Recognizing barriers, increasing reach—practical knowledge for accessible social media

This workshop focuses on accessible communication in social media and how content on platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, and Facebook can be designed to reach more people instead of unintentionally excluding them. Barriers on social media often arise not from malicious intent, but from time pressure, lack of knowledge, or false assumptions. The workshop highlights these barriers and shows concrete ways to avoid them in everyday life. The focus is on practical implementation rather than theoretical rules. Key messages: Accessibility is not an add-on or a special topic, but a central component of good social media communication. Breaking down barriers increases reach, comprehensibility, and impact. Small changes to text, images, videos, and interaction can make a big difference. Accessible social media does not mean less creativity, but more conscious decisions. Responsibility and reach are not mutually exclusive; they reinforce each other. Added value for participants? Participants learn to recognize and classify typical barriers on different platforms. They are given concrete, immediately applicable tools for accessible texts, image descriptions, videos, hashtags, and interactions. In practical exercises, they analyze and revise real social media examples and develop a better sense of how content is received by different users. The goal is to leave the workshop with more confidence, clarity, and motivation to actively implement accessible social media. What prior knowledge is required? A basic understanding of social media and initial practical experience with at least one of the platforms mentioned is required. Specific prior knowledge in the area of accessibility is not required. Please bring a computer or tablet.