Inclusion Daily Express -- Study: Social Networks Exclude Web Users With Disabilities

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Study: Social Networks Exclude Web Users With Disabilities
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 23, 2008

LONDON, ENGLAND--Facebook. MySpace. YouTube. Yahoo! Bebo.

These are five of the top social networking websites on the Internet today.

Unfortunately, these sites cannot be used by millions of Web users with disabilities.

The computing and disability charity AbilityNet has issued a report, its "State of the eNation", showing that these sites ignore basic rules for accessibility, making it difficult or impossible for many people to register or to get around on the sites after they register.

One thing the sites have in common is what is called a CAPTCHA image for users to register. These are images made up of twisted or jumbled letters or numbers that can not be read by computers, but must be interpreted by human beings. People who have vision-related or learning disabilities often cannot register or log in. While some of the sites offer a graphic alternative for users with disabilities, those alternatives simply would not work, the researchers found.

The social networking sites also are rich in video and photographic content that cannot be accessed by people that use the kind of technology that reads the text out loud.

"With a disabled population of some 10 million potential users, these sites are inadvertently imposing a 'technological lock-out' on those who have most to gain from social networking -- arguably the most socially excluded members of the community," said the survey's author, Kath Moonan.

The report was put together from reviews by AbilityNet consultants and feedback by survey responses from a team of a hundred Internet users that have disabilities.

Related:
"State of the eNation -- Social Networking Websites" (AbilityNet)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0123e.htm

Copyright © 2008 Inonit Publishing
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