What is digital accessibility and why does it matter in marketing campaigns?
Accessible campaigns don’t just meet compliance, they create better user experiences for everyone. It expands your reach, strengthens brand trust, and ensures no audience is left out.
We asked digital accessibility professionals and business leaders for their best tips. From embedding accessibility in organizational culture to collaborating with disabled influencers, here are 12 expert-backed ways to increase and improve accessibility throughout digital campaigns.
1. Embed accessibility in organizational culture
Marie Cohan from the Texas Department of Information Resources explains that campaigns have a greater reach when digital accessibility is adopted company-wide. This is not just a process change, but a cultural shift. When embedded in policies and processes, digital accessibility guides:
- Hiring practices
- Operations, procurement and project planning
- Team communications
- Office design and layout
- Community initiatives
The benefits of adopting accessibility throughout the culture are better relationships, expanded collaboration, and increased innovation with more diverse talent."
2. Make use of visuals and always add alt text
Using high-quality imagery in a campaign can boost its effectiveness while increasing brand knowledge and familiarity. It allows you to communicate with your audience clearly and quickly. In fact, visual information is conveyed to the brain 90% of the time, and pictures are processed 60,000 times faster than words.
Tip: Always add alt text to visuals so people using screen readers can understand your content.
3. Create a multimodal campaign
What is a multimodal campaign? It uses multiple formats such as text, images, video, audio and interactive content to reach diverse audiences. For example, those visually impaired may use a screen reader or magnifier, and those with hearing impairments may need subtitles.
To ensure that your digital campaign is fully accessible, create content that can be consumed in multiple ways. Do this by:
- Offering content in multiple formats, such as text, audio and video.
- Include captions/subtitles, transcripts, and screen reader-friendly formats.
4. Always add subtitles or captions to videos
Most marketers are great at creating video presentations for websites and social media. Morgan Taylor at Sourcery highlights how these may not be fully accessible to people with hearing disabilities.
With over 15% of US adults having a hearing disability. around 38 million potential customers, adding subtitles allows more people to access your message.
"By adding subtitles, you make your message accessible to a wider audience and demonstrate that your business values all customers, regardless of their abilities."
5. Include representation
Digital campaigns often feature picture-perfect models that feel unrelatable, with disabled individuals being underrepresented. People with disabilities should not be overlooked. Beyond designing accessible products, campaigns should reflect the full spectrum of our community, showing that the brand values and considers the needs of people with disabilities.
6. Check color contrast
One of the quickest ways to make your campaigns accessible is to use online tools available to check the contrast of your campaign colors. When there is not enough contrast, like a light blue text color on a white background, it makes visibility difficult for both humans and screen readers.
Tool: The WebAIM contrast checker is easy to use and will help you select text colors and sizes that meet ADA requirements to help your campaign accessibility.
7. Always test your digital campaign
When writing copy, consider the perspective of someone who is blind or visually impaired to avoid unnecessary jargon and tricky acronyms. The same applies to video content. Prioritize high-quality audio and captions to ensure your message is clear.
When designing content, think about how people with disabilities read, including neurodivergent individuals with dyslexia or dyspraxia. A clean, easy-to-follow layout and navigation not only supports accessibility but also improves the overall user experience.
Tip: Always test your digital campaign with a neurodivergent individual.
8. Follow the guidelines for each platform
It's important to follow the guidelines specified for the platforms for which you're creating content. Some platforms may have accessibility features that make it easier to create digital content.
For example: YouTube has a feature for closed captioning videos and a special site for people with disabilities that allows for a faster response time.
9. Write in camel case when using hashtags
Screen readers help with accessibility, but the way hashtags are written can affect legibility. This matters for people with learning disabilities, vision loss, or those learning English. Digital accessibility best practices recommend to always use camel case (capitalize the first letter of each word).
For example: #disabilityinclusion changes to #DisabilityInclusion
The second option is easier to read, easier for screen readers to process, and more engaging for all users.
10. Write specific and descriptive alt text
Whether you’re posting images on a landing page or social media, always use alt text to describe them. People who are blind or visually impaired may rely on a screen reader to access content. Alt text allows the screen reader to read your description aloud, so your message is understood.
Platforms like Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram let you add alt text when uploading images. On a website, you can usually add alt text in the content management system or code it into the image tags manually. When writing alt text, make sure you are descriptive and specific:
Don’t: An image of a person on a laptop.
Do: A person typing on a laptop in a busy office space with colleagues in the background.
11. Provide users with a choice of modifications
Forms can be challenging for some users, so it’s important to design them with flexibility in mind. A dynamic interface that allows adjustments helps people tailor their experience to their needs. Georgi Todorov at ThriveMyWay shares some examples.
For example, useful modifications include:
- adjusting colors, content, display, or navigation
- an epilepsy safe profile that removes flashes and reduces color intensity
- a visual support profile that enhances contrast and enlarges visuals
Giving users control ensures your campaigns are accessible and show that you value their needs."
12. Collaborate with disabled influencers
Ben Richardson from Acuity Training shares how finding local micro-influencers with disabilities and partnering with them is one of the best ways of relating to disabled customers in your niche. Most of us tend to follow and buy from people that look like us and who also share similar characteristics.
Discovering disabled influencers on social networking platforms will unveil hundreds of opportunities to connect with like-minded customers."
