Accessible Social

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#12: June 2021
accessiblesocial.substack.com

#12: June 2021

Queen of Nothing

Alexa Heinrich
Jun 7, 2021
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I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine about allyship and knowing your place when it comes to advocacy. Despite how passionate I am about educating others about digital accessibility best practices for social media, I struggle every day over whether or not I’m going about doing this the right way.

Am I an expert? Absolutely. Am I the expert? Absolutely not, and it makes me incredibly uncomfortable when people act as if I am. There are so many brilliant individuals out there advocating for the same thing I am, many of whom are in fact disabled. Their voices and experiences will always be more important than mine. Being a good ally means putting the cause and the people impacted by it first. Always and without hesitation.

I’m not the Queen of Accessibility. Far from it, really. Like everyone else, there will always be more for me to learn.

Alexa


The Good Stuff from May

Captions Sticker Released for Instagram Stories

Instagram’s captions sticker for Stories moved from internal testing to an official rollout and will soon be available for Reels, too.

Twitter avatar for @instagramInstagram @instagram
Sound off 🗣 …with sound off 🔇 Now you can add a captions sticker in Stories (coming soon to Reels) that automatically turns what you say into text. We’re starting in a handful of countries and hope to expand soon.
Image

May 4th 2021

228 Retweets993 Likes

YouTube Beefed Up Their Translation Experience

You can now browse video titles in your native tongue. Access comes in many forms, and language can play a part in that.

Twitter avatar for @AndroidPoliceAndroid Police @AndroidPolice
YouTube's new translation experiment lets you browse titles in your native tongue
androidpolice.com/2021/05/04/you…
Image

May 4th 2021

6 Retweets74 Likes

Add Your Pronouns to Your Instagram

While pronouns don’t necessarily make your profile more accessible, they do make it more inclusive, which is equally important.

Twitter avatar for @instagramInstagram @instagram
Add pronouns to your profile ✨ The new field is available in a few countries, with plans for more.
Image

May 11th 2021

2,384 Retweets10,654 Likes

Apple Watch Gets an Upgrade

Apple has made it easier to check the notifications on your watch by simply using hand gestures.

Twitter avatar for @sarahyuuiSarah @sarahyuui
my team at Apple Accessibility is incredible! on Apple Watch, you can now answer calls, check your notifications or end a workout using ONLY hand gestures ⌚️✊🏼👌🏼 + much more here:
apple.com/newsroom/2021/…
Image

May 19th 2021

1,258 Retweets6,169 Likes

Twitter Spaces Keeps Getting Better

Not only is Twitter Spaces now available on desktop, but the team who continue to develop the feature have consistently made it clear that accessibility is a priority for them, and transcriptions are in the works!

Twitter avatar for @TwitterSpacesSpaces @TwitterSpaces
starting today, spaces will be available on
Twitter.com (mobile web, desktop web) our focus areas: - infrastructure and listening UI that adapts to your screen size - setting reminders for scheduled spaces - accessibility and transcriptions
Image
Image

May 26th 2021

2,195 Retweets6,652 Likes

YouTube Uses ASCII Art Cheat

It’s nice to see a major platform that understands how to make ASCII art accessible. If you’re not aware of the workaround, you screenshot the illustration, add it to your tweet or post as an image, and then write alt text for it. Boom, accessible ASCII art.

Twitter avatar for @LiamODellUKLiam O'Dell @LiamODellUK
This is good to see from YouTube. Rather than populate the tweet itself with inaccessible text/emoji art, they’ve instead popped this into an image and added alt text. More of this, please. 👏🏻

YouTube @YouTube

What’s the last channel you subscribed to? https://t.co/JjLlbG0tT4

May 26th 2021

4 Retweets28 Likes

Creators Captioning Their Videos More Frequently

Speaking of YouTube, since they pulled their Community Captions feature last year, more creators have apparently started making the effort to caption their own videos to make them accessible for deaf and hard of hearing users, which is how it should be.

Twitter avatar for @nealbilow@NealBilow @nealbilow
“I used to send out personal emails to many YouTubers a year asking them to caption their content." Accessibility must be the standard when creating any content. Fascinating read on the state of YouTube captions and how activists are pushing for change.
YouTube pulled its community captions feature, so now more creators are making their ownDeaf campaigners pushed for more captions on YouTube, and it’s working. After community captions were removed in 2020, overall captions are up in 2021. Deaf campaigners pushed for more captions on YouTube, and it’s working. Aftertheverge.com

May 21st 2021

6 Retweets8 Likes

The Bad Stuff from May

Donut Overload

I get that it’s Dunkin Donuts, but someone should let them know that there is in fact a thing as too many donuts. This tweet they created for National Donuts Day is cute, but it’s a small nightmare for a screen reader user.

Twitter avatar for @HelHathNoFuryHelene Holstein @HelHathNoFury
Yes, images made out of emojis can look cool and cute. But here's how a screen reader reads them. Thank you @HashtagHeyAlexa for raising awareness about #AccessibleSocial!
Image

June 4th 2021

5 Retweets13 Likes

Company Claiming to Make Websites ADA Compliant Slammed

If you’re not familiar with AccessiBe and companies similar to it, they use overlays in an effort to make websites accessible. However, they cause more problems than solutions. Your website should be made accessible from the beginning; it shouldn’t be an afterthought that you try to fix with a band-aid like an overlay.

Twitter avatar for @merylkevansMeryl Evans speaks at #A11yNYC on July 13 @merylkevans
Blind people, advocates slam company claiming to make websites ADA compliant
buff.ly/3o1Tx8x Excellent article that tells the whole story about overlays by @aprilaser via @NBCNews Quotes the brilliant @ChanceyFleet @HabenGirma @accessaces #Accessibility #A11y
Chancey Fleet stands on a trail surrounded by trees and her loyal black dog stands next to her

May 10th 2021

3 Retweets3 Likes

Appliances Don’t Have Braille Keypads

Now, this tweet isn’t actually bad. What Kristin does to make the world more accessible for her sons is wonderful, but the fact that she has to do it because the manufacturers don’t is disappointing. After reading her tweet, I immediately went and checked the appliances in my house because they’re only a few years old, and sure enough, their keypads don’t have Braille either.

Twitter avatar for @KristinSmedleyKristin Smedley😎 @KristinSmedley
Brailled the oven & microwave so my boys can independently navigate the kitchen in our new home. Now if only there was a cool way to make the “Mom we have nothing to eat” go away! #ThrivingBlind #access #MomLife
Braille & tactile stickers
Green tactile stickers on touch pad of oven

May 18th 2021

2 Retweets14 Likes

Have you recently spotted a major digital accessibility win or fail on social media? Send it to me! I might just feature it in my next newsletter. Feel free to email me at hello@therealalexa.com or you can DM me on Twitter. My inbox is always open!


Excellent Resources

I find some of the best tips and resources on Twitter from other creators and advocates, and I want to share them with you, too!

Twitter avatar for @socialmedia2daySocial Media Today @socialmedia2day
A handy overview of TikTok's accessibility tools
TikTok Adds New Accessibility Overview To Provide Additional Support for UsersTikTok has added a new overview of its accessibility tools to help provide more support for users.socialmediatoday.com

June 4th 2021

4 Retweets15 Likes
Twitter avatar for @A11yLibrarianAccessibility Librarian @A11yLibrarian
Hot tip for anyone including images in their social media or educational content...you should describe those images! @veron4ica has a great myth busting post to get you started:
7 Common Myths About Alt Text | VeroniiiicaHere are seven common myths about alt text, and how it should be used to help visually impaired users to understand what is in an image.veroniiiica.com

June 3rd 2021

19 Retweets25 Likes
Twitter avatar for @smashingmagSmashing Magazine @smashingmag
✨ New: Accessible SVGs: Perfect Patterns For Screen Reader Users. Which SVG patterns are the most inclusive when comparing OSs, browsers, and screen readers. By @cariefisher.
smashingmagazine.com/2021/05/access…
One of the SVG patterns: <img> + role=“img” + arial-labelledby=“[ID]"

May 26th 2021

45 Retweets131 Likes
Twitter avatar for @HashtagHeyAlexaAlexa Heinrich (she/her) @HashtagHeyAlexa
I love @Adobe’s new Color Contrast Checker on their color site. Such an easy tool to use and you can toggle between WCAG AA and AAA qualifying ratios!

May 24th 2021

3 Retweets11 Likes
Twitter avatar for @whykristenburnsKit (Metaphors and Moonlight) @whykristenburns
I often talk about adding alt text to images, but I never actually talk about what makes good alt text, for people who are unsure. So here's my perspective as a sighted person who sometimes uses a screen reader. Tips for writing alt text for images and gifs:

May 8th 2021

7,011 Retweets16,294 Likes

Scroll Stoppers

These bits of wisdom and insightful reads made me immediately stop scrolling. Hopefully, they get your brain fired up as well.

Twitter avatar for @annaecookAnna E. Cook @annaecook
Accessibility cannot be fully automated. It is a form of design, and deserves the human attention and care all forms of design do.

May 24th 2021

141 Retweets660 Likes
Twitter avatar for @JaimeHuntIMCJaime Hunt 🏳️‍🌈 @JaimeHuntIMC
A good reminder that some disabilities are invisible.
The top of the graphic reads “some disabilities look like this” and has simple drawings of an arm amputated, a person on crutches, a person with a cane, a person in a wheelchair, a person with a walker, a person with a cane for people who are blind, and a person with an amputated leg. Below this line of drawings is the sentence “some disabilities look like this.” Beneath that is a drawing of a person with no apparent injury or ailment.

June 4th 2021

107 Retweets387 Likes
Twitter avatar for @dinoman_jdinosaur @dinoman_j
twitter should have an "are you sure you want to post an image without alt-text" prompt

May 27th 2021

441 Retweets3,757 Likes
Twitter avatar for @KimotaJonathan Crossfield @Kimota
As today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day, let me tell you the remarkable story of deaf silent film actor Emerson Romero and the invention of closed captions. Via @getskedsocial #Accessibility #CMWorld #GAAD
How a deaf actor brought media accessibility to Hollywood – Sked SocialThe story of media accessibility stretches back nearly a century. It’s a story of how technology and innovation can leave people behind – and how it’s often left to those who can’t access the content to solve what many content creators don’t even consider to be a problem.skedsocial.com

May 20th 2021

3 Retweets5 Likes
Twitter avatar for @perkins_accessPerkins Access @perkins_access
#DigitalAccessibility goes beyond websites and apps, it's important for all digital experiences, including #SocialMedia. Hear from blind users on how they use @instagram:
business2community.com/instagram/how-… And follow the #20DaysOfDigitalAccessibility in honor of #GAAD.How Blind Users Experience Instagram“If you’re a visual learner and you’re vision impaired, you’re a bit screwed – and I think I’m one of…business2community.com

May 19th 2021

2 Retweets4 Likes
Twitter avatar for @MargauxJoffeMargaux Joffe (she/her) @MargauxJoffe
"This is my love letter to disabled folks around the world. To those always fighting for accessibility out of necessity. To the beautiful diversity that exists within our disabled spaces." - Jessica Oddi on her artwork for @Yahoo. @gbla11yday #a11y
yahoo.com/now/global-acc…
Colourful vector illustration of 9 disabled people. A gay couple kissing; an Asian cane user and a Middle Eastern wheelchair user with a stoma bag. A white Autistic cis person with vitiligo, sitting down with headphones. A Black gender fluid person with scoliosis and a prosthetic leg doing the peace sign with a South Asian woman with Down Syndrome. A Blind Muslim woman with a hijab walking with a white cane. A two-spirit Indigenous Little Person, sitting in a power wheelchair with a trach tube. A white man with chronic illness, signing "call me" to a Black Deaf woman waving hello, wearing a hearing aid. Yahoo Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day May 20.

May 18th 2021

27 Retweets67 Likes

Mark Your Calendar

Lots of good stuff happening in June!

  • June 15th: Perkins Access is teaming up with Katie Martell to host digital accessibility lessons from the team behind the 2021 Presidential Inauguration and Campaign!

    Twitter avatar for @KatieMartell💥 Katie Martell @KatieMartell
    Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at #DigitalAccessibility and #inclusion at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration (the most #accessible in history) and Biden for President campaign. Feat. @Laila_ElGohary and @perkins_access June 15th:
    ktmartell.com/BidenPerkins
    Image

    June 3rd 2021

    1 Retweet2 Likes
  • June 16th: I’ll be presenting at the 24-hour All Day All Night Conference on the Flamingo Stage and talking about accessible social media content.

  • June 17th: Social Fresh is coming up, and I’m excited to be speaking alongside so many of my very talented friends.

  • June 22nd: The Public Affairs Council is hosting a Digital Media & Advocacy Summit, and I’ll be giving a short presentation with Erica Harris from PAC.


Secrets, secrets are no fun unless you share with everyone! This logic also applies to newsletters and your Netflix login.

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