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Professional Writing · Chapter 12

Public Post Workbench

In public, one specific detail beats ten agreeable adjectives — and a post is not finished until its image, its link and its hashtag are readable by everyone. Build the post line by line, watch where the platform cuts it off, then write the alt text yourself and hear what a screen reader announces.
1 · Build the post
Same situation, two channels. Choose one line per slot — the preview and the rubric move as you click.
2 · The accessibility pass
Small, cheap, consistently skipped. You are attaching this image: six staff members in scrubs standing in front of a whiteboard that reads “ZERO FALLS — 90 DAYS.”
3 · What the reader sees
Most platforms hide everything under the fold behind “see more.” Those first two lines carry the entire job of earning the click.
4 · The rubric, live
5 · What a screen reader announces
Roughly a fifth of your audience meets your post through this readout, not through the picture.
The usual pattern with accessibility: the accommodation turns out to be the better default. Descriptive link text is clearer for sighted readers too.