Why Inclusive Design For Social Media Works
When we look at the
sheer amount of users on social media today, it’s easy to think that everyone
is experiencing these apps the same way. The unfortunate truth is that many
people have disabilities that limit their interaction with various forms of
social media. The World Health
Organization notes that 15% of the world population lives with some
disability. Inclusive design brings the wonder of social media to users who
otherwise wouldn’t be able to experience it. But why does inclusive design work
at all?
Bringing People Together
When you’re planning a social media app,
you’ll need to consider your network’s goals. If your aim in social
media design is to bring people together and bridge gaps, you need
to find a way to help users connect through your medium. TikTok, for example,
uses subtitles on its videos. Video is one of the best ways to connect to
people, and even hearing-impaired users can see video posts. The problem is
that they can’t listen to what’s going on in the recording. Luckily, TikTok
includes subtitles to allow users to view videos and follow along with the
words, even if they’re hearing impaired. This inclusion makes their social
network more accessible, even to those who wouldn’t traditionally be able to
take part in it.
Image Descriptions and Alt
Text Are Useful
If you have users
that may be using the app you created through a screen reader because of issues
with their eyesight, having alt images helps them grasp what’s going on. Social
media networks that have a lot of visual content benefit from including alt
descriptions for their pictures. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter all have
built-in alt image descriptions so that visually impaired users can have a
deep, meaningful interaction with their apps. By reaching out to these
differently-abled users, these networks increase their practical user base.
Develop Easier to Read
Hashtags
While a lot of
people abuse hashtags, they actually have a use in social media sites. Time Camp informs us that hashtags were
initially conceived to
categorize information so that similar posts could be easily found.
The issue with many hashtags is that people use lowercase or uppercase for the
entire thing, making interpretation hard. Automatically designing camel-case
into hashtags would make for a more comfortable interface choice. It also makes
it easier for individuals with reading disabilities to grasp what a hashtag
says from the start. This sort of inclusive design goes a long way towards
helping people get more out of their social media experience.
Inclusive Design is the
Future
When you look at
the world around us, more and more people realize the need for inclusiveness in
our applications and society. We no longer pretend that people who are born or
develop disabilities are lesser people. Social media design needs to reflect
this mindset if it is to remain relevant through the twenty-first century.
Social media should be for everyone, and anything that opens up its wonders to
a broader audience should be encouraged.
