Social Media Accessibility
Social media can connect disabled people across distance, language, and isolation. It can also shut people out through:
- Unreadable images and memes
- Auto-playing videos without captions
- Complex, ever-changing interfaces
- Harassment and moderation that doesn’t protect disabled users
This page focuses on practical ways to make posts, accounts, and campaigns more accessible.
Basics for Accessible Posts
Section titled “Basics for Accessible Posts”Across platforms, some core practices include:
- Alt text / image descriptions – Describe important visual content so screen reader users and others can access it.
- Captions for video – Prefer human-made or edited captions; auto-captioning alone is often inaccurate.
- Readable text – Avoid huge blocks of text, use headings or spacing, and avoid fancy fonts that break screen readers.
- Content warnings – Short, clear labels (CW/TW) so people can decide what they have capacity to see.
- Avoid text in images only – Or, if you must, repeat the text in the post or in alt text.
Platform-Specific Issues
Section titled “Platform-Specific Issues”Different platforms have different:
- Locations for alt text fields
- Captioning tools or lack of them
- Character limits that interact with access practices
- Accessibility bugs that come and go with updates
Contributors are encouraged to add sections for:
- Mastodon / Fediverse
- Twitter / X
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Discord and other chat platforms
Each section can cover:
- Where to find and how to use accessibility features
- Known issues and partial workarounds
- Community norms for content warnings, descriptions, and tagging
Access for Creators and Moderators
Section titled “Access for Creators and Moderators”Accessibility isn’t only about what followers see. It’s also about:
- Whether creators can schedule and manage posts with assistive tech
- Whether moderation tools are accessible to disabled moderators
- Whether analytics and dashboards are usable with screen readers or keyboard only
- The cognitive load of constant notifications and algorithmic feeds
This page should include insights from disabled creators, moderators, and organizers.
Harassment, Safety, and Boundary Tools
Section titled “Harassment, Safety, and Boundary Tools”Many disabled people face:
- Targeted harassment and dogpiling
- Ableist slurs and stereotypes
- Punishment for naming disability and access needs
Tools that matter:
- Robust blocking and muting
- Filters for words, phrases, and content types
- Privacy controls and locked accounts
- Community-level moderation policies that explicitly protect disabled users
These topics intersect with digital disability justice (see Digital disability justice) and with legal rights in different countries.
Teaching Accessibility to Others
Section titled “Teaching Accessibility to Others”This page can eventually host:
- Shareable mini-guides (“Alt Text 101,” “Captioning Basics”)
- Templates people can copy into community rules or campaign guidelines
- Examples of accessible posts and threads
The goal is to make accessibility practices normal, expected, and shared, not a rare “extra.”
Contribute to This Page
Section titled “Contribute to This Page”Have lived experience or expertise that could strengthen this page? We especially welcome perspectives on models not well represented here, including those from the Global South and Indigenous communities.
This page centers disabled people’s expertise and is informed by disabled-led organizing globally. For questions or to suggest additions, see How to Contribute.