Making Art Accessible
What can you do to help your art reach more people online?
Hello and welcome, my lovely creatives! I hope you had an inspiring week that included a happy surprise return.
I was struggling with working on my romcom this week. I wasn’t feeling particularly funny at the top of the week so I was trying to figure out cover art, which meant I went down different rabbit holes only to emerge with my funny bone intact but no further along with the cover art. At least I was attempting to be productive, right?
That’s one thing about art: sometimes figuring out what doesn’t work is just as important as what does.
I also received fantastic news this week that my creative weirdoness has inspired a new friend to get back to writing. I did a happy dance for him and I wish him all the greatest words! He already knows he inspired the story I’m working on so it’s a lovely circle of mutual inspiration. Yay!
This week, I was thinking about making art accessible online and thought I’d share some thoughts. I’m trying to be more consistent with my own accessible practices so this is also a gentle reminder to myself, as well. Let me know in the comments if you know of other things we can do to help make our art more accessible!
Dear Lovely Creative Person,
If you’re posting your art and/or writing online, I’m guessing you’d like it to reach as many people as possible. Why not help your work become even more accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities?
In Canada and the US, websites are supposed to be compliant with accessibility functions, but not everyone is aware of the laws behind this.
But it’s not just for the law, wouldn’t you want more people to enjoy your art?
Here are some quick tips to make your website and social media posts more accessible:
1. On your website and in your social media posts, add in descriptions of the work to the photos to help folks who have vision impairment or who are blind to see the work. For photos, you can add in descriptions to the alt text that won't show up unless you hover over the picture. This helps folks who use assistive technology such as screen readers to see photos. A little bit of description goes a long way to making art more accessible.
2. Use closed captions on your social media reels, stories, and videos to aid those with hearing impairments and those who are deaf.
3. Provide transcripts of videos if possible (YouTube has an option to do this, I’m not sure about other sites but it’s worth exploring).
4. Give warnings if there are flashing lights or loud sounds so people can figure out if it will trigger a negative reaction (epilepsy, neurodivergents, and other impairments).
These are just a few things that can help make your artwork more accessible online. After all, don't you want more people to enjoy your work?
Much love and helping everyone enjoy your art,
t :)
Inspiration Of The Week
This week’s inspiration comes from the movie The Monk and the Gun. It was an unexpected crowd-pleaser. It was gentle and funny and gave some historical context to Bhutan becoming a democracy. I can’t remember ever seeing a movie set in Bhutan other than perhaps a documentary so it was great to see more of the country and the people.
What inspired you this week?
Creative Prompt For The Week
This section is a weekly prompt to nudge you to do something creative this weekend. Sometimes we want to do something but just don't know what to create so we need a starting point. I'm going to help the creatively challenged by providing a word, phrase, or some other starting point where you can focus and create something. If you'd like to share it with me, please do, but there's no pressure. I'm here to inspire, not judge or tell you how or what to do.
Your prompt for this week, should it inspire you, is:
NAME
I was once chastised by a barista friend because I didn’t know the name of another barista who I’d been ordering from for months. I wasn’t trying to be mean. I just couldn’t read her nametag (I’m sure that was on purpose as it was smudgy) and we always smiled and greeted one another fondly so I figured that was good enough.
Not for my barista friend.
So, now, if I’m dealing with someone on a regular basis, I try to ask for their name so it’s not awkward. Like my print shop guy. I asked his name today because I said calling him Print Shop Guy didn’t seem appropriate. He and I both laughed about it. And now I know his name, which I’m sure would make my barista friend happy.
I also really like names. I’m a writer so I keep a list of unusual and fun names I come across so I can refer to them when I’m struggling to name a character.
Some ideas for some name inspiration: make a list of names you’d use for a pet rock, doodle a name you’ve always liked but never knew what to do with, or perhaps you can write a name at the top of a piece of paper and then write something beautiful or tragic or funny about that name.
I hope you have a fabulous week of naming inspiration!
Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button to receive your weekly creative inspiration and share this newsletter with someone who would enjoy it. Let’s play!