Categories
twitter

Accessibility Toolkit on OneForty

I’ve created an Accessibility toolkit for accessibility-related Twitter applications on the website OneForty, a great directory of Twitter-related apps. A “toolkit” is a collection of apps with a theme in common. There are only four apps listed in my toolkit so far, so I’d surely welcome any suggestions. Note that the app must be listed on OneForty to be included in a toolkit.

oneforty logo

Categories
keyboard twitter

Response to Twitter Keyboard Shortcuts

A few nights ago, I submitted a comment to a recent article on Lifehacker, Navigate the New Twitter Like a Pro with Keyboard Shortcuts. My comment wasn’t approved. I also tweeted a reply about the article to @Scobleizer and Twitter employee @rsarver. Received no response there either.

The article to which I was responding glamorizes New Twitter’s keyboard shortcuts. I take offense to this so-called “feature” because the Twitter.com website itself is not accessible to users of keyboard-only input devices (which includes many types of assistive technology). And like all websites, Twitter.com should be accessible to anyone, not just to those who are able to use a mouse (device independence, see WCAG 2.0 Guideline 2.1). Does everyone see the irony here?!

So what my argument boils down to is this: if a website offers special keyboard shortcuts, it should first ensure that the it is fully keyboard accessible.

Here is my comment and Tweet below. Did I overreact?

Unapproved article comment:

This sickens me. Twitter isn’t keyboard accessible, period. Users of assistive technology can’t access the website. People who use a screenreader (visually impaired) or another type of keyboard-only input device (mobility impairments) are nearly completely blocked and makes Twitter.com useless. New Twitter is even worse than the old Twitter site. The so-called keyboard enhancements are an insult to those with disabilities. Fortunately, there is a web-based Twitter app that pays attention to everyone (and web standards, too). It’s called AccessibleTwitter.com.

My tweet reply:

.@Scobleizer Not valuable to users of keyboard-only devices; Twitter.com isn’t accessible to assistive tech. /cc @lifehacker @rsarver #a11y

Categories
law roundup testing twitter

Link Roundup – September 2010

Categories
socialmedia twitter

Suggestions for Accessible Social Media Apps

As far as some accessible social media, here are my suggestions:
Twitter – Of course, use http://www.AccessibleTwitter.com
YouTube – http://icant.co.uk/easy-youtube/ OR http://tube.majestyc.net/
Facebook – http://m.facebook.com
LinkedIn – http://m.linkedin.com
MySpace – Nothing

Categories
twitter

Donate to Accessible Twitter

Accessible Twitter needs your help!