Inclusive Marketing and Accessibility Tips to Add to Your Content Strategy Right Now

According to Pew Research Center, seven out of every 10 Americans use social media today. That’s good news for marketers seeking to reach target audiences using digital platforms. But it also means those key audiences are far more diverse than what’s reflected by typical marketing efforts. As this resource from Google points out, there are countless layers of diversity that go beyond gender or skin color. By creating more inclusive marketing efforts, you not only better represent your current audience, you’ll improve engagement with potential new followers.

Developing accessible and inclusive content is more than just a smart marketing strategy. Given the harmful and stereotypical ways marginalized communities have been historically depicted (or ignored altogether), marketers have a profound opportunity to include as many perspectives as possible.

Accessibility and inclusion are not just buzzwords—they’re a call-to-action requiring a multidimensional focus. Here’s where to start:

Accessibility

From different cognitive abilities to auto-immune diseases to levels of hearing, many of us live with disabilities. The CDC estimates one in four adults in the U.S. live with a disability, and even more are likely to experience some sort of impairment as they age. ​

Disability-inclusive marketing should represent and be accessible to all people, regardless of ability. Fortunately, there are a number of features already baked into your regular social media channels that incorporate users of different abilities. These changes are relatively easy to implement: 

• Add image descriptions & alt text
  Within most platforms, you have the ability to add alternative, or “alt,” text to your images. This alt text allows screen readers (a form of assistive technology) to provide a description of your image to users who are blind, visually impaired, or have learning disabilities. 
  
  Some screen reader programs automatically generate descriptions that are too literal or don’t convey the point of the image. Writing your own alt text ensures your viewers receive your intended message.
  
  On Instagram, it is common to provide an image description (ID) within your caption or your first comment.
  
  You've probably already added hashtags to your copy generation routine, so adding alt text should be a simple addition! Remember to:
  • Briefly describe the image, using general descriptors.
  • Keep it concise, ideally under 100 characters. 

• ​Use #CamelCase
  Speaking of hashtags, are you using “Camel Case”? This simply means capitalizing all the words within your hashtag. Some screen readers will eliminate non-capitalized words, making the description unintelligible. So, when writing out your hashtags for your posts, #AlwaysUseCamelCase.

• Caption your videos
  Adding captions to videos may be the most widely-known accessibility measure for social media, but it can easily fall to the wayside if you’re in a rush. Take the time to make sure your videos are accurately represented by either reviewing auto-generated captions, or uploading your own. This way, users who are deaf or hard of hearing, or just prefer to read along, can fully experience your content.

 

• Provide transcripts
  Any audio content can be transcribed, and should be considered especially if you produce podcasts or videos. Transcripts not only help include people with hearing or developmental disabilities, it can provide more ways for your entire audience to interact with the content. Transcription can be done manually, but there are plenty of services that offer affordable rates and save time. 

 

• Remember your graphics
  Millions of people experience vision impairment, including color blindness, low vision, near vision, and blindness. Consider these tips when focusing on the look of your digital marketing:
  • Use larger fonts for people using mobile devices.
  • Avoid green and red / blue and yellow combinations, which are more difficult to read.
  • Use solid backgrounds when adding text to images.
  • Don’t rely on color to convey meaning. Instead, use symbols or patterns to draw the eye.

 
Want to learn more? We recommend checking out this and this.

Inclusion

“Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” is not just that 2-hour training you were required to have as a part of employee orientation. As marketers, we are responsible for communicating to our target audiences in approachable and action-oriented ways. But we are also responsible for how our language (and graphics) can impact online users. Here are some ways you can ensure your content is more inclusive:

• Make sure your images reflect diverse communities
  A quick Google image search of “beautiful woman” tells us a lot about how online algorithms favor lighter-skinned people in photos.
  
  Adding diversity to your stock images is a simple and important gesture to ensure your entire audience can see themselves within your marketing. It's also important to do so with intentionality. 
  
  ​Some important elements to remember when selecting images include:
  • Examine your own biases when searching for or selecting photos. 
  • Avoid negative stereotypes; opt for imagery that is authentic and empowering.
  • Critically examine image content and options before making a final selection, and develop a list of questions you can ask yourself each time you review an image.
  • Let this be one step among many that move your organization's diversity efforts forward. Make sure your commitment is seen not just in marketing, but across the entire organization.

• Choose your graphics from a wide range of sources
  Relying on stock photos can sometimes lead to the issue noted above - images can skew toward lighter-skinned models - but other issue can emerge as well, such as heteronormative imagery, binary gender representations, or a lack diversity in bodies and abilities.
  
  Pulling from a wide array of sites when looking for images ensures you're accessing a more diverse range of people, perspectives, situations, and locations. Some great resources include:
  • Black Illustrations features "beautiful illustrations of Black people" available in themed packages that can be searched by industry, style, or activity.
  • She BOLD Stock specializes in "gorgeous stock photos featuring women of color."
  • VICE's Gender Spectrum Collection is a "library featuring images of trans and non-binary models" in everyday life.
    
    ​For a more in-depth look at choosing diverse images, check out this resource, which includes a useful list of diverse and inclusive stock image websites.

 

• Be intentional with your copy
  Language is constantly evolving. We are learning new ways to identify ourselves and each other, so we have to make sure our copy is evolving too. Some important shifts in the current lexicon include:
  • Capitalizing “Black” when referring to the Black community.
  • Using “they” instead of “he/she” when referring to someone whose gender identity is unknown.
  • Avoiding ableist language like “insane,” “crazy,” “lame,” and “dumb."

Conclusion

As communicators, we should always be striving for inclusivity and accessibility. Taking steps to increase accessibility and inclusion in your social media posting should become a part of your content routine. And the best part is, it’s easy to do while making a huge impact on your community. 
 
For additional reading on this topic, check out:

• How to Do Diverse and Inclusive Content Marketing That Matters
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Marketing
• Google's "All In" Inclusive Marketing Insights​

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Collin Quinn Rice

Collin Quinn Rice (they/them) is a performer, photographer, and multimedia artist living in Chicago. Collin graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Theatre, an (almost) minor in Gender & Sexuality Studies, and a YouTube education in Photoshop. They’ve worked with a number of arts organizations and small businesses in Chicago, finding a niche in content creation and social media marketing, with a focus on storytelling and advocacy.