Inclusion by Accessible Social Media - Use of Social Media by People with Visual Impairments: Usage Levels, Attitudes and Barriers - Fuglerud, Kristin Skeide (f)
2. Introduction
• Social media is an important arena for
participation in society
• This presentation is based on results from two
surveys conducted in two R&D projects:
• IVIS supported by Nordforsk
• NetCitizen supported by the Research
Council of Norway.
3. Two surveys about social media usage (1)
• A representative telephone survey (IVIS project)
• Participants drawn from member list of the
Norwegian Association for the Blind and
Partially sighted (NABP).
• 150 respondents
• Questions with predefined answer
alternatives
4. Two surveys about social media usage (2)
• A web survey among disabled (WebCitizen project)
• Recruited through e-mailing lists, Facebook and
the project webpages
• 101 answers, 70% visually impaired
• Open ended questions
5. Results telephone survey I
Access to mobile phone and PC
• 99% of visually impaired in NABP (Norway)
had a mobile phone
• Access to a PC
• 58% blind
• 73% severe visual impairment
• 77% moderate visual impairment
• 94% General population
6. Results telephone survey II
Types of services
• Facebook 90%
• Windows messenger 80%
• Skype 65%
• Twitter 10%
• YouTube 10%
7. Results telephone survey IV
Usage in age groups
• 15-24 years (general population)
• 90% (96%) used Facebook
• 100% used text-messages (SMS)
• 45% used mobile apps
• Across all age groups
• 20% (21%) used mobile apps
8. Results telephone survey V
Motivation for use of social media
The motivation is associated with
• how easy or difficult it is to use social
media
• the possibility of interacting with peers
and other VI through social media.
9. Results web survey I
Accessibility and usability barriers
• Most comments referred to
Facebook
• Capthca is a major barrier
• Difficult navigation
• Buttons and interaction
elements lacking alternative
texts
10. Results web survey II
Accessibility and usability barriers
• Emoticons (e.g. smileys is not
interpreted by screen readers)
• Most apps and computer games integrated
in FB were inaccessible
• User generated content, such as uploaded
pictures etc. lacked alternative texts.
11. Results web survey III
Other issues
• Problems associated with web 2.0
technology (AJAX)
• Reloading parts of the web page
• Frequently changing interfaces
• Lack of training opportunities and
documentation for AT users
• Many visually impaired people prefer the
mobile web interface
• Easier and more accessible
• Less functionality
12. Results web survey V: Added value
“… I use what I have learnt on Facebook
when I later meet people face to face,
and this has made it much easier for
Example: me to follow and understand the
Pregnancy context of conversations. It has also
become much easier to keep in touch
with people I otherwise would not have
had the resources to keep in contact
with. For me, Facebook provides the
opportunity for a more active social life
out in “real life”.
13. Discussion
• The usage level of social media among the
young not far behind the rest of the population
• Does this mean that social media is fairly
accessible?
- The surveys reveals many difficulties
- Visually impaired use the mobile interface
with less functionality
- Strong motivation to use social media
14. Conclusion
Quite high usage of social media among visually
impaired people in Norway despite difficulties,
probably due to high motivation and mobile
interfaces.
Many of the accessibility and usability challenges are
known, could have been addressed by adherence to
existing guidelines
Better accessibility guidelines alone is not enough
Important to ensure a participatory and user centred
design process, involving various stakeholders
15. Thanks for your attention!
Comments?
Questions?
Please contact
Kristin Skeide Fuglerud
Head of e-Inclusion
Norwegian Computing Center
E-mail: kristin.skeide.fuglerud@nr.no