Five ways to make your social media more accessible

Written by Steven Morris on

Small changes can make a big difference to how disabled people experience your social media content. Whether someone uses a screen reader, captions or other assistive technology, accessible posts help more people connect with what you share.

In this quick five-step guide, we’ll show you how disabled people interact with social media in 2026, and the practical things you can do to make your content more inclusive.

How do disabled people access social media?

Many disabled people use assistive technology to access social media. Some of the most common tools include:

Screen readers

Screen readers read digital content aloud. They can describe text, headings, emojis, buttons and images with alt text.

People might use built-in tools like VoiceOver on Apple devices, TalkBack on Android, or desktop software such as JAWS and NVDA.

Magnification and display settings

Some partially sighted people use screen magnifiers, zoom functions or customised display settings to make text and images easier to see. High contrast settings and larger fonts can also help.

Refreshable braille displays

These devices convert digital text into braille using small moving pins. They’re an important communication tool for many deafblind people and other braille users.

Captions and transcripts

Captions support deaf people, hard of hearing people, and many people with sensory processing differences or learning disabilities. Transcripts can also make audio and video content easier to follow.

Five simple steps for accessible social media

Step 1: Add alt text to images

Alt text is a short description of an image that can be read by screen readers and braille displays. It helps people understand what’s happening in the image, even if they can’t see it.

Most social media platforms now include a dedicated alt text option when uploading images. Use it whenever you post visual content.

Good alt text is:

  • Clear and concise.
  • Relevant to the post.
  • Descriptive enough to explain the image’s purpose.

For example:

“Two children painting together at an art session, smiling and covered in bright paint.”

Avoid:

  • Starting with “image of” or “photo of”.
  • Adding unnecessary hashtags or links.
  • Using alt text for jokes or hidden messages.

If text appears inside an image, include that text in the alt description too.

Step 2: Always use captions on videos

Captions are essential for many disabled people. They also help people watching videos without sound, which is common across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Auto-generated captions have improved, but they still make mistakes. Always check and edit them before posting.

Make sure captions:

  • Match the spoken content accurately.
  • Include important sounds where relevant.
  • Stay on screen long enough to read.

If you’re posting longer video content, consider adding a full transcript too.

Step 3: Describe important visual information

If key information is only shown visually, some people may miss it. Think about what someone would lose if they were listening without seeing the screen.

For example:

  • A presenter pointing silently at a chart.
  • Text appearing on screen without being read aloud.
  • Important actions happening without explanation.

You can make this more accessible by:

  • Narrating visual details naturally in the video.
  • Adding audio description.
  • Including a transcript with visual context.

This doesn’t need to be complicated. Often, a few extra words can make a big difference.

Step 4: Make hashtags easier to read

Use CamelCase for hashtags by capitalising the first letter of each word.

For example:

#AccessibleSocialMedia

instead of

#accessiblesocialmedia

This helps screen readers recognise separate words and makes hashtags easier for everyone to read quickly.

Try to avoid using too many hashtags in one post. If you need several, place them at the end.

Step 5: Use emojis, formatting and fonts carefully

Screen readers read out emojis too. A long line of emojis can become frustrating and difficult to follow.

Avoid:

  • Repeating emojis multiple times.
  • Decorative “fancy” fonts.
  • Large blocks of capital letters.
  • ASCII art or complex emoticons.

For example, stylised Unicode fonts may look eye-catching, but they’re often read out as symbols or individual characters by assistive technology.

It’s also worth keeping your formatting clean and simple:

  • Use plain English.
  • Keep sentences short.
  • Break up long blocks of text.
  • Avoid excessive punctuation.

Accessible content is usually clearer for everyone.

Accessibility helps everyone

Making social media more accessible isn’t about being perfect. It’s about removing barriers so more people can take part in conversations, communities and culture online.

The good news is that most accessibility improvements are quick to do once they become part of your routine.

Because social media should work for everyone!