The updated guide to social media accessibility for 2026
Social media managers think about everything: is the tone of voice right? Does the image represent my brand? Who is my ICP?. Yet social media accessibility is still a major marketing gap.
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Introduction
This Privacy Notice aims to clearly and transparently explain which personal data we collect when you visit our website, why we collect it, how we use it, and what Your rights are.
We process your personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and applicable national data protection laws. We are committed to ensuring that all processing activities are carried out in accordance with the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, data minimization, integrity, and confidentiality.
Specifically, in this notice you will find information about:
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which data we collect about you and for what purposes;
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the legal bases on which we process such data;
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who we may share your data with;
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how long we retain your data;
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your rights and how to exercise them.
While we sometimes need Your data for example, to respond to your requests or improve our website), we do so with respect, care and only when truly necessary.
Our Privacy Promises
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We deeply value your privacy, and for this reason, we guarantee that:
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We treat your data as if it were our own.
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We use your data only for the purposes outlined in this notice.
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We retain your data only for as long as strictly necessary.
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We do not share your data with third parties without a valid legal basis or your explicit consent.
1. Who Processes Your Personal Data
The Data Controller — that is, the entity that determines the purposes and means of the processing of Your personal data — is AccessiWay S.a.S., with registered office at 7 Rue du Général Henrion Bertier, 92200 Neuilly-sur-Sein registered with the Nanterre Trade and Companies Register under number 914 022 595.
AccessiWay is part of the team.blue group and, in certain cases, acts as joint controller together with team.blue NV, with registered office at Skaldenstraat 121, 9042 Ghent, Belgium. In this context, Your personal data may be shared within the group for statistical, administrative, operational, and service improvement purposes.
AccessiWay and team.blue have defined their respective roles and responsibilities under a joint controllership agreement pursuant to Article 26 of the GDPR, ensuring full compliance with data protection regulations.
For more information regarding joint controllership or to exercise Your rights, you may contact AccessiWay via email at the following email addresses:
📧 legal.fr@accessiway.com or info@accessiway.com.
2. Who This Privacy Notice Applies To
This notice applies to:
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users who browse the website www.accessiway.com,
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individuals who contact us through the form available on the website or via email;
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users who interact with tools we have implemented (e.g. widgets, cookies);
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individuals who, through the website or other channels, access external platforms or third-party entities through which they may submit a job application (e.g. recruiting portals or employment agencies).
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In such cases, the privacy notices of the third parties involved — independent from AccessiWay — also apply.
3. What Data We Process
To manage your interaction with our website, we may process the following categories of personal data:
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Identification and contact details such as name, surname, company, job title, email address, and phone number.
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These data may be partially processed through our customer relationship management (CRM) system.
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Data relating to your interaction with our services such as information collected via the website or through Hubspot, such as communication history, preferences, requests, and commercial or technical notes.
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Technical data such as IP address, device type, operating system, browser, access times, and other data automatically recorded by our systems or servers.
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Browsing data and preferences such as collected via cookies or similar technologies, in accordance with the choices expressed through the cookie consent banner.
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Application data such as personal information included in your CV or other documents submitted through third-party platforms (e.g. professional experience, education, contact details).
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These data are processed by AccessiWay only after being transmitted by the third party, which remains autonomous in the initial processing.
4. Purposes and Legal Basis of Processing
We process Your personal data in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and applicable national data protection laws. Your data may be processed for the following purposes:
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Technical operation of the website
We process technical data, using technical cookies and similar tools, to allow You to access the site, view it correctly, and ensure it functions properly (e.g. browsing, content loading, storing preferences).
📌Legal basis: this processing is necessary to provide a service requested by the user, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR. Your consent is not required for these cookies.
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Handling contact or support requests
When you send us a request — via the contact form or by email — we process your data to respond and provide the information requested.
📌 Legal basis: this processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR.
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Compliance with legal obligations
In certain cases, we may need to process your data to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, or IT security requirements.
📌 Legal basis: this processing is based on compliance with a legal obligation, pursuant to Article 6(1)(c) of the GDPR.
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Statistical analysis and website improvement
We use analytical tools (e.g. analytical cookies) to collect aggregated data in order to understand how the website is used and to improve its content and functionality.
📌 Legal basis: we process this data only with your freely given and specific consent, pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR.
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Marketing and Profiling
If you authorize us to do so, we may use your data to send you promotional communications or provide personalized content (e.g. through profiling cookies).
📌 Legal basis: this processing is carried out only with your explicit consent, pursuant to Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR. You may withdraw your consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
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Management of job applications through third parties
We may receive job applications via third-party platforms (e.g. job portals) or through recruitment agencies. In such cases, we process the submitted data to assess your suitability for the proposed role.
📌 Legal basis: this processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract, pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR.
Note: the privacy policies of the third-party platforms or agencies involved also apply, independently of AccessiWay.
5. Cookies and Tracking Tools
This website uses a cookie management system provided by iubenda, which allows you to:
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view a full and transparent list of the cookies in use;
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modify or withdraw your consent at any time;
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access the complete Cookie Policy, integrated in the cookie widget.
You can manage your preferences by clicking on the cookie widget icon located at the bottom left corner of every page on the site.
Technical cookies are necessary and therefore enabled by default. Other non-essential cookies (analytical, profiling) are only enabled with your consent.
For more information, please refer to the full Cookie Policy accessible from the cookie widget.
6. Use of accessWidget
This website integrates accessWidget, an automated accessibility tool developed by accessiBe Ltd. and distributed by AccessiWay. The widget allows users to personalize their browsing experience based on their needs.
When the user activates the widget, their IP address is technically transmitted, but:
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it is not stored, tracked, or associated with identifiable individuals;
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it is anonymized via a proxy located in the European Union;
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it is not used for profiling or marketing purposes.
📌 Legal basis: provision of a service requested by the user (Article 6(1)(b) of the GDPR).
7. Data Security
We adopt appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure the security, integrity, and confidentiality of the personal data we process. These measures are designed to prevent unauthorized access, loss, disclosure, or alteration of your data. In particular, we implement:
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secure connections via HTTPS (SSL/TLS);
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authentication systems and access control;
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access limitation and internal access tracking mechanisms;
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regular audits and verification procedures;
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continuous updates to systems and security measures according to the level of risk.
8. Data Retention
Your personal data is stored only for the time strictly necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected. Specifically:
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Contact data: up to 10 years if relevant for contractual or legal purposes;
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Technical and browsing data: according to what is outlined in the Cookie Policy;
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Marketing data: until consent is withdrawn.
9. Your Rights (Data Subject Rights)
As a data subject, you may exercise the rights provided under Articles 15–22 of the GDPR at any time. In particular, you have the right to:
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Obtain confirmation as to whether or not your personal data is being processed and access such data (right of access);
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Request the rectification of inaccurate personal data or the completion of incomplete data (right to rectification);
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Request the erasure of your data, if the conditions set out in the GDPR are met (right to erasure);
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Obtain restriction of processing where applicable (right to restriction);
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Object to the processing of your data, in whole or in part, under certain circumstances (right to object);
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Receive your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and, where technically feasible, have it transmitted directly to another controller (right to data portability);
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Withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
📧 You can exercise Your rights at any time by contacting us at: legal.fr@accessiway.com.
🔗 If you are located in France and believe that the processing of your personal data violates applicable law, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the French Data Protection Authority (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés – CNIL) via the website: www.cnil.fr.
*If you have difficulty accessing our form, please feel free to contact us. Send an e-mail to info@accessiway.com
Every day, millions of pieces of content go out on social media worldwide: photos, videos, text posts, and static or dynamic graphics, depending on the platform.
Social media managers think about everything: is the tone of voice right, does the image represent the brand, who am I talking to. Yet social media accessibility is still a major gap.
Often the limit is the platform itself. Other times, people simply don't know how to manage post creation or how to build accessibility into what they publish.
So here's a complete guide to social media accessibility: how to create accessible posts, from copy to graphics, whatever platform you're publishing on.
What is social media accessibility?
Social media accessibility is the practice of writing, designing, and publishing posts so that people with disabilities can read, hear, and interact with them the same way as everyone else.
That includes people who are blind or have low vision, people with cognitive disabilities or with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs include dyslexia, disgraphia, dysorthographia, and dyscalculia) and people with hearing impairments. It also includes people who navigate a screen with a keyboard instead of a mouse.
An estimated 87 million people in the European Union live with a disability, and many more rely on assistive technology day to day, whether that's a screen reader or captions turned on as a default. When a post isn't accessible, it reaches only part of the audience it was written for. Most of the guidance in this article draws on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the standard behind most digital accessibility laws worldwide.
Good copy is readable copy
Accessibility starts before you touch an image or a video. The words in a caption carry most of the weight, and small choices in how you write them decide whether a user can follow along or not.
Plain language and post structure
Write the way you'd explain something to a colleague outside your field, not the way you'd write a press release. Short sentences are easier to parse for screen reader users, for people with cognitive disabilities, and for anyone skimming on a phone.
Lead with the point instead of building up to it (you can use the BLUF - Bottom-Line Up Front - technique), and spell out acronyms the first time you use them.
Hashtags, mentions, and links
Hashtags, mentions, and links are now part of almost every social media platforms. There are just three rules to follow:
Capitalize each word in a multi-word hashtag, so #DigitalAccessibility reads as two separate words instead of one long, unintelligible string.
Place hashtags and @mentions at the end of a post rather than mid-sentence, so they don't interrupt the flow a screen reader reads aloud.
When you link out, describe what the link leads to instead of writing "click here," which tells a screen reader user nothing about where they're headed.
Use emojis without breaking screen readers
A screen reader announces every emoji by name, so "🎉🎉 New webinar 📅 link in bio 🔗" becomes a string of "party popper, party popper, new webinar, calendar, link in bio, link."
Use emojis at natural stopping points, such as the end of a sentence, and keep them to one or two per post rather than stacking several in a row.
Is your copy easy to understand?
Run your caption through a free readability checker like the one below which scores text against the Flesch-Kincaid scale and flags sentences that are hard to follow. A lower grade level generally means an easier read, so aim for a score most adults can follow without rereading a sentence twice.
Alt text and image descriptions are not the same thing
Alternative text is a short, embedded image description that a screen reader announces automatically.
Most platforms have a dedicated field for it, tucked under "advanced settings" or "accessibility" in the posting flow.
Write it to convey what's relevant in the image, and skip filler like "image of" or "photo of," since a screen reader already announces that it's an image.
An image description goes further and lives in the caption itself. It's useful when a photo carries detail an alt text field can't hold, such as a scene with several people and specific actions.
Making video and audio content accessible
When it comes to video accessibility, captions and subtitles look similar but solve different problems.
Subtitles convert speech into text for people who understand the language but can't hear the audio.
Captions add speaker labels and background sound cues, like "[applause]" or "[phone ringing]," which is what makes a video accessible to someone who is deaf or with hearing impairments.
Most platforms generate captions automatically but, at this point in time, auto-captions are just a starting point. Review them for accuracy before you publish, since automated transcription still misreads names, technical terms, and fast speech.
If a video includes flashing lights or rapid strobe effects, add a content warning in the caption before it plays.
Quick note: when a video can't carry an audio description, put a short text alternative in the post caption instead. Something like "This video shows charts from the latest accessibility survey. The first one compares Gen Z and Millennials on..." gives screen reader users the gist without watching the clip.
Designing visuals that work for everyone
Color contrast - text vs background - is the first thing to check on any graphic. Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 between text and background, and test it with a free contrast checker.
Keep text on graphics short and big (especially on LinkedIn carousels, now that the new interface shows smaller slides).
Avoid using color as the only way to convey meaning, since that distinction disappears for people with color blindness.
Platform quick reference
The core habits carry across every platform, but the controls sit in different places.
X puts alt text behind "Add description" under an uploaded image, and only accepts captions as an SRT (SubRip Subtitle) file.
Instagram tucks alt text under "advanced settings" when you post, and Reels support a captions sticker with auto-transcription you can edit before sharing.
On Facebook, look for "edit alt text" under the three-dot menu on an image, since its own auto-generated alt text rarely says enough on its own.
LinkedIn's alt icon sits in the image editor, and its video captions also load as an SRT file after upload.
TikTok's auto-caption option appears in the side navigation during upload, and it's worth a manual review before you post, the same as everywhere else.
Beyond alt text: inclusive language and representation
Accessibility is also about how you describe people and who shows up in your content.
Use person-first language, such as "people with disabilities" rather than "the disabled," and mention someone's condition only when it's relevant to the post.
Skip language that frames disability as something to overcome or celebrate as inspiring, since that framing turns people with disabilities into symbols instead of into your audience.
The same logic applies to the images and creators you feature: you need diversity and different experiences on your feed.
Making accessibility part of your routine
Several platforms and social media management tools now suggest alt text or auto-generate caption files, and that's a genuinely useful starting point for a first draft.
Automated suggestions still miss context a human catches in seconds, so always take some time to review what the tool produces before you publish it. Accessibility works best as an ongoing practice, with someone on the team responsible for checking it.
If your team wants a second opinion on how your social content, website, and apps hold up together, that's exactly where Accessiway can help, working alongside your team rather than handing over a report and moving on.
Social media accessibility: frequently asked questions
What is social media accessibility?
Social media accessibility means creating posts, images, and videos that people with disabilities can read, hear, and use the same way as everyone else, including people who rely on screen readers or captions.
Do I need to add alt text to every image I post?
Yes, alt text should be added to every image that carries meaning, since screen readers rely on it to describe photos, graphics, and screenshots that would otherwise go unannounced. Skip it only for purely decorative images.
What's the difference between captions and subtitles?
Captions include speaker labels and background sound cues for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, while subtitles only convert spoken dialogue into text for viewers who can hear the audio.
Are hashtags with multiple words accessible?
Yes, as long as each word is capitalized. CamelCase hashtags like #DigitalAccessibility let screen readers announce each word separately, instead of reading the whole hashtag as one unintelligible string.
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