Digital Accessibility
Accessibility isn’t just important, it’s mandatory. We have an obligation to help every student achieve their educational goals. These are some valuable resources to ensure all of your communications are as accessible as possible.
These recommendations are derived from the Social Media Accessibility section of the UC Davis Brand Communications Guide. We also encourage ASUCD social media managers to review the Accessibility Checklist Table for what you can do to make each social media post more accessible.
Graphics
When designing a graphic, always consider font size and color contrast, whether it’s designing for print or digital materials. Be sure your content is easily readable!
Include alt text with all graphics and include image descriptions in the caption. Aim for minimal text or large text. If you have a lot of information, consider turning it into a video or using slides to convey all of the information in one post. Make sure to review your graphics on your smallest devices to ensure readability before posting. Finally, maintain a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for small text and 3:1 for large text.
All text in your graphics must also be typed into your caption, word-for-word. Please limit the text in your graphics to high-level information. All details about your event should be specified in the caption and on your website.
Post Copy
Use plain language and be succinct. Do not overuse ALL CAPS. Use CamelCase hashtags by capitalizing the first letter of each word. Only use emojis when they provide meaningful value. Avoid Unicode fonts.
When using links, shorten URLs when possible, but avoid using abbreviations, acronyms, or lingo unless explained earlier in the post. Add image and/or video descriptions in the post caption of all posts.
Story Posts on Instagram
When posting an Instagram Story that includes text, you are required to include an audio voiceover for any text in your graphic. If you are not comfortable recording the voiceover, we recommend using Canva’s Voice feature to create these voiceovers. This does not apply when sharing a feed post on your story (unless additional text is added over the feed post).
Assistive Technology
Make sure to include alt text, image/video descriptions, and caption files so that those using assistive technologies like screen readers, magnifiers, voice browsing and recognition software, or video captions have the option to consume our content in an optimal way for them.
Video Descriptions
Include descriptions after each post copy. Describe the video in a few sentences in chronological order, including setting, background, subject(s), actions, graphic elements, sounds, music, and transitions. Include flash imagery warnings in videos with more than 3 or more flashes or flickers per second. Add timestamps (or chapters) for longer videos.
Video Captions
Include captions of subtitles (closed captions, open captions, auto-generated captions) to create accessible content. Make sure to double-check that auto-generated captions are accurate. Always ensure the font color, size, and background adhere to all graphic accessibility guidelines.
Writing
It is recommended that you keep your writing between a sixth and ninth-grade reading level to be accessible to people regardless of reading level. UC Davis also has a document conversion software to convert documents from text or image-based files into different formats, such as audio, Braille, and e-text.