Small changes can make a big difference to how disabled people experience your social media content. Whether someone uses a screen reader, captions or other assistive technology, accessible posts help more people connect with what you share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this quick five-step guide, we\u2019ll show you how disabled people interact with social media in 2026, and the practical things you can do to make your content more inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many disabled people use assistive technology to access social media. Some of the most common tools include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Screen readers read digital content aloud. They can describe text, headings, emojis, buttons and images with alt text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People might use built-in tools like VoiceOver on Apple devices, TalkBack on Android, or desktop software such as JAWS and NVDA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some partially sighted people use screen magnifiers, zoom functions or customised display settings to make text and images easier to see. High contrast settings and larger fonts can also help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These devices convert digital text into braille using small moving pins. They\u2019re an important communication tool for many deafblind people and other braille users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Captions support deaf people, hard of hearing people, and many people with sensory processing differences or learning disabilities. Transcripts can also make audio and video content easier to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alt text is a short description of an image that can be read by screen readers and braille displays. It helps people understand what\u2019s happening in the image, even if they can\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most social media platforms now include a dedicated alt text option when uploading images. Use it whenever you post visual content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good alt text is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwo children painting together at an art session, smiling and covered in bright paint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Avoid:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If text appears inside an image, include that text in the alt description too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Captions are essential for many disabled people. They also help people watching videos without sound, which is common across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Auto-generated captions have improved, but they still make mistakes. Always check and edit them before posting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure captions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re posting longer video content, consider adding a full transcript too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If key information is only shown visually, some people may miss it. Think about what someone would lose if they were listening without seeing the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can make this more accessible by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This doesn\u2019t need to be complicated. Often, a few extra words can make a big difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use CamelCase for hashtags by capitalising the first letter of each word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#AccessibleSocialMedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
instead of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#accessiblesocialmedia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This helps screen readers recognise separate words and makes hashtags easier for everyone to read quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try to avoid using too many hashtags in one post. If you need several, place them at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Screen readers read out emojis too. A long line of emojis can become frustrating and difficult to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Avoid:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, stylised Unicode fonts may look eye-catching, but they\u2019re often read out as symbols or individual characters by assistive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also worth keeping your formatting clean and simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accessible content is usually clearer for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making social media more accessible isn\u2019t about being perfect. It\u2019s about removing barriers so more people can take part in conversations, communities and culture online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is that most accessibility improvements are quick to do once they become part of your routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because social media should work for everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Small changes can make a big difference to how disabled people experience your social media content. Whether someone uses a screen reader, captions or other assistive technology, accessible posts help more people connect with what you share. In this quick five-step guide, we\u2019ll show you how disabled people interact with social media in 2026, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2875,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"1","footnotes":""},"categories":[1429,7],"tags":[],"display_author":[110],"class_list":["post-86809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-assistive-tech","category-blog","display_author-steven-morris"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86809"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=86809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}