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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#12: June 2021

accessiblesocial.substack.com

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 @instagram
Instagram @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
3:34 PM ∙ May 4, 2021
993Likes228Retweets

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 @AndroidPolice
Android Police @AndroidPolice
YouTube's new translation experiment lets you browse titles in your native tongue androidpolice.com/2021/05/04/you…
Image
10:07 PM ∙ May 4, 2021
74Likes6Retweets

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 @instagram
Instagram @instagram
Add pronouns to your profile ✨ The new field is available in a few countries, with plans for more.
Image
5:56 PM ∙ May 11, 2021
10,654Likes2,384Retweets

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 @sarahyuui
Sarah @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
7:15 PM ∙ May 19, 2021
6,169Likes1,258Retweets

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 @TwitterSpaces
Spaces @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
10:58 PM ∙ May 26, 2021
6,652Likes2,195Retweets

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 @LiamODellUK
Liam 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. 👏🏻
Twitter avatar for @YouTube
YouTube @YouTube
What’s the last channel you subscribed to? https://t.co/JjLlbG0tT4
11:04 PM ∙ May 26, 2021
28Likes4Retweets

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.
theverge.comYouTube 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. After
9:41 PM ∙ May 21, 2021
8Likes6Retweets

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 @HelHathNoFury
Helene 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
6:56 PM ∙ Jun 4, 2021
13Likes5Retweets

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 @merylkevans
Meryl 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
7:20 PM ∙ May 10, 2021
3Likes3Retweets

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 @KristinSmedley
Kristin 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
1:12 AM ∙ May 18, 2021
14Likes2Retweets

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 @socialmedia2day
Social Media Today @socialmedia2day
A handy overview of TikTok's accessibility tools
socialmediatoday.comTikTok 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.
2:15 PM ∙ Jun 4, 2021
15Likes4Retweets
Twitter avatar for @A11yLibrarian
Accessibility 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:
veroniiiica.com7 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.
1:51 PM ∙ Jun 3, 2021
25Likes19Retweets
Twitter avatar for @smashingmag
Smashing 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]"
2:05 PM ∙ May 26, 2021
131Likes45Retweets
Twitter avatar for @HashtagHeyAlexa
Alexa 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!
2:48 PM ∙ May 24, 2021
11Likes3Retweets
Twitter avatar for @whykristenburns
Kit (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:
7:10 PM ∙ May 8, 2021
16,294Likes7,011Retweets

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 @annaecook
Anna 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.
5:33 PM ∙ May 24, 2021
660Likes141Retweets
Twitter avatar for @JaimeHuntIMC
Jaime 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.
1:23 AM ∙ Jun 4, 2021
387Likes107Retweets
Twitter avatar for @dinoman_j
dinosaur @dinoman_j
twitter should have an "are you sure you want to post an image without alt-text" prompt
2:20 PM ∙ May 27, 2021
3,757Likes441Retweets
Twitter avatar for @Kimota
Jonathan 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
skedsocial.comHow 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.
1:55 PM ∙ May 20, 2021
5Likes3Retweets
Twitter avatar for @perkins_access
Perkins 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.
business2community.comHow 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…
5:23 PM ∙ May 19, 2021
4Likes2Retweets
Twitter avatar for @MargauxJoffe
Margaux 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.
1:08 AM ∙ May 18, 2021
67Likes27Retweets

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
    5:16 PM ∙ Jun 3, 2021
    2Likes1Retweet
  • 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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#12: June 2021

accessiblesocial.substack.com
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