Determining the Accessibility of Social Networking Websites

Abstract

Social networking web sites have achieved phenomenal growth within a short period of time. While many of us have accounts to maintain contact with friends and family, social networking sites are also used for purposes of work and education. While the benefits and constraints of these sites, along with their effect on society and technology, have been clearly identified by sociologists, one issue yet to be resolved relates to the accessibility of these interfaces [1,2,4]. Research suggests that individuals who are blind specifically encounter difficulties accessing social networking sites using text-to-speech synthesizers, impacting tasks which are taken for granted by their sighted counterparts. According to [2], the challenges can be attributed to inappropriate use of HTML or scripting code and changes in presentation of content or information structure, which can cause confusion to users. We have conducted a data gathering study to identify the day-to-day challenges experienced when accessing social networking sites, with the aim of working towards the development of design guidelines to aid interface designers who are aiming to develop inclusive social networking interfaces.