Instagram Accessibility
Without Instagram we wouldn't have selfies, people taking photos of food or all of those cute photos of dogs! Over 1 billion people use Instagram every month! In 2018 Instagram improved its accessibility features to include auto-generated alt-text, however, there are still some things that you can do to improve the accessibility of the gram!
As Instagram is largely a visual platform, the core principles relating to accessibility revolve around ensuring the visual content is accessible; however, any captions (text) that you add to your story will need to be accessible.
Instagram Best Practices
- Add captions to videos and alt-text to images. This is arguably one of the most important steps in making Instagram accessible to all.
- As Instagram only allows a 1-minute video loop, formal captions aren't always possible but providing a transcript of what was said in the alt-text field is an alternative.
- Instructions for alt-text can be found in the menu along the right side of the page.
- Indicate if your video doesn't have any sound
- This can just be done in the post
- Provide narration in your videos
- This an alternative to described video. The idea is to describe the setting so the listener understands why they hear the sounds.
- Use CamelCase
- CamelCase is the art of writing Hashtags with the first letter of each word with a capital. It makes it easier for everyone, especially those with a learning disorder and those using a screenreader.
- Ensure your message is simple, free of typos and logical
- It is also important that your message contains neither acronyms nor complex language.
- Structure your post
- Put any links or hashtags at the end of the message. This is important for readers who are using a screen-reader or who have a learning disability.
- Be conservative with your use of emojis.
- While one or two are acceptable in a post, several all strung together are not.
These basic steps will make your Instagram posts inclusive!
References