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Making Social Media Accessible

Handouts

Presented at 9:15am in Governors Square 11 on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.

#34474

Speaker(s)

  • Keith Bundy, Accessibility Community Consultant, Siteimprove, Inc.

Session Details

  • Length of Session: 1-hr
  • Format: Lecture
  • Expertise Level: Beginner
  • Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Social media is becoming increasingly popular in higher education. Yet many social media posts are not accessible for users with disabilities.

This presentation will discuss the importance of social media at the university level. The presenter will also talk about various aspects of social media accessibility. In addition, the presentation will focus on how to make posts in multiple social media forums accessible.

Abstract

A survey has shown that 80% of college and university faculty members use social media and that more than half of them use it in their instruction. 30% of faculty members use it to communicate with students, while more than 52% use online podcasts, videos, blogs, and wikis during actual class time. Also, studies have indicated that the use of social media in higher education has enhanced learning, increased participation and engagement, improved content dissemination and improved pedagogy and information sharing. Some colleges and universities are also using social media as a tool for recruiting students.

With such widespread use of these platforms, instructors must endeavor to make all social media posts accessible. It is estimated that one out of every five Americans has some sort of disability that requires accessibility considerations, so inaccessible social media posts may result in a significant number of students and potential students not being able to gain the benefits from these interactions that their non-disabled peers gain.

Most social media posts can be made accessible. This presentation will discuss how to make posts accessible in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. In addition, accessible blog posting will be discussed.

Keypoints

  1. Social media is becoming more prevalent in instruction and recruitment of students.
  2. Up to 20% of university students and potential students have disabilities and need accessibility consideration
  3. Social media posts can, and should, be made accessible.

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Assistive Technology, Faculty Development & Support, Uncategorized, Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Keith Bundy

Keith Bundy was born totally blind. He received primarily a mainstream education and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion, and a master’s degree in college student personnel work. He has worked for 40 years in a variety of professional positions and is currently a digital accessibility consultant and trainer with Siteimprove, Inc. He is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies, and he holds certifications in accessibility information and technology, JAWS for Windows, and NVDA. He has over 20 years of experience in accessibility.

Keith enjoys public speaking, serving as a public address announcer for sports events in his community, and spending time with his wife, Peggy, and their four grown sons (and four grandchildren).

Handout(s)