Accessibility and inclusion: Creating social media graphics
Web accessibility has always been a requirement for UMaine websites, and has been a regular feature in our monthly newsletter — and ensuring your content is accessible is part of an inclusive communication strategy. This month, we focus on tools that create graphics for social media, such as Canva.
Creating graphics with text embedded
Social media posts are more engaging when they include images, such as an eye-catching infographic or an image with text in a special layout. Whenever you are adding an image to your social media post, it is important to include text in your post that repeats the text in the image. Please see our article on alt text for general guidelines. Because “alt text” is usually hidden from those who can see the image itself, consider repeating the same message in text with your post, as social media may not treat alt text in the same way as our website.
Ensure proper color contrast
Your image should have proper color contrast to be understandable to those who are color blind, as discussed in our article on accessibility and color.
Go bold
Images with fine lines or thin/light fonts can be particularly difficult to understand when viewed on a small screen such as a mobile device. Because your social media images are likely to be consumed on such a screen, it is important to create the image in a way that is simple to understand at a distance. If fine details of your image are difficult to discern when viewed from a distance, consider a simpler design with bolder image elements.
If you have any questions about web accessibility, or want to see us cover an accessibility topic in a future newsletter, please get in touch with us at um.weboffice@maine.edu.