Making Your Flyers & Posters More Inclusive

Remember those days when flyers were plastered everywhere? Bulletin boards, telephone poles, and more! Now, digital flyers, posted in social media, websites, or emails, are just as common.

You may create your flyers as mini-works of art, but their main job is to deliver information. Whether it’s an exciting event or important campus news, you want everyone to easily understand your message, regardless of what platform you use or the preferred tools of your users. Check out the tips below to make your digital flyers more inclusive!

• Font Fabulous:
  • Easy on the Eyes: Choose clear, simple fonts. Avoid fancy ones that are hard to read quickly.
  • Big is Best: Use a larger font size (at least 12 points) for key information.
  • Color Counts: Ensure strong contrast between text and background colors for easy viewing.
  • Left Align: Keep text aligned to the left for easier reading.
  • Spacing is Key: Increase line spacing for better readability (1.5 lines is ideal).
  • Emphasis Matters: Don’t overuse bolding or italicizing. Use it sparingly, and add an icon (such as an asterisk) or a word (like “Important”) to highlight key points.
• Multiple Ways to Find More Info: Include a short link along with any QR codes. Wake’s Go Link service is a great option.
• Sharing a Flyer as an Image: In many platforms, like Instagram, images are the center of a post. But don’t let the message get trapped in the picture!
  • Share the Story in Alt Text: Whenever the platform allows, add meaningful alt text to all images. Concise alt text should tell your user what you’re sharing in the image. This is important when the image can’t be seen or isn’t loading, and is vital for many users of assistive technology, such as people who are blind or have low-vision.
  • Messages in Text Alongside the Image: Always include event information as machine-readable text within the post itself, along with adding alt text whenever possible. This makes the flyer info searchable and readable by more users.
    • Your alt text should be more concise, but the text in your posts can be longer. Add both to reach more of an audience!
    • If you’re sharing someone else’s photo, add the message of the flyer in your post since you may not be able to add alt text.
    • If sharing a screenshot with a lot of text, link to the full, accessible version in your post.
    • Sharing your image-based flyer in an email? Add the text of the flyer in the body of the email AND add a short alt text description to your image in Gmail by:
      • Clicking on the image will open a menu toolbar adjacent to the image. Click “edit alt text”, then add your meaningful alt text in the description field. Finally, click apply.
• Sharing a Flyer as a PDF poster:
  • Make sure your PDFs use machine-readable text (not just images) so they can be easily searched and read by screen readers.
  • Utilize PDF software features to define the reading order of your document.
  • Use structured headings and other tags to guide readers. Your headings should nest like an outline and no levels should be skipped.

By following these tips, you can create flyers and posters that are not only visually appealing but also more accessible to everyone in your community!