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,

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Accessibility• Specific Public Sector

Requirements

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

But Is It Accessible?• No

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

• CAPTCHA• AJAX• User Generated Content

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Facebook CAPTCHA

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Twitter CAPTCHA

Social Media vs. Accessibility

YouTube CAPTCHA

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Facebook vs Keyboard

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Twitter vs Keyboard

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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?

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Accessible Twitter

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

You Tube• Bob’s House:

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

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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/

Social Media vs. Accessibility

The fault is…default

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Testing• Test your sites• Test your usage of social

media• Disability Equality Duty

Social Media vs. Accessibility

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

Social Media vs. Accessibility

Resources• WebAIM• Accessify• AccessifyForum• WAI• WebCredible

Social Media vs. Accessibility

…and then I walked on down the hall…