Visually+Impaired+and+Tweeter


 * The Visually Impaired and Tweeter**

Article: //Tweeters Take Responsibility for an Accessible Web 2.0 by: Katie Ellis and Mike Kent// //Fast Capitalism 7.1, 2010//

Visual impairments are commonly found among people of any age. A visual impairment is defined as vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means (Wikipedia). Someone with a visual impairment would find it difficult, if not impossible, to maneuver around and fully use Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter without some assistance or assistive technology.

Tweeter is a well known social network that is growing ever so rapidly. There are nearly 1.5 tweets made per month using Tweeter. It is also becoming known as a political platform where people are able to express their ideas. As a web 2.0 tool, Tweeter has not been user friendly to people with disabilities especially for those with visual impairments.

Now, those who are visually impaired are going to have access to something called “Accessible Twitter”. Twitter hired someone to do a renovation on the Twitter site and make it accessible to those with disabilities. Now those with visual impairments can tweet. The layout is different, much simpler, and can work with or without JavaScript. A visual impaired person can still use older versions of screen reading software if they want to. Accessible Tweeter also has clear labeling and identification which can be used by both a keyboard and mouse. Accessible Twitter also has large default text size and high color contrast making it easier to distinguish between items. Although there is still progress to be made, accessibility has gotten better for those with disabilities who want to use Tweeter.

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