University Library Social Media Accessibility Checklist

Pending the development of campus-wide standards, the Library’s Communications team developed the following best practices around social media for our Library units to start integrating into their social media efforts. We recommend that you focus on applying these practices to new content. If you have questions about how to incorporate these recommendations into your work, please contact Communications team at communications@library.illinois.edu.

Download the checklist here (Box)

General Resources:

• Section 508: Create Accessible Social Media
• Accessible Social
• University of Southern California: Digital Accessibility and Social Media
• California State University San Marcos: Social Media Accessibility

Platform-Specific Resources:

• Facebook
• Instagram

Photos and Graphics

• Include alt text for all photos and graphics
  • Review guidelines for alt text
  • Note that alt text does NOT need to be provided for information that is repeated elsewhere, such as the caption of the post
  • Do not rely on the auto-generated alt text
• Ensure that text to background contrast ratio is 4.5:1 for all graphic
  • Use a contrast checking tool
• Social media post does NOT contain GIFs
  • Avoid using GIFs in social media posts, as there are very few tools to make them accessible

Videos

• Captions are present for all video content
• Captions include dialogue, important background sounds, (ex. “applause”), and speaker identification
  • Formatting guidelines for captions
• Video content does not contain flashing lights or images
  • Review photo sensitivity guidelines

Copy and Formatting

• Do not use extra tabs or spacing to manipulate the formatting of written content
• Follow standard rules of punctuation, capitalization, and grammar
  •  No alternating caps, i.e. DoN’T uSe AlTeRnAtInG cApS iT’S cOnFuSiNg
  • Don’t use any alternative characters from external websites to make text appear in different weights, styles, or fonts i.e.
• Limit use of hashtags (maximum of three per post) and place all hashtags at the end of posts if possible
  • If more hashtags are necessary, place them in the first comment of the post instead of the caption
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, i.e. #WeLoveLibraries
• Use plain language as much as possible. Be concise, avoid jargon, and use the active voice
  • Follow this checklist for plain language
• Limit emoji use and always place them at the end of a sentence or caption.
  • Don’t use emojis as bullet points
  • Use the default yellow emoji unless a custom skin tone is necessary for context
• Test emoji use
  • Check all emoji descriptions on emojipedia.org before using them
  • Read the caption replacing the emoji with its description, ensure that it makes sense