Creating Accessible Social Media Content

Handouts

Presented at 8:00am in Plaza Ballroom E on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.

#34394

Speaker(s)

  • Emily Shuman, Director, Rocky Mountain ADA Center

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: All Levels
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Social media is now the number one way people connect with each other and an estimated 20% of the population has a disability. If your social media content isn’t accessible, you’re significantly limiting your reach and effectiveness on these platforms and making it harder for people to connect with you. This course will cover how to make social media content more accessible to everyone and why it’s worth doing.

Abstract

Social media is arguably the number one way people connect with each other today. It’s no longer just for keeping up with friends and family members. These days people use social media to do business, apply for jobs, promote services and even campaign for political offices.

Social media is by nature highly audio-visual. An estimated 57 million Americans live with disabilities. Of these, 10.1 million people have vision disabilities and 7.6 million are deaf or hard of hearing. Creating accessible social media content can seem like a daunting task, but the reality is that a few simple changes can mean the inclusion of nearly a quarter of the American population.

This presentation will cover the prevalence of disability, why accessibility matters, and best practices for creating accessible social media content, the current status of accessibility on several popular social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn).

Keypoints

  1. Most social media content is inaccessible.
  2. A few simple changes in content creation can make a huge difference in social media accessibility.
  3. Including people with disabilities is good for business.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Emily Shuman

Emily Shuman leads all of the Rocky Mountain ADA Center’s workforce and daily operations. She mentors RMADAC’s staff to ensure her team has the tools needed to deliver on the center’s mission to supply informative technical assistance, customized eLearning courses & (online and in person) training(s), effective information dissemination and concise outbound communications.

Shuman works closely with center directors from across the national network to improve operational practices and program(s) including spearheading efforts to increase accessible social media & website practices within the collective.

She is RMADAC’s public spokesperson and works directly with regional, and national media to ensure the public understands their rights and responsibilities under the ADA. An accomplished writer, Shuman contributes op-ed pieces and informational articles. She also hosts the center’s popular podcast initiative which features many noted guests including Senator Tammy Duckworth and former Major League Baseball All-Star Jim Abbott.

Before joining RMADAC, Shuman spent four years as in workforce development, serving Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act recipients as a case and program manager. She specialized in supporting youth with disabilities by educating them on their ADA employment rights. Shuman also facilitated compliance with ADA Title II responsibilities for youth requiring reasonable modifications to access workforce services. Prior to those roles, she spent three years as a program supervisor for adults with developmental disabilities living in host homes under an HCBS waiver.

Emily has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Information Technology-Management. She contributes articles to the Colorado Springs Mom Collective and the Southern Colorado native enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her teen son.

Handout(s)