The Instagram audience consists of people from all walks of life. Some of Instagram’s 1 billion active users each month are blind or deaf, yet they still have the same desire to view material without barriers. The platform is aware of this need, which is why it is introducing tools that will facilitate the universal accessibility of your content.
Here’s a quick primer on improving your Instagram followers’ experience.
Animated Caption Sticker for Reels & Stories
Did you know you can use sticker captions in your Instagram Reels and Stories? Indeed, you can. Sticker tray is where you’ll find cc Captions the next time you’re recording a video in the Reels or narrative editor.
As soon as you do so and affix the sticker to your movie, the spoken words in the tape will be shown with automated captions. Before they are released, you may go over and correct any errors you identify.
This function has not yet been implemented on Instagram, but it will be added in the near future.
Other methods of adding captions can be used in the meanwhile.
Instagram users may use the Text icon in their story highlights to manually apply text overlays.
Create captions for your Instagram stories with the help of third-party applications like Clipomatic, InShot, or CaptionMax.
Substitute Text for Images
This is one of the first and still most popular ways to promote your Instagram posts.
This feature was originally developed for Instagram users with visual impairments. Businesses increasingly rely on it to get the most out of their Instagram accounts.
Instagram’s Alt text may be either Automatic (the service will produce alt text for screen readers based on the image’s metadata) or Personalized (you can add more descriptions and context to your images).
While adding new material, scroll down the captioned page to access this feature.
The Advanced Options tab may be found towards the bottom of the page.
Next, scroll down until you find Write Alt Text and click it.
Choose this option to add an explanation of the photo’s contents.
Your article will show up in the search results the next time someone is looking for related material.
Instagram Profile, Feed, and Story Translations
Instagram’s Translations tool helps people who may not understand your captions due to the language barrier (you can see your audience’s location in Instagram Insights if you have a Business or Creator account).
How to Include Instagram’s Translate Function?
Instagram will automatically create translations, so no action is required on your part.
When users click the See Translation button, they will be sent to the translated version of your text.
Your profile’s bio and any captions or comments on feed postings are automatically translated based on the language choices of the person reading your profile. In the event that a translation into your language is provided, you can access it by tapping the See translation button located just below the text.
All words in Instagram hashtags should be capitalised
Instagram users’ posts are more likely to be spotted when they use relevant hashtags. Here’s a quick tip to help you become more easily found online.
Capitalizing each word in your hashtags ensures that screen readers can properly read them out.
Instagram Videos with Automatic Captions
The Instagram TV app (IGTV) is no longer accessible, and its content may be seen in the main Instagram feed instead. Instagram videos may now have subtitles added automatically, exactly like IGTV.
According to Instagram, one-third of all videos on the network are viewed without sound, so using the auto-generated captions is a great way to boost engagement and make your videos more accessible.
Post a video to Instagram, and subtitles will be generated in 17 other languages automatically.
To activate this feature, go to Menu > Settings > Accessibility > Captions.
Instagram Stories Captions That Update Automatically
Instagram Reels now have automated subtitles generated by the site upon post.
If you’re a creator and don’t want captions, you may disable them in the upload flow’s Advanced Options. By doing so, automatic captioning will be turned off for both the now playing video and any subsequent videos you watch.
To toggle closed captions on or off, users may access this setting via the menu that appears when they hit the three dots in the upper right corner of the screen.
As you can see, Instagram is committed to ensuring that its service is usable by the blind, as well as the deaf and hard of hearing. And you ought to as well. With any luck, you’ll be able to enhance these audiences’ content consumption experience by following these guidelines.