Emily Allen Lucht is the Director of Communications at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Previously, she was the Communications and Media Specialist at the Maryland Center for School Safety (MCSS). She was responsible for creating and updating accessible social media content, graphic, audio, and visual designs, website content production and maintenance, the agency's branding initiatives, and developing outreach campaigns found on all their digital platforms. Ms. Allen Lucht also produced live and recorded video content for the MCSS and its many local and statewide partners.

Over the past four years, she and her colleague, Cecilia Warren (Maryland Department of Disabilities), have presented on accessible social media tips and techniques throughout the country. Together they assist other government agencies so that everyone can get the right message, at the right time, to ensure everyone can make the right choice to keep their loved ones safe.

Prior to joining MCSS, she spent three years at the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) as their Digital Engagement Coordinator. She also served as the Communication Specialist for the City of Platteville, Wisconsin, where she managed and created content for the city’s webpage, social media accounts. Ms. Allen Lucht also worked with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as Social Media Producer/Broadcasting Coordinator for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx in Minneapolis.

Ms. Allen Lucht graduated in 2010 from Loras College with a degree in media studies and is living with her husband and new puppy "Lando" in Maryland.

Emily Allen Lucht’s Session

11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Pacific Time — Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Keeping up with Social Media Accessibility

As social media content creators and managers, it is hard to keep up with social media platform updates. Unfortunately, when these modifications occur on social networks, inevitably the accessibility functionality is left behind and not included with those "slight tweaks". In this presentation, you'll learn of the many social media accessibility changes and challenges that have occured on the top social media platforms and how to fix them. Attendees can participate and follow the content creation process step-by-step using their devices in real-time in order to post accessible messages and images for most social media networks. Attendees will leave this session with the understanding of how to post accessible digital content, new tips to minimize the process timeline, and updated ways to test messaging.