Creating content that reaches more people starts with recognizing that audiences don’t all experience information in the same way. Whether someone is navigating a website with a screen reader, watching a video without sound or relying on captions or keyboard navigation, accessibility can make the difference between feeling included and being left out.
The good news is that accessible content doesn’t require reinventing your entire marketing strategy. Often, it’s the result of thoughtful decisions made throughout the creative process. Here, Forbes Communications Council members share strategies for creating content that better serves people with disabilities (and improves the experience for everyone).
1. Design With Accessibility In Mind
When you have a meeting, imagine a person with a disability is sitting in the room. Explain what you will do to communicate and test yourselves to see if it all makes sense. If it does not, start over. Always speak to the customer with a disability as if they were there with you every time. – Bob Pearson, Pearson Advisory Group
2. Write Descriptive Alt Text
One thing I always push my clients on is writing alt text that actually describes the image, not “image1.jpg” or a generic label. It’s a small habit that makes a real difference for visually impaired audiences, and it costs nothing. Accessibility starts with the basics most teams are still skipping. – Laiba Tariq, InnReg
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3. Prioritize Understanding, Not Compliance
Accessibility is not just about making sure someone can read or hear your message. It’s about making sure everyone has the best chance to understand your message. To this end, the ways you do this, apart from any methods required by law, can vary depending on the audience. I echo what many others have said on this topic—don’t treat accessibility as a checklist item, but rather as a creative challenge to make your messages understandable to as many as possible. – Brannon Bourland, Facility Solutions Group
4. Use Accessibility To Improve Health Equity
In healthcare, accessibility is a health equity issue. Organizations should ensure digital content is accessible through screen reader compatibility, captions, alt text and plain language. When patients can access critical health information, they are better equipped to engage in care and achieve improved health outcomes. – Kal Gajraj, Ph.D., CAN Community Health
5. Treat Accessibility As A Mindset
Creating content for disabilities isn’t a way; it’s a mentality. It’s how we optimize content for everyone. It inspires new, out-of-the-box ideas that can free consumers from being glued to a screen, allowing seamless consumption while driving, working out or multitasking. It’s about untethering the user experience to meet modern lifestyle trends. – Richard Lowe, Coastal Debt Resolve
6. Add Captions And Transcripts
A valuable step teams can take is adding accurate captions and transcripts to all video and audio content. This improves accessibility for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing while also benefiting those consuming content in sound-sensitive environments. Another important practice is ensuring strong color contrast and readable font sizes so content is easier to navigate for users with visual impairments or low vision. – Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
7. Use More Inclusive Language
Inclusive language is part of accessibility, not just an editorial preference. Accessible content makes fewer assumptions about the audience. For instance, gender-neutral pronouns when someone’s identity is not specified, avoiding regional phrases and unnecessary jargon, person-first language for disability references and replacing outdated terms all make the message easier for more people to understand and use. – Paula Mantle, Branch
8. Build Accessibility Checks Into AI Workflows
Build an accessibility guide and upload it to a companywide GPT or Claude project. Teams can check their work against ADA compliance in real time while building, reducing cognitive load. Embed checks into the process. Make it easy to support the community. – Kerry McDonough, Zip Co
9. Make Captions A Standard Practice
An accessibility strategy significantly scales audiences. The key is to think about accessibility from the beginning of the content creation process, rather than adding it later. There are many important accessibility practices—including writing descriptive alt text for images, using sufficient color contrast and ensuring websites are keyboard navigable. But captions are one of the simplest and highest-impact improvements a team can make immediately. – Rodney Mason, Minty
10. Use Multi-Sensory Semantic Layering
Incorporate “Multi-Sensory Semantic Layering” across all digital assets, specifically by embedding highly descriptive alt text and audio descriptions directly into the core production workflow rather than treating them as a post-launch compliance checklist. Many teams make the mistake of using AI to auto-generate basic, literal captions, which completely fail to convey the emotional nuance, visual data or branding of the creative work. – Patrick Ward, NanoGlobals
11. Choose Clarity Over Complexity
One of the most effective ways to improve accessibility is to prioritize clarity over complexity. Teams often focus on adding more information, but accessibility starts with making information easier to understand. Clear language, logical structure and focused messaging help people with cognitive and learning disabilities engage with content more easily while improving the experience for every audience. – Jessica Wong, Valux Digital
13. Use Predictable, Accessible Layouts
Teams must structure all digital layouts to follow a strict top-to-bottom reading pattern that supports screen magnifying tools and neurodivergent reading paths. Avoid irregular text wrapping, unpredictable grid changes or forced side scrolling. Prioritizing a predictable vertical flow reduces cognitive fatigue and helps assistive technologies correctly read the hierarchy. – Lauren Parr Banks, RepuGen
