This week a marketer proudly told me their brand’s social posts were “very accessible.” But when I inquired further they admitted they never caption social videos or include image descriptions in social posts, and that they often post promotional language inside images rather than as text.
I’m sure this marketer had good intentions. But people who don’t live with a disability often miss easy opportunities to improve accessibility or make basic mistakes.
My friend Mel Harrison, founder of Sitting Low, Reaching High, documents the basic mistakes she encounters on her personal social accounts, and has given permission to share some of the best below. Mel faces these challenges with humor and grace, but also drives the point home: If you don’t have people with disabilities design and test your “accessible” offerings, are you sure they’re accessible?
This is one reason it’s important to build a mixed-ability team. (Though there are others, like greater profitability.) And it’s why you must do user testing on your accessible products and services. (It’s also why, if you’re in Australia or have a big travel budget, you should hire Mel.)
All photo credits: Mel Harrison, Sitting Low, Reaching High.