Digital Presentations of Art

Artist Websites

WCAG 2.1

Social Media

Social Media posts are frequently inaccessible for a variety of reasons, from lack of captions and alt-text to the use of alternative characters (custom fonts.) An excellent resource about creating accessible social media posts in Accessible Social, created by social media strategist Alexa Heinrich. Here are a few key topics, but there are several more covered on Accessible Social.

Camel Casing Hashtags, Web Address and Handles

  • Screen Readers depend on spaces and capital letters to recognize separate words. If a screen reader comes across a string of letters that it doesn’t recognize as a word it will often spell out each individual letter or an awkwardly pronounced amalgamated word.

  • To provide a better experience for those using screen readers, use camel casing in any hashtags or other stringed together words. 

  • Camel casing is the capitalization of each new word in a connected phrase - for example #ContemporaryArt or www.ContemporaryArt.org

  • Camel caring should be used for hashtags, social media handle, web addresses, and emails (for example: Email@ContemporaryArt.org)

Image Descriptions and Alt Text 

Social Media posts should ideally have both an Image Description and Alt-text. Since people have become more aware of the option to add alt-text to Instagram and Twitter posts, many have discontinued adding Image Description. However, these two descriptions serve slightly different purposes, so it's worth adding an image description into the body of the post, in addition to alt-text. Alt-text is essential for people who use screen readers. In addition to providing more details, image descriptions are useful to some people with cognitive disabilities and low vision who may not use a screen reader.

Learn more about adding Alt-text to social media posts:

Image description can be added on the body of a post below other information, but above the list of hashtags. Label it either "Image Description:" or "ID:" followed by the description.


Emojis and Icons

When using Emojis, keep in mind that when a screen reader encounters an emoji, it recites the name of the emoji. Because of this, emojis that are added within a sentence or phrase (or on peace of words) can sound like nonsense when using a screen reader. Additionally, adding emojis within a sentence or in peace of a word can make it difficult for people with cognitive or learning disabilities to read your post. Emojis should be used thoughtfully, and placed at the end of a sentence or paragraph. It's recommended that you also familiarize yourself with the actual name of the emojis, so you know how your post will sound when using a screen reader.


Captioning Video Posts

Just like any other video, social media posts that contain videos - especially those with spoken language - must be captioned. There are several apps available that can create captions specifically for social media posts, including:

All three of these apps are available for both Apple and Android devices.