Mar 5, 2025
7 MIN READ
INFLUENCER MARKETING
INFLUENCER MARKETING
Guidelines to Make Influencer Content Accessible
Guidelines to Make Influencer Content Accessible
Guidelines to Make Influencer Content Accessible
Social media usage is on the rise, with more than half of the global population being active users.
And though most content on social media is free, it is not yet accessible to most people with disabilities, including those with hearing impairments, blind people, people with vision impairments, cognitive disabilities, and so on.
What does this mean for influencers? Can they make a difference?
Yes! Influencers today hold great power and with the power comes greater responsibility to use their platforms for the best of society.
The simplest and most effective way is to make influencer content on social media more accessible and inclusive.
Why is Web Accessibility Important for Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a social media marketing strategy in which brands collaborate with content creators to promote their products and services to a wider audience. It is the modern-day word-of-mouth but with a bigger audience.
Social media influencers have the authority and credibility to impact large groups of people, purchase decisions, attitudes on different topics, and even beliefs. Moreover, people rely on influencers to receive knowledge that affects their lifestyles and decisions.
Having the power to shape opinions and behaviors, influencers should focus on web accessibility. This means making sure that everyone, including people with disabilities, can equally access social media content.
How to Make Influencer Content Accessible For All
By making web accessibility a priority, influencers can send a message to their audiences that every person matters despite their cognitive or physical differences.
But how to make influencer content more accessible?
Start with small but powerful changes, such as adding alternative text to social media posts, using clear and simple language, and more. Let’s dive in:
Include Captions on Your Social Media Videos
Videos are among the most engaging types of influencer content. Still, if you don’t follow video accessibility standards including videos without captions, you may miss out on a large portion of the target audience. Why?
Statistics show that 92% of people watch videos on their mobile devices on mute. 430 million people globally have hearing disabilities, which makes captions important to make sure your message reaches everyone.
Captions present a text version of the spoken dialog, describing sound effects and other audio elements. They are especially important for deaf people and those with visual impairments. Captions can also benefit non-native speakers and others struggling to hear the audio.
All leading social media platforms include built-in tools for adding video captions. Most platforms allow enabling auto-generated captions or uploading your file with captions.
Since auto-generated captions rely on speech recognition technology, they may not always be accurate, not recognizing complex words, technical terms, or slang. It is best to upload custom captions, keep them clear, and test for accuracy.
Add Alt Texts to Images
Just like videos require captions, images need alternative text to be accessible to people with visual impairments.
Alternative text, or alt text, is an attribute of an image tag that describes an image or GIF. Screen readers read aloud the alt text to make visual content accessible to people with hearing disabilities.
Alt text does more than help the audience understand your visual content. It helps improve Search engine optimization (SEO) and increases social media platform visibility.
You can add Alt text to your social media images while uploading the image or edit it after posting.
There are certain rules for writing alt text that work. When writing Alt text, keep in mind to:
Maintain simplicity.
Avoid generic descriptions.
Add relevant keywords.
Avoid phrases like “image of,” “picture of,” etc.
Focus on key aspects, such as people, colors, and actions.
Describe The Visual Elements in Your Video
Influencers often overlook describing visual elements in social media videos, assuming that their audience understands the visuals in the video. Still, this is not always true, especially for people with vision impairments.
To paint a vivid picture for every follower despite their disabilities, ensure to describe the visual elements. It’s simple! Include them directly in the video or pin them in the comments section.
When describing visual elements in the video, present all the key attributes of the elements and mention any scene change to keep the context clear.
Provide Text Alternatives for Audio Content
Text alternatives for audio are a full transcript of the audio content, enabling the audience to read instead of listening. They capture everything spoken with details about the speakers and the key background sounds.
Unlike video captions, text alternatives don’t synchronize with audio. To make your audio content inclusive, provide text alternatives for audio content, structure the transcript with speaker labels, format the text for easy readability, and describe key background sounds.
Provide Accessible Formatting and Design
Good design and format are not only about aesthetics. They are key aspects of social media accessibility. Focus on font style and size, color contrast, and visual elements.
When it comes to font size, choose a larger size to keep it clear for your audience. As for the font style, avoid choosing unusually designed fonts. Instead, use clear and accessible fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, or Helvetica. Italics are hard to read, especially for people with visual impairments, so write your text in standard or bold when necessary.
Remember to have sufficient color contrast between the text and the background. According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the color contrast ratio between the background and the text should be 4.5:1 for standard text and 3:1 for large-scale text. To make the text more visible, use a dark background with light text, and vice versa.
Differentiate important visual elements for people with visual impairments by using different shapes and patterns.
Use Clear and Simple Language
Long and complex texts may make it hard for people, especially those with cognitive impairments, to understand your social media content.
Keep your language simple and clear so everyone can understand and engage with your content. Don’t assume that the audience may be familiar with your content. Imagine explaining it to someone who has no idea about it.
Here are some tactics you can use to make your language clearer and simpler:
Never use jargon or many technical terms. Convert the terms into conversational language.
Always spell out the full phrase for acronyms and abbreviations the first time using them in the text. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Cut out fluff and buzzwords.
Include content relevant to your audience.
Avoid lengthy and complex sentences and paragraphs.
Be direct.
Minimize the usage of passive voice. Active voice helps with being brief.
Be Open to Feedback
One last tip to make your influencer content accessible - listen to your audience. Accessibility is not only about following instructions, it is about listening, learning, and improving. Be open to any feedback. Your audience is your most valuable resource to learn more about accessible and inclusive influencer content.
You might not do everything right all the time - that’s the way you grow and learn more about inclusive and accessible content. Encourage your followers to complete polls or simply add feedback in the comments. Take the feedback and make improvements.
Conclusion
Accessibility in influencer marketing is not another task to tick off - it is a unique opportunity for greater impact. Still, many influencers and marketers still fall behind.
As our society becomes more and more dependent on social media and new technologies, influencers have the power to make social media accessible to everyone.
Inclusive social media helps not only billions of people with disabilities to stay more engaged in the digital world but it improves the experience for everyone.
Making content accessible means more followers, more engagement, and a stronger community for influencers. It is a win-win strategy no one should miss out on as an influencer.
Social media usage is on the rise, with more than half of the global population being active users.
And though most content on social media is free, it is not yet accessible to most people with disabilities, including those with hearing impairments, blind people, people with vision impairments, cognitive disabilities, and so on.
What does this mean for influencers? Can they make a difference?
Yes! Influencers today hold great power and with the power comes greater responsibility to use their platforms for the best of society.
The simplest and most effective way is to make influencer content on social media more accessible and inclusive.
Why is Web Accessibility Important for Influencer Marketing?
Influencer marketing is a social media marketing strategy in which brands collaborate with content creators to promote their products and services to a wider audience. It is the modern-day word-of-mouth but with a bigger audience.
Social media influencers have the authority and credibility to impact large groups of people, purchase decisions, attitudes on different topics, and even beliefs. Moreover, people rely on influencers to receive knowledge that affects their lifestyles and decisions.
Having the power to shape opinions and behaviors, influencers should focus on web accessibility. This means making sure that everyone, including people with disabilities, can equally access social media content.
How to Make Influencer Content Accessible For All
By making web accessibility a priority, influencers can send a message to their audiences that every person matters despite their cognitive or physical differences.
But how to make influencer content more accessible?
Start with small but powerful changes, such as adding alternative text to social media posts, using clear and simple language, and more. Let’s dive in:
Include Captions on Your Social Media Videos
Videos are among the most engaging types of influencer content. Still, if you don’t follow video accessibility standards including videos without captions, you may miss out on a large portion of the target audience. Why?
Statistics show that 92% of people watch videos on their mobile devices on mute. 430 million people globally have hearing disabilities, which makes captions important to make sure your message reaches everyone.
Captions present a text version of the spoken dialog, describing sound effects and other audio elements. They are especially important for deaf people and those with visual impairments. Captions can also benefit non-native speakers and others struggling to hear the audio.
All leading social media platforms include built-in tools for adding video captions. Most platforms allow enabling auto-generated captions or uploading your file with captions.
Since auto-generated captions rely on speech recognition technology, they may not always be accurate, not recognizing complex words, technical terms, or slang. It is best to upload custom captions, keep them clear, and test for accuracy.
Add Alt Texts to Images
Just like videos require captions, images need alternative text to be accessible to people with visual impairments.
Alternative text, or alt text, is an attribute of an image tag that describes an image or GIF. Screen readers read aloud the alt text to make visual content accessible to people with hearing disabilities.
Alt text does more than help the audience understand your visual content. It helps improve Search engine optimization (SEO) and increases social media platform visibility.
You can add Alt text to your social media images while uploading the image or edit it after posting.
There are certain rules for writing alt text that work. When writing Alt text, keep in mind to:
Maintain simplicity.
Avoid generic descriptions.
Add relevant keywords.
Avoid phrases like “image of,” “picture of,” etc.
Focus on key aspects, such as people, colors, and actions.
Describe The Visual Elements in Your Video
Influencers often overlook describing visual elements in social media videos, assuming that their audience understands the visuals in the video. Still, this is not always true, especially for people with vision impairments.
To paint a vivid picture for every follower despite their disabilities, ensure to describe the visual elements. It’s simple! Include them directly in the video or pin them in the comments section.
When describing visual elements in the video, present all the key attributes of the elements and mention any scene change to keep the context clear.
Provide Text Alternatives for Audio Content
Text alternatives for audio are a full transcript of the audio content, enabling the audience to read instead of listening. They capture everything spoken with details about the speakers and the key background sounds.
Unlike video captions, text alternatives don’t synchronize with audio. To make your audio content inclusive, provide text alternatives for audio content, structure the transcript with speaker labels, format the text for easy readability, and describe key background sounds.
Provide Accessible Formatting and Design
Good design and format are not only about aesthetics. They are key aspects of social media accessibility. Focus on font style and size, color contrast, and visual elements.
When it comes to font size, choose a larger size to keep it clear for your audience. As for the font style, avoid choosing unusually designed fonts. Instead, use clear and accessible fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, or Helvetica. Italics are hard to read, especially for people with visual impairments, so write your text in standard or bold when necessary.
Remember to have sufficient color contrast between the text and the background. According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the color contrast ratio between the background and the text should be 4.5:1 for standard text and 3:1 for large-scale text. To make the text more visible, use a dark background with light text, and vice versa.
Differentiate important visual elements for people with visual impairments by using different shapes and patterns.
Use Clear and Simple Language
Long and complex texts may make it hard for people, especially those with cognitive impairments, to understand your social media content.
Keep your language simple and clear so everyone can understand and engage with your content. Don’t assume that the audience may be familiar with your content. Imagine explaining it to someone who has no idea about it.
Here are some tactics you can use to make your language clearer and simpler:
Never use jargon or many technical terms. Convert the terms into conversational language.
Always spell out the full phrase for acronyms and abbreviations the first time using them in the text. For instance, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Cut out fluff and buzzwords.
Include content relevant to your audience.
Avoid lengthy and complex sentences and paragraphs.
Be direct.
Minimize the usage of passive voice. Active voice helps with being brief.
Be Open to Feedback
One last tip to make your influencer content accessible - listen to your audience. Accessibility is not only about following instructions, it is about listening, learning, and improving. Be open to any feedback. Your audience is your most valuable resource to learn more about accessible and inclusive influencer content.
You might not do everything right all the time - that’s the way you grow and learn more about inclusive and accessible content. Encourage your followers to complete polls or simply add feedback in the comments. Take the feedback and make improvements.
Conclusion
Accessibility in influencer marketing is not another task to tick off - it is a unique opportunity for greater impact. Still, many influencers and marketers still fall behind.
As our society becomes more and more dependent on social media and new technologies, influencers have the power to make social media accessible to everyone.
Inclusive social media helps not only billions of people with disabilities to stay more engaged in the digital world but it improves the experience for everyone.
Making content accessible means more followers, more engagement, and a stronger community for influencers. It is a win-win strategy no one should miss out on as an influencer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is accessibility important in influencer content?
Why is accessibility important in influencer content?
Why is accessibility important in influencer content?
How can I make my social media posts more accessible?
How can I make my social media posts more accessible?
How can I make my social media posts more accessible?
What are some best practices for captions in videos?
What are some best practices for captions in videos?
What are some best practices for captions in videos?
How does alt text improve content accessibility?
How does alt text improve content accessibility?
How does alt text improve content accessibility?
What tools can help improve content accessibility?
What tools can help improve content accessibility?
What tools can help improve content accessibility?
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Join over 15000+ SocialiQ users who have installed this free Chrome extension to search, analyze, save, and contact influencers directly on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
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Join over 15000+ SocialiQ users who have installed this free Chrome extension to search, analyze, save, and contact influencers directly on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
20K+ Active Users
May be Later
Join over 15000+ SocialiQ users who have installed this free Chrome extension to search, analyze, save, and contact influencers directly on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
20K+ Active Users
May be Later