Expanding Your Social Media Audience
Most of us want our social media content to reach more people. One of the most effective ways to attract attention to a post is by including a photo or other visual element. The importance of visual content cannot be overstated. A quick search will surface countless articles offering advice on social media engagement, and nearly all of them begin with the same recommendation: use images.
The data supports this approach:
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LinkedIn posts with images receive significantly higher comment rates
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Tweets that include visual content are far more likely to be engaged with
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Facebook posts with photos consistently receive more likes and comments
Most creators already follow this advice and regularly post images alongside their content. What is often overlooked, however, is that posting images alone can unintentionally exclude a large portion of the audience. Without image descriptions or alt text, blind and low vision users may not be able to engage with the content at all. Taking a few moments to describe what an image contains can open your posts to an entirely new group of viewers.
Image Descriptions
Blind and visually impaired technology users commonly rely on screen readers to navigate digital content. Screen readers are built into most modern operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and smartphones. These tools are highly capable when it comes to reading text, emails, posts, and even the text embedded in memes.
Where screen readers struggle is with images.
Recent advances in automatic image recognition may generate vague descriptions such as “may be an image of a tree by a lake,” which is an improvement over the long-standing and frustrating “image description not available.” While this is better than nothing, it is also a missed opportunity.
As a content creator, you are in the best position to describe your own work. Writing a thoughtful image description allows you to share more detail, context, and intent. For example, instead of relying on an automated description of “a tree by a lake,” an artist might write: “A tall pine tree stands beside a small lake covered with lily pads and ducks under a bright blue sky with light clouds.” The listener gains a far richer understanding of the image and is far more likely to engage with it.
This gap is even more apparent in online retail. A product listing that simply states “blue dress” along with a size and price offers little to anyone listening through a screen reader. A more descriptive explanation such as “a knee-length blue chiffon dress with three pearl buttons at the neckline and loose open sleeves” creates a clearer mental image and a stronger connection to the product. Unfortunately, many listings still rely on minimal labels such as “dress” or “image 1,” leaving blind and low vision users without meaningful information.
As a longtime member of the blind community, both online and offline, I can say with certainty that many screen reader users will scroll past posts that lack image descriptions rather than attempt to engage with them. Adding descriptions is not just helpful, it is often the difference between participation and exclusion.
Talking About Alt Text
Images help social media posts stand out, especially in visually dense feeds. But what happens when someone cannot see the screen?
Alt text, short for alternative text, is designed to describe the contents of an image in words. Originally intended as a fallback when images fail to load, alt text is now a critical accessibility feature. Screen readers rely on alt text to convey visual information to blind and low vision users, and search engines also index this information when evaluating content.
Effective alt text includes the most important details of an image and is typically limited to around 125 characters to ensure compatibility with common screen readers. Any text embedded in an image should always be written out in the alt text, particularly if the font is stylized or difficult to read.
On social media platforms such as Facebook and X, alt text is often the primary way a blind or visually impaired user understands an image. When it is missing, the content may be skipped entirely.
A Note on Change
Social media platforms evolve quickly. Features, menus, and settings can change with little notice. The information presented here reflects common functionality as of fall 2025, but it is always worth checking for updates or interface changes when adding accessibility features.
What remains consistent is the impact. Thoughtful image descriptions and alt text make content more inclusive, more engaging, and more widely accessible, without changing the creative intent of the post.
Adding Alt Text is easy
Adding alt text to your photos on Facebook is simple, when adding a photo to your post click edit and you will be brought to the photo details page. Choose Alternative Text from the links on the left menu, this will open the Alt Text section. Here you will see an example of the alternate text Facebook adds to images, and an option to add custom alt text. Add your description and click save, that’s it.
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Twitter (X)
On Twitter, when inserting an image into your post, choose the +alt button at the bottom of your image. Twitter will let you know about alt text, and on the next screen you can enter your image description and click done. Now that you know how to add alt text to your images let’s cover some basics.
Instagram is similar to Twitter when entering alt text. After selecting your photo and choosing your filter you are brought to the new post screen. Choose advances settings and then scroll down to write alt text.
Creating your descriptions
What to include
- Include the relevant parts of the image. Don’t include overly dramatic descriptions.
- Describe the objects in the image, people, animals, vehicles etc.
- Describe the emotions of the image, are they happy? Smiling? Sad? Lonely?
- Colors of the objects in the image, red car, black dog etc.
- Names of people, especially if thy recognizable.
- Style of image, Landscape, portrait, dark light, cheery gloomy etc.
- Describe the surroundings, country road, graffiti covered alley, crowded beach.
Do not include
- Emoji or punctuation, dot, dot, dot… Question mark etc.
- Don’t describe what the colors look like, don’t try and describe the color red.
- Generally accepted facts like cars have two headlights, people have two eyes and a nose etc.
- Don’t include descriptions of objects that are not part of the focus of the image, birds in the trees telephone lines etc.
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What if I do it wrong?
This is a lot to remember but learning to write useful image descriptions and alt text is a skill that can be incredibly beneficial to your readers. Don’t be afraid of doing it wrong, because in terms of image descriptions, something is better than nothing and you will get better at it the more you do it. I’d be happy to read an overly wordy description than wonder what is in an image included in an article. Nobody is going to call the disabled police on you for bad image descriptions, they are just going to be happy you are taking the additional time to make your content more accessible.
A black lab guide dog not in harness wears an N-95 mask and does not look happy about it.
Descriptions added by you will be so much better than the ones generated by platforms like Facebook. Look at the photo of my guide dog Fauna above as an example. Facebook described the photo as dog — but in the image she is a black lab wearing an n-95 mask, a huge difference in the way the image is perceived.
Another Way to Share Your Content
I see image descriptions as an opportunity to present my work in a different way. Social media platforms often limit how much text you can include with an image, and sometimes a single caption is not enough to fully communicate what the image contains. Learning to write concise image descriptions encourages you to think more deliberately about what matters in an image and how to communicate that clearly.
This practice benefits more than just blind and low vision audiences. Writing image descriptions can also make your content more engaging for sighted viewers by sharpening how you talk about your work. Describing images forces you to slow down, identify intent, and focus on what truly defines the piece.
How I Create an Image Description
Creating an image description does not need to be overwhelming. The next time you post an image, try this simple exercise.
Start by taking a moment to really look at the image. Ask yourself what is most important about it. What draws your attention first. What is the primary subject. Write those observations down. Then turn away from the image and read your description back to yourself. Ask whether it gives enough information for someone to form a clear mental picture.
Look at the image again and see if there is anything important you missed the first time. Does your description give the listener enough context without becoming overly poetic. If the answer is yes, you are done.
Do I Have to Go Back and Describe Everything?
Depending on how long you have been creating content, the idea of adding descriptions to every image can feel daunting. You do not need to do everything at once.
Start with the most important content. On social media, focus on posts that performed well or represent your work clearly. On a website, prioritize navigation images, logos, and images within your most viewed or most important articles. Most importantly, begin now. Make image descriptions part of your posting habit going forward. Even if older content remains unchanged, future content will be more accessible to everyone.
Image Descriptions Versus Alt Text
If you manage a website and have access to your media library, it is helpful to understand the difference between alt text and image descriptions.
Alt text is a concise description that communicates the essential elements of an image. Image descriptions provide additional context and detail. For example:
Alt text might say:
“There is a happy black dog standing in the middle of a country road.”
An image description could say:
“A happy-looking black lab stands in the middle of an abandoned country road with a stick in his mouth, appearing eager to play.”
Both descriptions are clear and focused. The dog is the subject, the environment provides context, and unnecessary details are left out. While the clouds, foliage, or distant background may be interesting, they are not included unless they are central to the image.
Alt text is generally limited to around 125 characters for screen reader compatibility. Image descriptions can be longer, typically up to 240 to 280 characters, though keeping them closer to 240 can improve consistency across platforms.
Why Take the Time to Add Alt Text and Descriptions?
Adding image descriptions and alt text has multiple benefits.
It makes your content accessible to blind and low vision users.
It increases engagement by making posts clearer and more intentional.
It improves search visibility and discoverability.
It provides another way to communicate your work beyond captions alone.
Most importantly, it makes online spaces more inclusive.
Added Benefits
As a travel photographer, I have found that writing image descriptions has helped me appreciate my own work more deeply. Describing images often reveals details or issues I may have missed during editing. It has also improved how I talk about my work with others by giving me clearer language to describe what I create.
This simple habit can strengthen both accessibility and artistic communication.
Learning More
If you are interested in seeing strong image descriptions in practice, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Facebook page is an excellent example. Every post includes a clear, thoughtful image description that demonstrates how effective and concise this approach can be.
You can view their page here:
https://www.facebook.com/guidedogsfortheblind/
If you found this article helpful or have questions about implementing image descriptions or alt text, feel free to reach out through any of my sites or social channels.
Instagram and X
@nedskee
Ted Tahquechi
My travel site:
www.blindtravels.com