Welfare Scotland - Social Media Accessibility in Scottish Politics

Reviewing the Use of Alt Text in Scottish Politics on X

Over the three weeks (10/04/2025 - 03/05/2025) we conducted random reviews of elected politicians and official political party accounts in Scotland who use the X (formally Twitter) social media platform and who attach images or photos to their posts. When conducting these random reviews, we have been checking if the politician or political party has added alternative text (alt text) to their images on the platform.

What Is Alt Text and Why Is It Important?

Alt text is a brief description of an image. It is written so that people using screen readers, including blind and visually impaired users, can understand the content and context of the image. Alt text does not appear visually on the screen. Instead, it is read aloud by assistive technology or displayed when images do not load. It should convey the essential information or mood of an image.When alt text is missing, users relying on assistive tech are excluded. They may not understand a campaign message, miss out on a photo from an event, or be unable to follow an infographic. Failing to use alt text is a barrier. It turns communication into exclusion. Including it is a simple step that makes content inclusive and respectful.

Scottish Conservatives

@ScotTories

Out of 100 of the most recent posts containing images from the @ScotTories X account, 0% contained alt text.

Image shows that the Scottish Tory Party has used alt text on 0% of their posts on X

Out of 50 random images posted on the X account of Russell Findlay MSP, 0% contained alt text.

Image shows that the Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has used alt text on 0% of their posts on X

How Do I Alt Text?

The process to add alt text differs from platform to platform. For a downloadable guide and video walkthroughs, click here.

How Did the Main Political Parties in Scotland Fare?

100 of the most recent posts containing images (excluding retweets) have been checked for the main party X account of the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party. Due to the number of parties across Scotland we decided to limit our reviews to registered political parties in Scotland who have at least four (4) Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) at Holyrood.When reviewing party leaders accounts, we checked 50 random images posted to their main X account (excluding retweets).

This data is accurate as of 9th May 2025.