All Tea no Shade

Most of the content on LinkedIn is not accessible.

• Inaccessible personal posts.
• Inaccessible sales posts
• Inaccessible marketing
• Inaccessible branding
• Inaccessible recruitment posts.

The list is long and the content is inaccessible.

It's every second or third post. It's every other organisation. It's Recruiters, it's DEI professionals. Heck, it is even Advocates and Disability-focused groups.

Pause for dramatic sip of tea...

It's organisations claiming to have forgotten ALT text, but yet not including an image description. Also ignoring the colour contrast issues with the graphic.

It’s people who are advocating for inclusion but yet, are not creating content that includes everyone.?

It's companies all singing all dancing about inclusion, yet their marketing lacks representation or any kind of accessibility.?

I don't believe it's always intentional, although spoiler, that is actually the case at times, keep reading.

I blame a society that disables.

A society that historically taught young people with disabilities to learn how to fit in rather than teach non-disabled children how to be inclusive.

An education system that doesn't even list accessibility on the syllabus.

How can we be aware of something if we don't have lived experience or have never been taught? How can we create accessible content if we don't know where to start?

For my weekly #Poll, I asked the LinkedIn community, Is your organisation creating accessible Marketing/ Content on LinkedIn?

Admittedly I had a blind moment and ran this for a week, rather than the 3 days I thought I had selected. #SorryNotSorry

13% of respondents selected, for sure 100% yes.

They believe their organisation to be creating accessible content. That's 18 people out of 136.

I played investigator and decided to check out some of the organisations whom yes was selected. Sadly a few I reviewed were not creating accessible content on Linkedin, at all. This was a little surprising. But we have to remember not everyone knows how to actually create accessible content.

Without lived experience or knowledge it's a game of chance.

38% selected sometimes but we could do better.

All tea, no shade, but sometimes isn't good enough. We cannot pick and chose when we are creating accessible content. If you're choosing to not create accessible content, you're effectively telling people with disabilities/ disabled people, I do not want you to engage with this. This organisation doesn't want you as a candidate, a client or a customer.

Why are we intentionally creating inaccessible?content? We need to take Accountability For Accessibility.

29% said no we’re not and 19% responded they have no idea.

As I said at the start of this newsletter, it is every second or third post that is inaccessible on Linkedin. We are disabling people. When someone can't engage with your content you are effectively disabling them. You are contributing to the disabling society.

Don't we want our content to be accessible to everyone? Don't we want our content to be inclusive?

In the past, I wouldn't dare tell someone their content wasn’t accessible. Now I do it daily. Don't get me wrong it isn't as easy as it seems. It's exhausting. ?Constantly having to ask yourself will I receive backlash for this or will the person be responsive? Was I too strict? Was I rude? The questions and scenarios that race through your mind can make your head spin.

But shouldn't everyone feel comfortable challenging the inaccessible and more accurately shouldn't we be creating accessible content to reduce the need to ask?

If you are thinking no, then my next question to you is, why would you want to miss out on the spending power of people with disabilities/ disabled people?

Are you or your organisation saying no to an estimated $13 trillion dollars?

Its time to take Accountability for Accessibility.

It's your content. It's your brand. It's your company's reputation. It's you taking accountability for creating accessible content. It's taking those few extra minutes to ensure your content is accessible. ?It is taking accountability for the accessibility of your content.

• It's considering the layout of your content, ensuring headings are used, and jargon and acronyms avoided.
• It's adding ALT Text to an image and including an Image Description.
• It is considering Colour contrast, for graphics, posters, text, and even on your captions.
• It's adding Closed Captions to all videos. (it's for sure not using inaccessible colour contrast or squiggly fonts that can't be read when creating them)
• It's not overusing Emojis or replacing words with them.
• It is using CamelCase hashtags. #likeThis or #LikeThis.

It's creating content that anyone can engage, interact and participate with. It's creating content that does not potentially exclude 17% of the world's population with disability.

It's joining me over the next three weeks as we tackle the inaccessible.

I am now in week 4 of LinkedIn 's UK Creator Accelerator Programme, where has the time gone?

My project, helping individuals create accessible content and thinking about accessibility in a new light is well underway.

• Last week I spilt the Tea on Social Media Accessibility Check it out
• How and why we should take accountability for accessibility. Video here
• I began discussing CamelCase Hashtags and why we should be using them. Check it out
• I also shared my wishlist, I mean predictions for accessible content on LinkedIn . Check it out

This week I will be exploring Alt Text & Image Description.

If you have any questions, please reach out or pop them in the comments below.

Let's strive?to become #AccessibleLegends.

Here is a quick checklist to support you along the way:

I am continuing my #LinkedIn Live series, "Spilling the Tea, Accessibility and I".

This week I am joined by the fabulous Emily Saunderson .

Join us as we spill the tea on a society that disables. Check it out

Don't forget to bring your cuppa!

Join the first-ever "Disabled By Society", #LinkedinAudioEvent. Bringing a community together to support, advocate and celebrate. Check it out

Creating a space to: Share lived experiences, Speak, Listen, Learn, Vent, Ask questions, Get support, Lend your voice to support others, Create friendships, Challenge the inaccessible and so much more, I hope.

I'm skipping into the week and I do hope to see you along the way!

Join me in tackling the inaccessible whilst spilling the tea on Disability Inclusivity.

Jamie Shields

Registered Blind ADHD Rhino - Rhinos are just chubby unicorns with poor eyesight.

#MondayMotivation #LiCreatorAccelerator #Newsletter #Inclusion #Accessibility #Content ?#AccessibleContent #AccountabilityForAccessibility