Microblogging social media platform Twitter ranks in the top 15 most popular social media sites in the world with 463 million unique users a month (as of the end of 2021). Over the course of its 15-year history, Twitter has become the birthplace for many social justice movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo, movements that spread beyond social media to change our culture at large. And as Twitter increasingly becomes the platform where those uniting under a cause meet to share information about injustices that affect their daily lives, ensuring that information on Twitter is accessible to people with disabilities is more crucial than ever.
While Twitter’s accessibility efforts are some of the most proactive, progressive, and transparent out there, much of the onus for crafting accessible tweets is still on the Tweeter. Twitter has a litany of amazing tools in its arsenal, and increasingly they are becoming autogenerated, but many are not quite there yet. For that reason, it is useful to understand that there are some basic best practices that go a long way in making Twitter more accessible. Here are some simple ways to move the entire platform towards increased accessibility for all users one tweet at a time.
Add alt-text
Alt-text is text that can be added to a post with an image that describes the image for people who are visually impaired and accessing Twitter via screen readers. Twitter gives step-by-step instructions for how to create and add alt-text/image descriptions. For images that are infographics that analyze data points, a best practice would be to also include a link to the data in text form.
Compose tweets in sentence case
An important thing to remember about accessibility on the internet is that screen readers follow certain rules for reading text back to users. Using all caps or all lowercase can discombobulate the reader’s programming, causing it to relay distorted messaging back to the user. For that reason, writing in regular sentence case is a best practice so that screen readers can understand text properly and relay it back clearly.
Hashtags should be in Camel Case
When using hashtags, capitalize every word, commonly referred to as Camel Case. For example: #BlackLivesMatter not #blacklivesmatter. This makes it easier for screen readers to differentiate between words and to relay an accurate message to users. It also helps those with reading and learning disabilities to differentiate meaning in the hashtag.
Keep emoji use to a minimum
When screen readers read emojis, they read the title of each emoji aloud even if the emoji is a repeat, meaning if a post has 15 red hearts in a row, the screen reader will announce the heart 15 times. This can be a tedious deterrent for people accessing content via screen readers. For this reason, be judicious with emoji use and limit repeats, and when emojis are used, place them at the end of a sentence. For a profile that is truly accessible, avoid using emojis in display names so that the profile is clearly recognizable by screen readers.
Other best practices for text
For similar reasons as using sentence case and camel case, keep the usage of acronyms and abbreviations to a minimum. Similarly, avoid special and Unicode characters. Unicode glyphs and characters that are upside down, bold, italicized, etc. along with toggle cases are extremely confusing for screen readers. Honestly, this type of text is difficult for many people to read and distracts from the meaning of the messaging. Best to avoid it altogether.
Be concise
Be specific and concise in word choice, making sure important info is clear, breaking up any longer text with line breaks. This makes content easier for screen readers to process, but also makes Twitter easier to use for people with ASD, learning disabilities, and anxiety disorders.
Closed captioning for video content
Twitter is beta testing autogenerated captioning, but for the most accurate captioning and the most accessible experience at this moment in time, users can write their own closed captioning and upload it themselves. Twitter provides precise instructions for how to do this.
Check yourself
Graphics and images can be run through tools that will test the accessibility of content. These are commonly available on the internet, but here’s a rundown of a few of the best-automated ones.
Learn to identify and avoid ableist language
When posting about individuals with disabilities, language is powerful and has the ability to influence the way readers view those individuals. Be respectful and strive for language that is neutral and objective, never condescending. The ADA National Network offers an excellent guide on proper language for writing about people with disabilities.
Comments