I have come across a book that is a true gap filler in the industry:
a beginner’s guide to creating inclusive social media content, by Alexa Heinrich
Why am I writing about this on a travel blog? Because it is a must read, or must use for people who use social media in the travel industry. For that matter, for anybody who uses social media in general, regardless of whether a casual Facebook user, or a marketing specialist.
Over the years, the author, Alexa Heinrich has emerged to be the absolute authority in social media accessibility in the industry. I had the honor of hosting her at one of my meetups. She not only creates great content, but often challenges industry practices.
The book can be used in several different ways, if you are just getting started with accessibility, it is the perfect study guide, but if you are a seasoned professional it can also be used as a reference work.
The book starts with a thorough introduction to accessibility and disabilities. It can be particularly useful for those who are getting familiar with the topics.
After the introduction, she talks about general concepts and the theory of making certain components accessible, such as:
-
Hashtags
-
Links
-
Images
-
ASCII art
This allows the reader to gain a better understanding of accessibility, and make knowledge transferrable to any platform not discussed in the book.
However, in the next section she goes through the most frequently used social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, discussing both desktop and mobile versions.
Though the discussions are by no means theoretical, she provides practical examples, later she even includes a list of 13 scenarios for creating accessible image descriptions, where most likely you will find something similar to what you are working on.
In the discussion of videos where she talks about captions, transcripts and audio descriptions, she makes a good case of how accessible videos are not just for people who can’t see or hear, rather, they have a much wider practical implication.
She concludes the actual book with a thorough checklist to help the reader make sure that their content is accessible. I have to say the checklists alone are worth the money you will pay for the book.
In the list of citations she refers you to mostly online resources for a wealth of additional content.
I recommend that you get the book from her web site, where there is a link to the paperback and kindle versions, or you can also download it for free.
And while you are on her site, bookmark it and explore it, because as social media platforms are rapidly changing, Alexa recommends that you check her site for most up to date information.
