Social Media
Social media posts must follow the same accessibility rules as websites. How you make posts accessible depends on the platform and whether you’re using desktop or mobile.
General Guidelines
- Avoid using ALL CAPS—it’s harder to read.Use camel case instead (e.g., #ABitLikeThis, not #ABITLIKETHIS).
- Limit emojis too, since screen readers read each one aloud and too many can be distracting.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
- Images: Always add descriptive alt text, including any text shown in the image.
- Video (spoken audio): Add captions (embed in the video; Facebook/Twitter also allow SRT files).
- Video (text on screen not spoken): Include that text in the post description so screen readers can read it.
Adding ALT text to images
Adding .srt captions to videos
Color Accessibility
Adherence to the AA level of the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility. Find out more about color contrast.
Guidelines (WCAG) ensures all text with a size less than 18 points (or less than 14 points if bolded) has a contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1 with the text background. This applies to both print and digital design. Color contrast ratios may be obtained by visiting
The color combinations shown on the Official Detroit Mercy Colors page are compliant and approved by the University:
Additional Resources
- HubSpot –
- American Foundation for the Blind –
- LifeHacker –
- Hootsuite –