Accessibility in social media

Accessibility must be baked in...

"1) Accessibility needs to be ‘baked in,’ integrated into every department of a social media company (e.g., software engineering, product management, communication and marketing, usability, user experience, interaction design) rather than ‘layered on,’ added as an afterthought or in the middle of a product’s development;

2) Accessibility doesn’t end when a product or app is launched. Accessibility is from cradle-to-grave for any device, website, online service or app. Updates and user feedback is critical in maintaining and improving existing products as the environment constantly evolves (this case for example);

3) People with disabilities are innovative in finding workarounds and creative solutions on their own when using social media. Waiting for companies to improve their services and products may take a while and users with disabilities have a wealth of knowledge on how to improve accessibility for themselves and others; and

4) Accessibility is a civil and human right; the power and promise of social media is still out of reach for some people with disabilities who do not have the same ease-of-use and benefits as non-disabled users, shutting them out of opportunities and increasing inequality further."

Posted on modelviewculture

Unaccessible experience design

Spotify faced challenges when updateing their service to an improved look. Despite the great interface, people with reduced sight can no longer use the sevice.

Read more at aftonbladet news article (in Swedish):
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article18712503.ab

Accessibility is a democratic challenge, and media needs to be accessible. This was discussed during Mg2014, in Gothenburg. (Mediadagarna) (In Swedish):
 http://www.dyslexi.org/tidningen-las-skriv/medier-vem

There is already great competence availible to support accessibility. Begripsam, a project about cognitive accessibility, is funded by Arvsfonden. In this project, people with cognitive disabilties are paid to contribute with the their knowledge to international and swedish standards.  (In swedish).
 http://www.dyslexi.org/tidningen-las-skriv/vi-vill-ha-en-begripligare-varld-9772

Discrimination law

In Sweden, there is a proposal of a new law concerning discrimination. This is intented to  adress services that lack accessibility for people with a disability.

The discrimination law proposal