Hello,
I would really love to discuss this more and to stress the importance of alternative descriptive text I did a little bit of research about our social media users.
According to Kadrmas Eye Care New England if you have Kidney Disease you are at an increased risk of vision loss. (Source) Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease, says the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (source) Diabetes can cause Diabetic Retinopathy symptoms of that include Blurry vision, floating spots in your vision, blindness. You can read more about this at the National Eye Institute’s website (here).
Needless to say I think vision impairments are a big part of our patients experience and I think this directly linked to actions we need to take to make their experiences a more pleasant one, that makes them feel included and cared for. I also think this is something we need to take more seriously at ALL levels of what we do, not just here. I think descriptive text is a reachable goal for the moment.
The Web Content Accessibly Guidelines (WCAG) state that there is no exception to an image needing a description, even if an image contains no words and is for visual value only it should be described as ‘decoration.’ Their website has a lot more direction on how to meet WCAG guidelines.
Not meeting WCAG and other standards could quite simply, leave us open for legal litigation to take place. I found this article about 4 healthcare companies that were sued over noncompliance with the ADA on their websites. While social media is not our website, as we are in healthcare I believe that the law will someday affect these standards. Especially considering the emergency announcement posts I made last month that contained vital and clarifying information in the image.
The absolute bottom line of how much this can help us is that descriptive text can mean more engagement. I believe we are missing out on fully connecting with a non-small portion of our users.
Thank you and I look forward for to a larger conversation about this,
Jackie Barnes (they/them)
Designer, Creative Studio