Are+Social+Networks+Accessible+for+All?

What's hot? Social networking! If you have been a part of 21st century society, you've either heard of, dabbled in, or fully embraced social networking on sites such as Facebook, YouTube, internet forums, blogs, edmodo for education, and Twitter, just to name a few. These sites are easily accessible to a majority of the population, but are they accessible to all? Some companies have finally made their printed materials accessible to all, and technology is not slowing down for them as they struggle with the task of making their social networking sites available to all as well. Social networking is not limited to Facebook. It incorporates blogs, podcasts, video, websites, and message boards. The goal of this form of communication is to deliver a message in a much more interactive, collaborative, and engaging way than printed materials could. In theory, social networking should allow more people to become active in 21st century "Web 2.0" communication and collaboration.

Who is left behind on current Web 2.0 social networking sites? Those people who are utilizing assistive technology such as screen readers are left behind. Technology is advancing so quickly that assistive technology can't match the pace. Social networking sites are aware of the issues and are working diligently to meet the needs of all users. For example, twitter has a site called accessibletwitter.com which has made improvements so screen reader users have an easier task, keyboarding accessibility issues have been improved upon and there are audio cues that announce when the 140 character limit is being reached. This is a relatively new tool, it's still in beta stage, but it's a start. YouTube also has an alternative site called Easy YouTube. This is an interface that allows player controls to recognized easier, with improved support for keyboard only operations. Facebook does not yet have an alternative site, and some simple functions like drag and drop don't work with screen readers.

What's hot? Social networking! What's not? Putting a message on the internet and limiting who can receive it.

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Many of these social networking sites have some of the world's best and brightest manning their ships. I feel if they wanted to make more of an effort to make their sites accessible to all they could. While it seems as though they are making slow, incremental progress, it certainly doesn't seem like a priority. Is it because finanicially, they don't need people with accessibility issues visiting their sites to be profitable? While it may not make sense in terms of dollars and sense for web-based companies to pump resources into accessibility, it does in terms of right and wrong. -Matt Krapfl-

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