Top 12 of 2012 #2 – access to social media

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Tuesday, 4 December 2012 10:59am

As social media continues to dominate what people do online, a new digital divide is opening up between those who use social media and those excluded from them by their inaccessibility. To help remedy this, we published sociABILITY: Social media for people with a disability in March.

Funded by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network grants scheme, the resource explains the current state of social media accessibility and guides users through getting started on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Skype and blogging.

Media Access Australia researcher Dr Scott Hollier conducted an eight-month qualitative study among people with a sensory and mobility impairment. Through this research, social media users with disabilities were able to share their tips and tricks so that others can gain access.

The report and accompanying tip sheets provide solutions to the accessibility barriers found in each social media tool and give guidance on using computers, mobile devices and assistive technologies.

The resource reached tens of thousands of people with a disability across Australia and the world. A translated version was recently provided to the Hungarian Association for the Blind and Vision Impaired by the Australian Embassy in Budapest.

As awareness of web accessibility gradually improves, social media networks are starting to consider the needs of disabled users in their development. We want as many people as possible to be able to experience the social interaction, self-expression and workplace participation that social media can bring and sociABILITY has proven to be an invaluable stepping stone over the past nine months.

sociABILITY: Social media for people with a disability is available in print, Word, PDF and HTML formats.


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