Social Media and Accessibility

Social Media & Web Accessibility
Accessibility For Social Media
Practical tips for creating
Sal Baldovinos

Sal Baldovinos
mayhemandchaos.com

Sal Baldovinos
mayhemandchaos.com
@mayhemchaos

What is web accessibility?

web accessibility means that people
with disabilities can use the web.

perceive
understand
web accessibility means that people
with disabilities can use the web.
interact
navigate

Different disabilities affect web use

low vision
visual
color blindness
blindness

hearing
deafness
hard of hearing

missing limbs
joint problems
Physical
motor disabilities
muscular control

dyslexia
ADD
Cognitive & Neurological
seizures
memory

vision
hearing
Age-related conditions
dexterity
memory

vision
damn kids
hearing
twitter
Age-related conditions
myspace
joint problems
motor disabilities
dexterity
memory
facebook

Why is accessibility
So important

We use the web for
Education, employment,shopping,government

Online Schools

Online employment Applications

Online Shopping

Equality

Equal
access

equal
opportunity

What makes the web accessible?

web developer
early planning
early detection
evaluation tools
proper xhtml
validation tools

web developer
early planning
early detection
wave
evaluation tools
proper xhtml
validation tools
color contrast

what
IS
social
media

Social media is a term used to describe the type of media that is based on conversation and interaction between people online. Where media means digital words, sounds & pictures which are typically shared via the internet and the value can be cultural, societal or even financial.
http://www.wikipedia.org
photo by dbking on flickr

photo by r_gallant on flickr
Social media is like teen sex.
Everyone wants to do. Nobody knows how.
When it’s finally done, there is surprise it’s not better.
AvinashKaushik, Google

conversation
Simply Put

conversation
engagement
Simply Put

listening
conversation
engagement
Simply Put

listening
conversation
engagement
Simply Put
nurturing

listening
conversation
engagement
Simply Put
nurturing
problem solve

listening
conversation
engagement
Simply Put
identify
nurturing
problem solve

Should
I Care about
social media

Why SoSerious?

Some Reasons

3 out of 4 americans use social tech
Some Reasons

2/3 of internet pop visit social networks
Some Reasons

4thmost popular online activity
Some Reasons

4thmost popular online activity
Some Reasons
oprah
ashtonkutcher
justinbieber

Speaking of twitter

Speaking of twitter
Nearly 75 million people visited Twitter’s site in January
~ comScore

Speaking of Millions

billions
Speaking of Millions
5,000,000,000
The number of minutes spent on Facebook each day.

if facebookwere a country
it would be the 8th most populated county in the world, ahead of Japan.
Mark Zuckerberg, January 2009

if facebookwere a country
it would be the 3rd most populated county in the world, ahead of USA.
Hitwise March 2010

The conversation is going to happen whether you’re engaged in it or not.
photo by kamshots on flickr

Should
I Care about
social media

how do youbalanceaccessibility & social media?
photo by mrMark on flickr

in some cases, you can’t

captcha

captcha
Have you ever listened to one of those reCAPTCHA forms?

captcha
ajax

captcha
user generated content
ajax

You cannot control the way social networking sites like Facebook display information. You can make sure what you put on those sites is accessible to users anywhere.

You cannot control the way social networking sites like Facebook display information. You can make sure what you put on those sites is accessible to users anywhere.
alt text
be aware of barriers
transcripts
descriptions
alternative sites

what is being done?

what is being done?
Facebook is working with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) to make its social-networking service more accessible to users who are blind or visually impaired [...] Facebook is also working with AFB on design changes. Still, Augusto [head of the AFB] admits the ultimate goal — full accessibility for vision impaired users — is “far from being attained”
508 portal: Facebook to make site more accessible to blind

what is being done?
Accessible Twitter (@AccessibleTwitr) is an award-winning, web-based interface for Twitter that is designed to be accessible. All links are keyboard accessible, large text and contrast colors are used as well as forms & data tables are marked up for optimal accessibility.
Visit Accessible Twitter

what is being done?
YouTube allows users to add transcripts, annotations and captioning to their videos. This allows users with hearing disabilities to engage in ways they could not do before. There’s little to no excuse for not having accessible videos on YouTube considering how easy it is.
Easy YouTube Caption Creator by Accessify

If it’s not accessible, why bother?

If it’s not accessible, why bother?
Accessibility should not be an excuse not to engage in social media, rather it is a good reason to understand and use social media correctly and provide support. The platforms themselves should take the responsibility to make the sites more accessible. We as users should push for these changes.

Resources
knowbility.org
flick.com – creative commons
Accessify Forums
Facebook Accessibility
Accessible Twitter
Easy YouTube Caption Creator

Sal Baldovinos
Blog: http://www.mayhemandchaos.com
Follow: http://twitter.com/mayhemchaos
Email: sal@mayhemandchaos.com
Socialize
http://www.facebook.com/sal.baldovinos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayhemchaos
Thank you

Social Media and Accessibility

by Sal Baldovinos on May 10, 2010

Accessibility

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