Time and time again, social media has proven to be an invaluable resource in raising awareness. Whether for causes, events, or political platforms, social media is an unparalleled engine for the spread of information. Trends, posts, pictures, and hashtags are used to accomplish this. When social media users promote or celebrate a cause on their platform, they can help that cause reach more people.
World Sight Day is one such cause. The International Agency founded World Sight Day for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) to raise awareness about eye health worldwide. Its ultimate goal is to end the epidemic of preventable blindness.
A successful World Sight Day depends on as many people getting involved as possible. As such, various partners and coordinators of World Sight Day have taken to social media to promote and spread awareness.
Given the nature of this cause, it’s important to ensure that World Sight Day celebrations remain accessible, specifically for individuals who may differ in visual abilities. In this piece, we will observe how World Sight Day is celebrated on social media and whether they are accessible.
#Loveyoureyes
The theme for World Sight Day 2023 is “Love Your Eyes.” This theme reflects an emphasis on the upkeep of regular eye health. Partners and coordinators of this year’s celebrations are utilizing the hashtag #loveyoureyes to spread awareness.
Hashtags are an incredibly accessible means of celebrating World Sight Day. One of the advantages of hashtags is that they can be used across all social media platforms. Whether the platform is text, video, or image-based, hashtags are used to aggregate and catalog the campaign.
Hashtags are also more accessible than most other types of social media content. The fact that they are text-based makes them adaptable. For instance, individuals who rely on screen readers can still access the hashtag.
Celebratory Posts
Another way social media celebrates World Sight Day 2023 is through text-based posts. The IAPB has provided several post options on its website. Celebrants can share these posts on various platforms, including Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook.
One such post available to share reads:
“We challenge you to make your eye health a priority. Join us, @IAPB1 and the millions of others from around the world who are putting their health first this #WorldSightDay. Pledge to #LoveYourEyes at www.iapb.org/world-sight-day/pledging-tool”
Much like hashtags, text-based posts allow for accessibility. This accessibility can translate across various types of social media platforms. Even on platforms like TikTok and Youtube, users can share text-based posts in the video’s description. This is helpful to individuals who may use a screen reader.
Image Sharing
Social media users have also taken to sharing images celebrating World Sight Day 2023. Though Instagram is the go-to platform for these kinds of posts, sites like Twitter and Facebook are good options.
Like text-based posts, the IAPB has options for image-based posts. One such post features the winning photo of 2021’s World Sight Day photography competition.
Other partners of World Sight Day have also engaged in image-based celebrations on social media. One such trend on featured Twitter features photos of people wearing heart-shaped glasses. This trend can be found on posts featuring #LoveYourEyes or #worldsightday.
Image-based posts like these can still be accessible. This accessibility is primarily reliant on the use of alt-text on these images. Alt-text refers to the text provided on an image that describes the image's content. This allows screen readers to describe the contents of a photo on a webpage.
Video Content
Users of video-reliant social media platforms are also finding ways to celebrate World Sight Day 2023. The most prevalent of these sites is TikTok.
Across social media, the #worldsightday hashtag is used to share eye health awareness worldwide. Many of these posts come from eye-care professionals urging members of their community to engage in regular eye health.
World Sight Day partners are also utilizing video celebrations. SEEInternational is one such partner. In a Tiktok video promoting world sight day, Members of the organization explain what World Sight Day means to them. The video also highlights SEEInternational’s milestone of providing 300 hundred eye-restoring surgeries in Namibia.
Unfortunately, video-based content is not a very accessible means of celebrating World Sight Day. Though videos can be widely shared, they provide limited options for individuals with visual impairments. While video content can utilize accessibility features, like audio description, these features aren’t frequently used on social media platforms. As such, video-based celebrations on social media aren’t as reliable as other mediums.
In conclusion
Apart from some video-based content, World Sight Day celebrations on social media are mostly accessible. Through text and image-based trends, individuals of all ability levels can learn and spread the word about World Sight Day 2023.
Comments