Why is accessibility key, you ask. Well, accessibility not only increases engagement but shows your followers that you care therefore strengthening your Instagram community. There are a huge number of people who are not given a voice on Instagram and as a brand, you can take steps to make your content more inclusive for these people. Don’t worry, it’s not going to break the bank or drain you of all your spare time. Being inclusive is easier than you think. Here’s how:
- Subtitles are your new best friend.
85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound, this makes subtitles the necessity you never even knew you needed. This is great for people who watch without sound but also is extremely helpful for those with hearing difficulties too! Don’t get us wrong, you can take the time to develop your own subtitles but to make it easier and less time consuming on you, we recommend downloading an automatic captioning app like CaptionMax.
- #Capitalise those hashtags.
Most of you probably didn’t know this, we certainly didn’t at the start, but by capitalising each word in a hashtag, accessibility screen readers will be able to correctly read out your hashtags. This step may seem insignificant but by simply changing the way you write hashtags you can make your Instagram accessible to a whole demographic of Instagram users.
- Get more descriptive:
Instagram stories and lives can be one of the hardest formats to make accessible for members of your following who are blind. That’s why we recommend adding a bit more description to your usual Instagram content. This can be in the form of a quick description of where you are, what you’re doing and who else is joining you. This extra 30 seconds of video content can add a whole world of context and understanding to your visually impaired audience.
Creating an inclusive space on Instagram is so important in standing up for those who cannot navigate Instagram as easily as us. It can also help your business reach a wider audience and grow a stronger community. As a brand, we have the power to make a huge difference with just 3 small steps.
