title of the post is pretty self-explanatory: 135 video marketing statistics you can’t ignore.

8 guidelines to make social media posts more accessible
Source:
Sprout Social

Best practices for creating accessible social media content as outlined by Sprout Social's Carly Hill.

A General Style Guide for Podcast Transcription
Source:
Writing Alchemy

Tips and a template for writing a good podcast transcription.

A guide to writing accessible image captions
Source:
Mashable

From Instagram and Twitter photo descriptions to captioning audio on your TikTok videos, you have to consciously add accessibility considerations.

Ableism and Language
Source:
Autistic Hoya

Guide on different words and phrases that are ableist and/or outdated as well as alternatives. Content warning: examples of ableist and otherwise harmful language. Created and maintained by Lydia X. Z. Brown.

Accessibility Tips for Your Twitch Channel
Source:
Liz Wait

Rundown of tips to make your Twitch channel more inclusive from Dev + Test Automator, Liz Wait.

Accessibility awareness is on the rise, but is it turning into action?
Source:
TechCrunch

A look at how far accessibility has come and how far it still has to go.

Accessible Communication: A starting point to foster more inclusive comms
Source:
CharityComms

How to ensure you're creating communications with accessibility in mind.

Alt Text Only a Factor for Image Search
Source:
Search Engine Journal

Google clarifies alt text is only a factor for image search, not regular web search.

An intro to designing accessible data visualizations
Source:
Sarah L. Fossheim

Multidisciplinary developer and designer Sarah L. Fossheim has created an excellent overview of the dos and don'ts to keep in mind when designing accessible data visualizations.

Are you guilty of inspiration porn?
Source:
Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACC

Blogger and disability advocate Sheri Byrne-Haber breaks down the problem with inspiration porn, a form of unconscious bias that hurts people with disabilities.

Authors over automation: 3 Steps for better alt-text and image descriptions in academic writing
Source:
LSE Impact Blog

Information Scientist Lettie Y. Conrad discusses the value of author produced alt text for images in academic writing and shares resources and a three-step guide for authors looking to improve their alt text practice.

Captioned Video Accessibility: "Stranger Things" Captions, a Fascinating Case Study
Source:
Meryl K. Evans

Marketer Meryl K. Evans takes an in-depth look at the captions of the popular Netflix show "Stranger Things."

Captions and Transcripts and Audio Descriptions, Oh My!
Source:
TPGi

Different methods for providing alternatives to audio and video media and when each should be considered.

Captions increase viewership, accessibility and reach
Source:
Newton Technologies

Why it's important to add captions to your video content for accessibility and marketing purposes.

Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions
Source:
WebAIM

Best practices for providing captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions.

Color Contrast and Why You Should Rethink It
Source:
Smashing Magazine

Web Designer Cathy O' Connor shares one aspect of design accessibility: making sure that the look and feel (the visual design of the content) are sufficiently inclusive of visually disabled users.

Complete Guide to Captioned Videos
Source:
Meryl K. Evans

A detailed guide by digital marketing professional Meryl K. Evans on the ins and outs of captions and different captioning services.

Creating accessible content
Source:
Scaramanga Agency

Best practices to help content creators produce content that meets WCAG accessibility guidelines.

Data-driven best practices for Twitter Video Ads
Source:
Twitter

Twitter outlines how to create video content that is both engaging and accessible.

Descriptive transcripts
Source:
New Zealand Government

Guidance from the New Zealand government on how to create descriptive transcripts.

Digital Accessibility Laws Around the Globe
Source:
Law Office of Lainey Feingold

Information about laws and standards from around the globe that protect the disabled people's rights to participate in the digital world. Curated by disability rights lawyer and an author Lainey Feingold.

Disability Guide
Source:
Team Trust Productions

Guide to serving, understanding, and adding value to the largest minority in the world created by Team Trust Productions.

Disability Simulations: What Does the Research Say?
Source:
National Federation of the Blind
Does Your Website Have Any of These 10 Most-Cited Accessibility Issues?
Source:
Equal Entry

Equal Entry audits hundreds of web pages every year, and here are the most common accessibility issues their team found in 2021.

Don't be scared to talk about disabilities. Here's what to know and what to say
Source:
NPR

An overview of language, ableism, and how to talk about disability.

Dos and don'ts on designing for accessibility
Source:
U.K. Government

Best practices for designers as outlined by the U.K. government and interactive designer Karwai Pun.

Email Accessibility Guide: Best Practices for Marketers
Source:
Email on Acid

Guidelines for digital marketers and just about anyone who handles emails on how to best keep them accessible.

Google's Accessibility Newsletter
Source:
Google

Join an ever-growing community of accessibility enthusiasts now by subscribing to our newsletter and get the latest Google accessibility news to your inbox.

Google: Alt Text Only A Factor For Image Search
Source:
Search Engine Journal

Google clarifies alt text is only a factor for image search, not regular web search.

Guide to Accessibility and Emojis
Source:
Tej Kohli Foundation

Thorough overview of emoji icons and how they impact the accessibility of your digital content.

How Closed Captioning Facebook Videos Can Improve Viewership
Source:
Instapage

A look at how captioning videos can impact their engagement.

How do people with vision impairments use emoji?
Source:
Perkins School for the Blind

Article by Veronica Lewis via the Perkins School for the Blind detailing how emoji are coded and how they are transcribed by assistive technology like screen readers and text-to-speech programs.

How museums are making artworks accessible to blind people online
Source:
Art in America

A look at how institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York are making the museum experience more accessible for visitors with vision disabilities.

How special characters and symbols affect screen reader accessibility
Source:
The Big Hack

An excellent breakdown by Holly Tuke of how screen readers and other assistive tech handle special characters and icons.

How the Royal National Institute of Blind People Found a Dedicated Accessibility Partner in Sprout
Source:
Sprout Social

Case study that highlights the accessibility of Sprout Social as a social media management tool.

How to Procure Digital Services with Accessibility in Mind
Source:
American Alliance of Museums

How to evaluate potential vendors and partners for their knowledge of and commitment to accessibility.

How to Write Alt Text for Memes
Source:
Veronica Lewis

Best practices for writing alt text for memes as outlined by disability advocate Veronica Lewis.

How to build accessibility into your design process
Source:
Webflow

Learn how professional designers approach accessibility and benefit from their advice on how to build it into your web design workflow.

How to write effective alt text, for journalists
Source:
Source

Front-end developer and accessibility advocate Patrick Gavin explains why describing images and charts for blind and low-vision users can help your journalism on any platform reach more people who need it.

How to write great alt text
Source:
Charity Digital

Practical tips for writing alt text that is useful and useable.

It's Complicated: Negotiating Accessibility and (Mis)Representation in Image Descriptions of Race, Gender, and Disability
Source:
Cynthia Bennett

Academic paper by Cynthia L. Bennett, Cole Gleason, Morgan Klaus Scheuerman, Jeffrey P. Bigham, Anhong Guo, and Alexandra To on the ethics of humans and AI describing appearance characteristics that may convey the race, gender, and disabilities of people in the alt text of images.

Learning Firsthand How to Make Events Accessible
Source:
Professional Convention Management Association

Beki Winchel, research developer for the Professional Convention Management Association, shares what she learned from working with accessibility expert and Deaf speaker Meryl K. Evans in the lead-up to and on site at Convening Leaders 2022.

Links vs. Buttons in Modern Web Applications
Source:
Marcy Sutton

Web developer Marcy Sutton takes us through the difference between buttons and links and the appropriate web situations to use them.

Making GIFs Accessible
Source:
ACM Digital Library

Guide to how to use GIFs in an accessible way on social media.

Making data visualizations more accessible
Source:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

An in-depth look from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on how blind and sighted readers have sharply different takes on what content is most useful to include in a chart caption.

Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility
Source:
Microsoft

This topic gives you step-by-step instructions and best practices for making your PowerPoint presentations accessible and unlock your content to everyone, including people with disabilities.

Microsoft Word Doc Accessibility
Source:
Microsoft

This topic gives you step-by-step instructions and best practices on how to make your Word documents accessible and unlock your content to everyone, including people with disabilities.

Mobile Videos Often Watched Without Audio, Study Finds
Source:
Broadcasting+Cable

A survey of U.S. consumers found that 92% view videos with the sound off on mobile and 83% watch with sound off, according to a report from Verizon Media and ad buyer Publicis Media.

On "Person-First Language": It's Time To Actually Put The Person First
Source:
Radical Copyeditor

Excellent piece that clearly defines the differences between person-first language and person-centered language.

Open Captions vs. Closed Captions: What’s the Difference?
Source:
3Play Media

Overview of the key differences between open and closed captions.

Simulating Disabilities
Source:
Sheri Byrne-Haber

Blogger and disability advocate Sheri Byrne-Haber breaks down the problem with disability simulations and why they're not an effective way to educate people about disability.

Social media etiquette for accessibility
Source:
CharityComms

Guide by Holly Tuke and Becky Brynolf on accessible social media etiquette and best practices.

Sound On? Sound Off? 64% Marketers Using Video See Benefit of Captions
Source:
Verbit

Breakdown of statistics surrounding audio and video on social media platforms.

The Hidden Image Descriptions Making the Internet Accessible
Source:
The New York Times

Article from the New York Times about the challenge of describing every image on the internet, and the people who are trying.

The Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act
Source:
3Play Media

Breakdown of the Websites and Software Applications Accessibility Act introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives in late 2022 in an effort to remove barriers to web content for people with disabilities.

The case for describing race in alternative text attributes
Source:
Shopify UX

Product designer and accessibility specialist Tolu Adegbite explains through three examples why describing race in alt text is important.

Thoughts on skin tone and text descriptions
Source:
Léonie Watson

A perspective on how to treat race and identity in alt text.

Understanding color blindness
Source:
The A11y Project

Introduction to color blindness and what it means for digital accessibility.

Use Lists to Enhance Accessibility
Source:
The Admin Bar

Article on how formatting content into lists is an easy and under-utilized way of improving accessibility on websites.

Using Emoji Could Be Excluding People From Your Conversation
Source:
Bureau of Internet Accessibility

How emoji impact how digital content and the online experience of people using assistive technology.

Verizon Media and Publicis Media Find Viewers Want Captions
Source:
3Play Media

Overview of the report from Verizon Media and Publicis Media that examined the evolution of video viewing.

Visit for a surprise
Source:
Eric Bailey

Accessibility and inclusive design advocate Eric Bailey discusses the importance of descriptive linking.

What the heck is "web a11y"?
Source:
Ashlee M Boyer

Have you ever wondered what "a11y" means? Web developer Ashlee M Boyer explains the number-based word and its significance.

Where do I start with accessibility?
Source:
Tim Dixon

Guide featuring useful information and resources for beginners from I.T. architect Tim Dixon.

Why Do All These 20-Somethings Have Closed Captions Turned On?
Source:
The Wall Street Journal

As automatic captioning on TikTok and creative audio descriptions on Netflix go mainstream, so does accessibility.

Why You Need to Do User Testing with Deaf and Hard of Hearing People
Source:
Meryl K. Evans

Meryl K. Evans writes why you need to conduct user testing with Deaf and hard-of-hearing people.

Why are there so few politicians with disabilities?
Source:
Teen Vogue

Story by John Loeppky and Alex Green that discusses the structural barriers and discrimination that many politicians with disabilities face.

Your A-Z guide for social media accessibility
Source:
Life of a Blind Girl

A-Z rundown of how accessibility impacts social media from Holly Tuke.