Law Firm Social Media Accessibility 101 

“One argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people’s lives. How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives by just doing our job a little better?”  

– Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability 

 
Law firm social media accessibility should be top-of-mind for everyone who is serious about reaching their intended audience – which includes more than one in four people (28.7%) who live with some type of disability. While there are legal requirements in place for websites, guidelines for a more accessible social media landscape are still emerging. 

At fSquared Marketing, we advocate for universal design wherever possible. This means that making things more accessible for people with disabilities ultimately benefits people of all abilities, including people who are aging.  

Here are some simple first steps to move toward more accessible content for everyone. These considerations can support people with various disabilities including neurodiversity, vision impairment, learning and cognitive differences. 

Use alternative (alt) text

Alternative (alt) text provides access for people with visual disabilities. Without alt text, people may miss out on information that’s presented only in the image. It’s also possible for screen readers to read out ugly file names (for example IMG_4321.png).  

When writing alt text, we recommend skipping saying “image of” or “photograph of” at the beginning. On websites it’s best to avoid embedding text within an image, but it’s common – and often necessary – to show images with text on social media, to convey all the information needed. In these cases, include verbatim text in your alt tags to ensure no one misses out on your message.  

When text is too long to fit within an alt tag, make sure the post links to a page where all the text is available for a screen reader to find. 

If visual elements are central for understanding the image, describe them. Even if an image is purely decorative, it can help convey vital context clues that help explain the purpose of the post – such as mood and symbolism. 

Use high visual contrast 

Using text on top of an image or colorful backdrop can be a huge issue when it comes to legibility. It’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that if you can read something, everyone can read it – but that might not be the case. 

Using text on a colored background is something we see everywhere on social media. But if you look closely, you might start to notice that some color combinations are easier to read and some aren’t as clear. This can be especially problematic for people with low vision or color vision differences, also known as colorblindness.  

The good news is there’s a mathematical answer to choosing high-contrast color combinations for your designs that are accessible to all. We recommend using the WebAIM contrast checker. According to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, color contrast ratios should have a minimum difference of 4.5:1 for small text, and 3:1 for larger text (18pt or greater). Some accessibility advocates prefer 4.5:1 or higher even for large text. 

When it comes to placing text over top of a photograph, it’s easy to lose sight of both the text and the image. By adding a dark or light overlay, you can ensure the text stands out against a solid background for better readability. 

Use visual hierarchy 

Information can be hard to scan and retain when we see a wall of text on social media, which deters people from engaging with the content. Many people are visual learners, and there are ways to make text-based content eye-catching and easy to scan. 

You can design a graphic where the most important information stands out prominently – for example, the title. When promoting an event, ensure details like the date, location and presenters are front-and-center. Longer descriptions can appear within the body of the post, to ensure the visual hierarchy of the image text is easier to read. 

As much as possible, text that appears within an image should also be repeated within the body of a post for the benefit of people using screen readers. Sometimes that’s not possible – for example on X / Twitter where there is a 280-character limit. In these cases, make sure the post links to a page where all the details are available to the audience. This is especially important for anyone using a screen reader. 

Use #CamelCase for hashtags 

Hashtags can provide a lot of valuable context to social media posts, and they can help people who follow them find content that’s relevant to their interests. At fSquared Marketing, we’re fond of using #LegalMarketing and #LMAmkt to reach the legal marketing community. 

We used to use #legalmarketing as a hashtag, but we changed that practice when we realized it’s hard for people and screen readers to parse long hashtags. Using #CamelCase means capitalizing the first letter of each word in a hashtag, so it looks a bit like the humps on a camel’s back. This way, screen reader software will know how to say the words out loud – and people reading the text don’t have to strain their eyes trying to figure out what the hashtag says. 

Use video descriptions 

When you’re sharing a video, it’s important to let the audience know briefly what’s happening in the video for those who might not be able to see it. In this example, our video description reads: “Speaker @NancyMyrland talks directly to the camera with key takeaways about the benefits of using LinkedIn for lawyers during the #LMASW23 conference.” 

Keep it simple and conversational, while thinking about ways of incorporating these essential questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?  

In our example, we answer some these questions in a single sentence: 

• Who? Speaker @nancymyrland
• What? Key takeaways about the benefits of LinkedIn for lawyers 
• Where & When? The #LMASW23 conference 
• How? Talking directly to the camera 

The more descriptive the caption, the better, especially if there are no spoken words that describe the content to the audience aloud.

For those with sight, the video description is also the right place to add any content warnings about flashing lights or other types of sequences that could trigger seizures – for example, if strobe effects, camera flashes or a series of jump cuts appear in the footage. 

Include video captions 

Video is a powerful medium, and 88% of marketers agree that video increases user understanding of their product or service. What’s more, 89% of people want to see more video content from brands. This is because, when done right, video can be accessible for many people. 

One way to do a great job with videos on social media is to include video captions, which helps people read what is being said – whether they are listening to the accompanying audio track, or whether the video is silent. There are many complex ways to incorporate captions, and the simplest is to add auto-captions for English language videos. Keep in mind that it’s essential to make sure the captions are accurate by reviewing them before posting them.  

There are many more ways to prioritize accessibility in social media, and these are a few helpful practices to get you started. While you’re at it, you may also want to look into accessibility for your law firm website. Contact our team to learn more.

Tara
Troch

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Jenny
van Enckevort

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