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When you’re sharing images on social media, the first thing you’re thinking of is probably how many likes and comments will roll in. But before you hit post, consider that you could be excluding lots of people from enjoying your photos and videos because you haven’t made them accessible. Accessibility, for those who do not have to deal with it on a daily basis, might not be top of mind but it’s a lifeline for those who do and just takes a few seconds to implement. It benefits those with different levels of ability, whether that’s people with hearing or visual disabilities (including colorblindness) or those who have trouble focusing or difficulty processing information. And sometimes, accessing something that’s more accessible is just about preference, like watching a video with captions on because you’re not one of those people who wants to subject an entire train car to TikToks.Before we get into how to make images and videos more accessible on various platforms, we’ll first cover some general guidelines you can follow. For starters, if you’re posting a photo, stick to a still one. Animated gifs can’t get alt tags to make them legible to those with visual impairments. If you’re creating an image, particularly an infographic, check it with a colorblindness simulator to see how it will be perceived. If you’re including text along with an image, stick to straightforward letters, leaving out emoji and decorative text as much as possible, which can’t be parsed correctly by screen readers that people use to access accessibility features. Whenever possible, you should also use sans serif fonts like Arial and Verdana, which can be read easier by those with dyslexia. When using hashtags, camelcase them (meaning capitalize the first letter of each new word), so that they can be read out loud properly by screen readers. The primary way to make videos accessible is by adding closed captioning. This is generally a straightforward process that does not require additional text from you. Photos are a little different in that their accessibility generally relies on your adding alt text yourself. This is a description of what is included in the image. When you write this, think about how you would describe the image to someone over an audio call. Try to keep it brief and use punctuation since the screen readers will only pause where they are directed to do so. If there is text in an image, note that and type it out in the alt text. Now that we’ve covered the basics, here’s what you can do on your platforms of choice to make sure that the internet is truly for everyone. TikTokTikTok captions are a lifesaver for many, whether they have hearing issues or just want to watch videos without turning on the sound. The platform has made it easy to add captions to your uploads.
Upload a video, then on the Post screen, tap More Options > Select Video Language. Once you’ve chosen that, select Post. Because the captions are auto-generated, they can have errors. Review your video, and if the captions need editing, go to the video editing screen, tap the caption, select Edit Captions, make your chances, and then select Save. XYou can add alt text to images that you upload to X with just a few easy steps. Upload your image as you normally would and you’ll see Add Description under your image on desktop and +ALT overlaid on the image on mobile. Select them to add a description of the image and then hit Save on desktop and Done on mobile. Then share your post as you normally would. The extra step is easy but also easy to forget when you post. To set up a prompt for each time you post an image, go to Settings and Privacy > Accessibility, Display and Languages > Accessibility > Media > Receive Image Description Reminder and turn it on.
(Credit: X)
If you’re linking out to something else, include in your post a description of what it is, such as “Check out this story on PCMag.com on the best wireless and Bluetooth speakers.”ThreadsOn Threads, select your image or video for upload, then tap the Alt that appears over it. You can then write in a description and select Done. Once your post is complete, you can post it as usual.Facebook Facebook generates alt text using AI, but you should add your own if you want a more accurate description. To add your own alt text to a photo or video, upload the photo and then mouse over it and click Edit and then on the left side, select Alternative Text. To edit it, select Override Generated Alt Text and write your own description, then click Save. You can also edit alt text on any existing posts by selecting the photo, then choosing More > Change Alt Text > Override. When you’re done editing the text, click Save.InstagramBecause Instagram is also owned by Meta, it uses the same process of AI-generated alt text. To edit alt text when uploading, upload your image or video, select Next > Accessibility. Type in your text, and then select Share. For a photo that’s already been posted, click on it, then More Options > Edit > Accessibility and write your text, then select Done. Reddit
(Credit: Reddit)
You cannot add alt text in Reddit. But when you upload an image, tap on Text and in the Body Text field, you can add a description of the image at the top, which will be much appreciated by anyone who would normally access alt text. When you’re done filling out the fields for your post, tap Post as usual.
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PinterestUnfortunately, you cannot add alt text to Pinterest unless you have a business account. If you do have one, when you create a pin, fill out the Alt Text field when adding the rest of your information about the pin. LinkedInAfter you upload an image to LinkedIn, click Edit > Add Alt Text. Add your description and then select Next. That’s all there is to it!YouTubeYou can add closed captions when livestreaming on YouTube by going to YouTube Studio and selecting Create > Go Live > Stream. In the Stream settings, make sure Closed Captions are turned on and select Automatic Captions as the captions source.
To add closed captions to a video upload, upload your video as usual and when you get to the Video Elements tab, look for Add Subtitles and select it. If your video has been up for over a day or so, YouTube has probably added captions to it. You can improve these by going into YouTube Studio, selecting Subtitles from the left nav, and clicking on a video. If the video has subtitles already, you will see Published: Automatic in the Subtitles column. Click Duplicate and Edit to the right of that. You’ll see the transcript YouTube generated, which will likely not have capitalization or punctuation and could contain errors. Make any changes that you need to, and then click Publish. Should you want to make captions available as soon as your video is published, you’ll have to do it yourself. You can either type them in manually as you watch the video or use software to generate a transcript that you then paste in. For that, you can use an AI service like Otter.ai, which gives you 300 minutes free speech-to-text transcription each month. To access the options, go to YouTube Studio, upload your video, and fill out the fields as usual, but make sure that under Details, you go to Language and Captions Certification and select the language your video is in under Video Language. Then go to the Video Elements tab, select Add Subtitles, and click Add. You can then click Upload File to add your transcript or Type Manually to watch your video and type along as you go.
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