#6: I don't actually care about your KPIs

But don't worry, accessible social is successful social

Mar 1, 2021

There is definitely a small degree of pushback whenever I suggest to some social media professionals that they drop doing a certain thing from their social media tactics because it’s not accessible.

Oh, you’ve seen great engagement when you sprinkled at least five emoji throughout your post? Using Unicode characters from external websites really makes you stand out from your competition?

Great, good for you. I don’t actually give a f*ck. Accessibility isn’t here to solely support your social media strategy or whatever KPIs you set. Accessibility is here, first and foremost, to support people, specifically people who can’t otherwise access your content without it. Are there marketing advantages to creating accessible content? Of course, but that’s not the main goal here.

And if you can’t figure that out, then maybe you should unsubscribe from this newsletter.

Alexa

PS: Sorry, I wrote this intro while hangry.

Digital Accessibility Win of the Week

This win may seem small, but it’s still important. Language plays an important part in how people understand new things, so it was great to see the Twitter Spaces team update the transcriptions label in the feature to what it actually is, captions.

Spaces @TwitterSpaces

we’re updating “transcriptions” to “captions”. we noticed folks using these terms in different ways, so we checked in with our accessibility experts to help us get it right. to sum up: captions = text shown while someone speaks transcriptions = after-the-fact written record

This will hopefully help people understand that there is in fact a difference between captions and transcriptions just like there’s a difference between open and closed captions or alt text and audio descriptions.

Digital Accessibility Fail of the Week

I am admittedly so frustrated with the digital teams for the Biden-Harris administration. Sure, it’s great that the Twitter accounts for POTUS and the White House now actively use alt text, but what about the accounts for VP, FLOTUS, and Second Gentleman? What about the Twitter account dedicated to keeping the American people informed about the government’s COVID-19 response? Why isn’t accessibility a priority for these accounts as well? I shouldn’t be the one writing image descriptions for the U.S. government.

Alexa Heinrich (she/her) @HashtagHeyAlexa

Image Description 1: @FLOTUS packs non-perishable food items into bags alongside other volunteers. They all wear face masks. Image Description 2: @FLOTUS and @POTUS are taken on a tour by a man in a dark suit of a warehouse facility housing bulk food supplies packed in boxes.

Jill Biden @FLOTUS

Last week in Texas, the President and I saw the best of the American people. Watching everyone come together to support one another in times of crisis gave me so much hope. https://t.co/whjOiJWxTe

Alexa Heinrich (she/her) @HashtagHeyAlexa

Image Description: @VP Harris stands in the background wearing a black suit and matching face mask while a citizen some 10 feet in front of her receives the COVID-19 vaccine from a healthcare worker in a white lab coat.

Vice President Kamala Harris @VP

Yesterday, the 50 millionth vaccination was administered since @POTUS and I took office. This is weeks ahead of schedule and we are going to continue making progress every day. So keep wearing a mask, keep social distancing, and get vaccinated when it’s your turn. https://t.co/8gQOfjTm8y

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!

You Should Retweet This

A diverse and equitable workforce should be something that every organization strives for, and that means not only hiring disabled talent, but making sure people with disabilities feel comfortable and safe disclosing that information.

The Valuable 500 @Valuable500

An interesting article that discusses three ways in which companies can recruit disabled talents. Giving people with disabilities the chance to excel is everyone's business! Is your business doing enough to recruit PWD? 🤔 ow.ly/Ih1350DIwcP #Disability

How To Recruit Disabled Talent: Making It Safe To DiscloseThe problem with masking such conditions however is that it leads to heightened anxiety and pressure, as well as preventing a person from getting the workplace accommodations and adjustments they may need to work at their best.ow.ly

Word of Advice

I have bad news for everyone: those special Unicode characters you’ve been pasting from external websites aren’t accessible for everyone. You know the ones I’m talking about, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. Or sometimes, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼.

I see them a lot on Instagram, but they’ve started making appearances on Twitter and Facebook, and they’re heavily present on Clubhouse. Sadly, these characters don’t always register as readable characters, and some assistive devices cannot read them.

Also, as a designer and typophile, I’m offended that anyone would use them as some sort of aesthetic boost anyway. They’re hideous. And just look at the kerning on that script typeface. TRAGIC. Please stop using them.

Looking for an easy way to double-check your social media content before posting it? Download my handy checklist and make sure you always have the basics of digital accessibility for social media covered!

Download Checklist

One Last Thing

I’ll be presenting at the Call Two Action conference later this week on Saturday, March 6th, at 1:30 PM PST/4:30 PM EST. My session will go over accessibility best practices for social media and also include some hands-on learning demonstrations. Make sure to grab a ticket, and thank you to the wonderful people at Social Media Club LA for hosting this particular session!

Two overlapping talk bubbles on a blue background. Text within them reads call two action.

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

Accessible Social