Instagram and alt text
Hey there! Not sure what alt text is or why it's important? You can start with my article here; it's about Bluesky but applies to Instagram and any other social app that supports alt text: Alt text 101 for Bluesky.
I bet you didn't know you can include alt text with your posts on Instagram! You can, and you absolutely should. They don't make it very obvious, but it's easy to do when you know how.
The field to add alt text in the Instagram mobile app is a bit buried, which is unfortunate. You'll start by creating a new post as usual, selecting an image and all that. When you get to this screen (below), scroll down to the bottom.
Once you get to the bottom (below) you'll see "Advanced settings."
Tap "Advanced settings," and then scroll down until you see "Accessibility." Below that you'll see "Write Alt Text" (below).
Tap on "Write Alt Text," enter your alt text in the field, and then tap "Done" at the upper right. This will put you back at the previous screen. From there you'll tap the back arrow ("<") at the top left.
(By the way, this last bit is a terrible user experience! There's no feedback of any kind to make it clear that your alt text has been saved, but it has. Clearly UX was not involved in designing this feature. Instagram really should improve this whole user flow for adding alt text — and they should also make the option for adding alt text much more conspicuous when you're posting new content.)
Once you've gone back to the previous screen, you can complete your post as usual.
Unlike with Bluesky, there's no easy way to view your alt text on your post in the Instagram mobile app or desktop website. But people using screen reader software will be able to hear the alt text you entered.
Closed captions for videos
Instagram doesn't have an option to add alt text to videos (like Bluesky does). When you're posting a video, under "More Options," you can scroll down to a section marked "Accessibility," and the only feature there is "Enable Closed Captions." This appears to be toggled on by default, or at least it is for me. It's nice that they have this, but I'm sure you've seen how bad autogenerated closed captions can be — and it's disappointing that there's no way to add a proper transcript and/or alt text.
You might find it interesting that these accessibility features for screen reader software are available on an app that's all about sharing images and videos! There are plenty of reasons for this. Just because some people have disabilities, of course that doesn't mean they should be excluded from any aspect of life, and that includes social media. Alt text allows blind users to enjoy your posts. Other users with low vision or other visual impairments may be able to see the images but not make out a lot of details, and the alt text will help them get the valuable context they need to enjoy your posts. Including alt text may also help users with certain cognitive disabilities get the most out of your posts. Alt text exists to help a wide variety of people, and we should always make the effort to include it! Remember, accessibility is our ethical responsibiity to people with disabilities.
– Manning
Questions/comments? Feel free to contact me at manning@manningkrull.com. I update these articles pretty frequently — best practices evolve over time as the world of digital quickly changes, and I always welcome insights from others.