Social Media Vs Accessibility

Social Media vs. Accessibility

PSF Buzz

Jack Pickard

07 July 2009

Social Media vs. AccessibilityWelcome To St James’ Park

• Yes, our new away kit is horrible

• Yes, we got relegated

• Yes, we are a bit of a laughing stock at the moment

• Yes, I know our new away kit is really, really horrible

• Yes, this isn’t St James’ Park,


Accessibility• Legal – DDA• Moral – Responsibility to citizens• Financial – the disabled dollar


Accessibility• Specific Public Sector

Requirements

• DED (Disability Equality Duty)• EU Riga Declaration• Cabinet Office Requirements


The Social Media ‘Push’

• Push towards digital engagement

• They won’t come to you• ‘I’m Not Listening’• Like it or not, it’s happening


But Is It Accessible?• No


But Is It Accessible?• Well, not really• What are the problems?

• CAPTCHA• AJAX• User Generated Content


But Is It Accessible?• Not yet, but it is improving

• Facebook to Make Site More Accessible to Blind http://508portal.com/?q=node/598


Facebook CAPTCHA


Twitter CAPTCHA


YouTube CAPTCHA


Facebook vs Keyboard


Twitter vs Keyboard


What Can You Do?• Which parts can you make accessible?

• What parts are your responsibility?• What can you do?

• Ensure that information is available elsewhere in a more accessible format

• Help people make the best of their experience

• If people can’t use that service, they won’t come to that service to find you


Facebook Accessibility• How do I register with Facebook using a screen

reader?• Do you provide a HTML only version of the

site?• How can I report a problem with the assistive

technology (i.e. screen reader) I'm using?• How do I access the Gift Shop using a screen

reader?• How do I increase/decrease the font/text sizes

on Facebook?• How do I use Facebook Chat with a screen

reader?


Accessible Twitter


Accessible Twitter• @AccessibleTwitr designed by @dennisl

of the @webaxe podcast

• Features:• All links are keyboard accessible• Simple, consistent layout and navigation • Headings and page titles are implemented for

optimal accessibility • Works great with or without JavaScript


Accessible Twitter• More Features:

• Ajax actions are concluded with an alert• Large default text size and high color contrast • When entering tweets, audio cues indicate when the

character limit is almost reached• Forms and data tables are marked up for optimal

accessibility• Code is semantic, light, and adheres to best

practices in Web Standards.• If a tweet is in response to another (and marked as

such in the data), a clearer link is provided to the that tweet

• Tested on all major browsers: IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Chrome


You Tube• Bob’s House:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A

• If a video has no sound• Caption• Transcript/Description


You Tube• Captioning:

• When uploading a video to YouTube now you also have the option to upload a closed caption file for the video

• Easy You Tube Caption Creator http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tp6hgAEUiQ

• http://accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/


The fault is…default

• Social media/networking applications by default aren’t very accessible


The Verdict• No Excuses

• Accessibility is not a reason not to use social media

• It’s a reason to understand and use social media properly and provide support


Testing• Test your sites• Test your usage of social

media• Disability Equality Duty


You’ll Fail• You’ll fail• You’ll make mistakes• But by ignoring the whole thing,

you’ll make more mistakes• Experiment, monitor, set policy• Won’t reach everyone

• Over 1000 over 60s renewed their travel passes online (Nexus)

• Just Do It


Resources• WebAIM• Accessify• AccessifyForum• WAI• WebCredible


…and then I walked on down the hall…

Design

Social Media Vs Accessibility