AN EXAMINATION OF DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY WITH SOCIAL MEDIA: OPPORTUNITIES, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, AND FUTURE RESEARCH.

EXTENDED ABSTRACT Digital media, particularly social media, has transformed how people communicate and it has continued to evolve rapidly, especially with younger users. Despite the widespread use of social media, it remains inaccessible for millions of users with hearing or visual disabilities, a reality that has led to lawsuits against many brands. Consumers with such impairments may either lack or have difficulties using assistive technology (i.e., screen readers, captioned videos with playback), experience problems operating keyboards, and/or encounter other obstacles such as poor color contrast in the digital media displays, they attempt to access. Consequently, these consumers are vulnerable in that they are not able to fully access the benefits of the marketplace to the same degree as consumers without such disabilities. Accessibility issues for vulnerable consumers are compounded when organizations do not incorporate accessibility features directly into their digital media-based offerings or rely on automated technology to add such features even though such devices may not accurately capture the relevant and necessary content in what has been posted in the digital realm. Public policy guidelines regarding digital communication and accessibility specifically in social media are limited, out of date, or non-existent enforceable laws. Since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 before social media platforms existed, there is a lack of information on how brand advertisers should utilize accessibility features in their social media content. In this research, we examined 829 social media posts selected by young adults that appeared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Our findings enhance the understanding of which digital accessibility features (e.g., alternative text or closed captioning) were actually being implemented accurately in these posts, which ones were not, and why social media posts may be a ripe area for public policy consideration and advanced development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]