How do you make sure your social media content doesn’t just reach people, but is truly accessible to them?
In this edition of The Better Web Dialogues, we talk with Alexa Heinrich about social media accessibility. Alexa is a leading voice in digital accessibility and the creator of Accessible Social – a go-to resource and education hub for accessible social media practices.
Whether you’re a content creator, marketer, designer, or social media manager, these insights can help make your content more inclusive and accessible to a broader audience.
Alexa’s journey into accessibility
You’re a leading voice in social media accessibility – how did your journey into this space begin?
I stumbled into the world of accessibility completely by accident.
I was working for a college system in Chicago where my primary responsibility was social media, but I also took on other tasks as assigned. One of those tasks was switching out the sliders on the website homepage.
I was doing that one day when my coworker asked me if I was adding alt text to the sliders. I had no idea what they were talking about. After they explained, I went home that night and started doing my own research on accessibility and haven’t stopped learning since.
What drove your interest in digital accessibility, particularly in content creation?
Because I worked primarily in the social media space, accessibility in relation to social media was important to me. I wanted to make sure that any content I produced would be accessible to people with disabilities.
The state of accessibility on social media platforms
How has platform support for accessibility changed over the years? Who’s doing it right?
Accessibility on social media platforms is slowly getting better.
All of them have an alt text field for images, and a few of them allow users to caption videos directly on their sites. I wouldn’t say that any one social media platform is doing accessibility right because there’s room for improvement for all of them.
I wish they would prioritise teaching their users about the importance of accessibility and how to make accessible content on their platforms. That would hopefully encourage more people to make their social media presence more inclusive.
Common social media accessibility mistakes and best practices
What are the most common accessibility mistakes brands make on social platforms?
A lot of brands are still catching up when it comes to accessible best practices for social media.
I see brand accounts post images without alt text the most, and a lot of major sports teams love to use alternative characters from external websites in their copy, which isn’t accessible.
What are your golden rules for making accessible social media posts (e.g., alt text, captions, emoji use)?
In addition to using alt text and captions, I recommend that people pay attention to how they format hashtags and the number of emojis they use.
Hashtags should be written in Pascal case (#JustLikeThis) so that assistive devices can use the capital letters to read the individual words properly.
Emoji should be used sparingly and always at the end of content so the meta descriptions assigned to them don’t interrupt the written copy when read by an assistive device.
Social media accessibility vs web accessibility
What’s the biggest gap you see between how people treat accessibility on social media vs. on websites?
Accessibility for websites is so much more involved and complicated than it is for social media.
With social media, users are kind of limited based on the functionalities offered by the platform. How content is used is also different between the two.
So, while the basics of digital accessibility, like alt text, captions, and clear copywriting, are used for social media and websites, there’s so much more that needs to be done to make a website accessible.
Creating accessible social content is much easier in comparison to accessible web design usually.
Do you think there’s a risk of brands being “performatively inclusive” on social media while neglecting their websites? How can they close that gap?
I’m sure there are gaps between many brands’ social media and their websites because they’re normally managed by different people within organisations, sometimes even different teams.
Ideally, organisations would stress the importance of accessibility to anyone creating content, whether that content is for social media, web assets, email campaigns, or printed materials.
Building accessibility into content workflow
What does your content workflow look like when considering accessibility? Any habit you’ve developed?
Honestly, my content creation workflow is muscle memory at this point. I don’t have to think about it.
As soon as I upload an image, I write alt text for it. If I have to create captions for a video, I use YouTube or a captioning app. I always format hashtags properly on the first go and use emojis sparingly.
It’s second nature for me after years of practice.
How can small teams or solo creators realistically make accessibility part of their routine?
Like learning any new skill, repetition, repetition, repetition. The more you implement accessible best practices, the more natural it becomes to have them part of your process.
If you’re part of a team at an organisation, it’s best to also educate your leadership on why accessibility is important so they can support you and your endeavours to prioritise accessibility.
AI and the future of accessible content
With more AI-generated content flooding the web, what accessibility concerns do you foresee?
There are a lot of issues with generative AI, but I think AI in general poses a problem.
Unfortunately, a lot of people want a quick fix when it comes to accessibility. They view it as one more thing to do rather than the right thing to do.
Many people think AI is going to magically fill their accessibility gaps, like with writing alt text or captioning videos. But AI is prone to biases and isn’t foolproof.
There should always be a human mind involved in the end product.
What would you love to see in future tools or platforms to make accessibility easier by default?
I have a list. I want all platforms to have visible alt text badges and offer in-app captioning.
There should be more prompts for users to make their content accessible and reminders if something like alt text is forgotten before a post is published.
There should also be more options when it comes to a user customising their settings on a platform, such as contrast, text size, colour, media preferences, etc.
Favourite tools, features, and creators
What is your favourite accessibility tool, plugin, or browser extension?
I’m a graphic designer, so I love the Adobe Color site. It offers tools for checking colour contrast and whether a colour palette is accessible for people who are colorblind. I use it all the time!
Most underrated social feature for accessibility?
It doesn’t exist anymore, but when Twitter still had Fleets (their version of Instagram stories), it was launched with an alt text field, making it the only stories feature on any platform that you could actually make accessible.
One creator or brand that nails accessible content?
We Rate Dogs writes some of the best alt text out there, which is twice as enjoyable because their alt text is always describing adorable dogs and puppies!
Accessibility misconceptions and the first things that matter
One myth about accessibility you wish people would stop believing?
I wish people would stop believing that creating accessible social media content is hard. It’s really not. Once you know the basics, it’s incredibly simple to work it into your content creation process.
First thing you notice when visiting a new website?
Colour contrast and font choice. I cannot stand when a web designer has chosen to be trendy with a tone-on-tone colour palette and a font that’s hard to read.
One thing every creator can do for inclusion
If there’s one small thing every digital creator can do today to make the web more inclusive, what would it be?
Think outside of your own lived experience when creating content. Your audience is diverse, and not everyone looks, acts, or lives the same as you. You have to think about creating content that is accessible to as many people as possible.
Wrapping up on social media accessibility
Social media accessibility isn’t a bonus – it’s the baseline for reaching and respecting your full audience. And as Alexa Heinrich shows, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Once you learn the basics, it becomes second nature – just part of how you create.
That starts with a few small but powerful habits. Throughout this conversation, Alexa shared clear, actionable ways to create more inclusive experiences on social media, where accessibility is too often overlooked.
Key takeaways
- Use alt text for every image you post. Write it yourself – don’t rely on auto-generated descriptions.
- Caption your videos, even short-form clips, so everyone can follow along.
- Write hashtags in Pascal Case (#LikeThis) so screen readers can read them correctly.
- Avoid alternative characters like 𝓯𝓪𝓷𝓬𝔂 𝓽𝓮𝔁𝓽 – they often break accessibility for assistive tech.
- Use emojis sparingly and always place them at the end of your content.
- Repetition builds habit – the more you do it, the easier accessibility becomes.
To explore more, visit Accessible Social, the go-to resource Alexa created to help you build a more inclusive presence online. You can also follow Alexa Heinrich on LinkedIn for ongoing insights on accessibility, social media, and inclusive digital practices.
Ipshita Biswas 
Safwana TA 
