Accessibility: Creating accessible social media material

This page will cover Hootesuite, our management software for social media. It is where the majority of our posts are created, and this guide will talk you through it's accessibility features. 

Note: we cannot currently create video based posts on Hootesuite. For those, please refer to the individual for YouTube/ Facebook/ X/ Instagram for instructions.

Adding image descriptions to Facebook and X posts:

There are two ways to add image descriptions to Facebook and X posts. The first is through adding Alt Text. On Hootesuite, you do this by clicking Compose to create your post, like in this image below. 

• In Compose, write up your post.
• Add your image by clicking the image icon at the bottom of the screen, and selecting your picture.
• Then hover your mouse over the picture, and you should see the Alt option come up. This is your Alt Text.
• Click on Alt and enter a description of what you see in the image. Here is a sample description for the below image: Clipped image of Hootesuite homepage, focusing on the Composer option on the menu. This option is shaped like a pen hovering over paper. To the right of it, is its pop up box, with the word "Create" and the options to create a post or a pin.

You can vary the details and level of description in the Alt Text, but the general idea is to describe what you are seeing, as well as any potential extra meaning behind the image.

The second option for image description on Facebook and X is just to add an image description to the post itself. Ideally, this can be used alongside Alt Text, to accommodate users with different disabilities. Alt Text primarily functions for those who are blind or use screen readers, image descriptions can work for neurodivergent people who can't always interpret what they are seeing in an image. To use an image description, you simply write the post as normal, following the steps mentioned above, and add the #Access as a hashtag, and your image description beside that. The Access hashtag helps users find posts that are accessible to them. 

Google Lens and other image scanning apps

For text heavy images, apps like Google Lens, which can be accessed from the camera icon on Google , will allow you to copy and paste the text from the image. You will need to upload your image first, then select the Text button that shows below the image. You'll then be able to copy and paste any text that Google can detect in the image. 

Instragram and Hootesuite accessibility features do not work well together. Instagram does not recognise Alt Text that is produced on Hootesuite. Therefore, when writing Instagram posts on Hootesuite, you must use the #Access and image description instead, like in the below image. Note that this draft post is written on Instagram, but the same style will work on Hootesuite