In the correspondence that followed, my colleague noted that the mobile version of Facebook was “usable” with screen readers but we both agreed that there were a number of things that you could not do on Facebook using the mobile interface or even the iPad/iPod Facebook app.

I wish I had read a December 8th posting from Marco’s Accessibility Blog because he had done all of the work for me, detailing extensively the issues related to the two big social networking sites as well as several more – some of which I’d never heard of before. Marco’s “Social Networking and Accessibility: A rather sad picture” blog does give a pretty comprehensive, sad and up-to-date (he revised the blog several days later with new information) picture of the topic so I highly recommend reading it in its entirety. I like the fact they he did not stop with screen reader AT but also mentioned issues for folks with mobility issues and the requirement to use a mouse/pointing device to access content and perform functions with many of these services.

So, if you are looking here for a good, reliable and accurate review of the major social networking services and their lack of accessibility, head on over to Marco’s and check it out. I will be adding him to my blogroll.

Happy New Year – Let’s hope there are new and good things in store for accessible web design in 2012.

For the uninitiated, the beauty of TweetDeck (hence called TD) is its ability to create various groups and to sort your “follows” into various groups or lists. The main default list is called “All Friends” and consists of all of the people you currently follow on Twitter. As you add more twits to this list, they automatically appear in the All Friends list.

The best feature of TD is the ability to create new lists based upon a subset of the All Friends list. Within these groups you can also filter the list using either the tweet content, name, or time. The groups are created as vertical lists that are arranged in columns that can also be moved around as needed.

I will not pretend to be an expert on TD – let alone Twitter – but I have developed a “system” for sorting the over 1,300 “twits” I am currently following. I like my system, but I am open to hearing from others as to how you handle yours. So feel free to comment on this blog or just tweet your ideas (presuming you can do so in 140 characters).

So my system (which has evolved over time) essentially comes down to four major groups. First, in the far left column is the All Follows. Next, for pure organizational purposes, I have the TwitScoop feed. I must admit this is a bit addicting. Then I have two columns that I might call my “A” List and my “B” List. The A List is technically called Education/Maine because it originally consisted of people who were educators in Maine that I knew and wanted to follow. But it has expanded to include any number of folks, mostly from New England, but a combo of educators and others whose tweets I find most interesting. In this group I keep my closest friends and colleagues so that when I have “conversations” all of the content is easy to follow. BTW, I have added my own Twitter name here so it posts my tweets too.

The B List is for folks a little farther (further?) away and from other more diverse backgrounds. There are a large number of other web designers here, writers, and other just plain interesting folks.

In the next column I have what I call my News feeds. These are twits that are either actual news organizations (CNN, BreakingNews, NYT, etc.) and some individuals whose tweets often take on a “newsy quality.” I also have some feeds from twits that post jobs and other cyclical news (earthquake announcements, weather alerts etc.). BTW, Mr. TD, if you are reading this, a cool feature to add would be the ability to have certain twitter accounts sound a tone or alarm when a new tweet is posted. This would be great for foul weather alerts and hot breaking news.

The next two columns are Replies (or as some call them “Mentions”) and Direct Messages. I call these my utility groups as I usually leave these scrolled off on the right side and only occasionally read them (1-2 times per day).

Rounding out my lists, I have included a column containing my 12seconds.tv feeds.

So how does it all work…?

Well by default, I have all new follows post in the All Friends column only. The exception is when, while reading tweets in TD, I notice someone in another tweet who looks or sounds interesting. After checking out their profile, I decide to follow. I usually then assign this new person to the A List or B List. But generally, in most cases, new twits start in the All Friends and I only move them up into A or B after I’ve had a chance to sample their tweets for a few weeks.

Over the past 6-8 months I have unfollowed a very low number, but I have moved some folks from B to A, A to B and from B back to All Friends. I sort of feel like the sports team manager; as the performance improves, they get into the starting lineup. As their performance drops, well you get the idea.

I can’t say that this is the best way for organizing my follows, but it works. If you have a system, please feel free to share.

~j

Accessible Twitter

Dennis Lembree the founder and host of Web Axe, a blog and podcast on web accessibility has built and produced an accessible access portal for Twitter called Accessible Twitter.

The newly developed site features a simple, consistent layout and navigation which meets WAI and Section 508 Accessibility Standards. The site also assures that all links are keyboard accessible and that users can access their Twitter account with or without JavaScript. Accessible Twitter uses large default text size and high color contrast and works well in both high or low resolution browser settings.

Lembree is the owner of the web development company CheckEngine USA, and co-founder of Refresh Detroit, a group of web professionals in Southeast Michigan.

~jeb

Updated/revised 2-19-09