Category: Let's talk
hello everyone!
two years ago I made the FCAP (Facebook Change for Accessibility Petition). The goal was to let Facebook know of some of the changes we, as the VI community, wish to see occuring on the site.
Well, now we have accessibility rolling- Facebook joined up with the AFB.
But improvements are needed, and not much has changed since the FCAP went into effect and Facebook made their blog post on the commitment to accessibility.
I've been asked to make a petition for Facebook detailing some of the challenges we face. This of course is an honor as always, and I wish to state that the petitioin is now a Facebook group.
If any other petitions have been made with the same goal, please let me know - I'd love to link that to the group/and have more sign it!
Please sign the Facebook Accessibility Improvement Petition (FAIP, pronounced faip, or F ay i p, either works). The more signers we get, the more likely Facebook will notice the petition and create changes. Visit
http://m.facebook.com/profile.php?re463a7f6&id=231057473110&refid=40
for the group page :)
With all the best,
Tomi/
The Journalist
i saw you used the mobile site for this, great.
i know of a few people that would want to sign this.
will let them know.
I don't believe it'll change things, but more power to you.
it might not, I understand your statement... It took about a year for them to change some accessibility with regards to the FCap petition, so...
However if no changes come about in 3-4 months time, I'm planning to oficially mail them the petition in paper to their headquarters with names of people who can sign in and around my area. After 30 days (so on Febuary 3rd), I will be e-mailing them the petition electronically and making them aware of it. The goal is not to piss them off really, just to get a response and feedback from them with regards to what is going on over there when it comes to making our lives a bit easier on the website.
hmmm, so i went to the link you provided, and it took me straight to my facebook profile.
anyone else having this?
that's odd, because I tried the link again and it took me to the group. Be sure to select the entire link (I should of made it a link in the post lol) and paste it in. If nothing else, do a search from anywhere on the mobile site for "accessibility petition" or facebook accessibility petition. It's keyword-based, so it matters not what you look for :)
I can't because it would break with my pithy no-politics non-protester ... er ... stance? nah that's more of a stretch. Those guys are out doin' that wile the rest of us are workin ...
how about we just leave facebook as it is, and just use it wich ever way works for us as individuals. if the mobile sight works better for you, then stick with that. the sight works just as good as the mobile one, and changing facebook won't do anything for us. it'll just make sighted people mad, because it's changing yet again. think about it, we're not the only ones that need facebook to be accessable, and we're not the only ones who don't like it when facebook change their layout either. it's all very noble of you to try, but not everything on the internet can be catered to us, nor should it be. we share facebook with sighted people, so we need to realize that not everything can be accessable to us.
well, the goal is, as stated, to not change the look or feel of Facebook much compared to todays. For example, Facebook could use ARIA to make their website have landmarks and other objects which would allow the blind to navigate more efficiently.
Yes, it's true that nothing everything can be made accessible, however Facebook isn't just a "service", it's a very popular one used by over 300 million people around the world. They have made their commitment with the AFB, I think it's time they follow through with it, as that was made a year ago.
The mobile site is great, however it lacks some serious features such as group discussions and furthermore, you can't use mainstream apps. Though, yes, for those who it works for, sure, keep using it :)
On the light version, you can't even view groups!
I don't know much about web coding, but Facebook could be more accessible without completely changing it's layout. They could make the edit boxes easier to type in, and label certain buttons. I thought it was nice for them to add access keys such as alt+1 for home so they could continue improving the site.
Would someone please explain to me what exactly about the full Facebook site is inaccessible?
I'm not a heavy Facebook user so maybe I haven't run into problems that exist. But from all the chatter I've heard off and on this website, it would seem I'm the only person that uses -- and finds no huge problem with -- the full Facebook website. I've checked updates, sent messages to inboxes and walls, watched and commented on notes and photos, ETC -- and I've never switched to the mobile version or felt the need to complain.
I'm not accusing anyone of wrongly calling inaccessibility, but I'm just trying to figure out what the fuss is about. Is Facebook really so inaccessible we need to complain?
Sometimes you have to fight, and other times you need to play the cards you're dealt.
-Brice
well, first off, Facebook is very unstable with JAWS and Internet Explorer 8. Navigating around the site is too slow, with a half a second lag when doing so. Facebook also increases my CPU uses and slows down everything when it is loaded.
Second, the petition does list a few inaccessibilities. These include the regular chat, e-mail addresses in profiles, the new privacy filters/that little notice which wants you to migrate your settings, the slides when you change your newsfeed settings (how much info you want displaied), some edit controls, the random numbers on the top of the page (2 clickable on mouseOver, hash/8q2anwu7 clickable). They also need to landmark the page which would make navigation easier between the various sections.
post 11, i have no problems with the full facebook sight either, with the exception of facebook chat, wich i don't like anyway so i just turned that off, and if my friends want to tell me something, or talk to me, they post to my wall or on my status, if i have a new one up. as for viewing groups, i find that rather accessable on facebook's side of it anyway. you have to remember that not everything on facebook belongs to them, so they haven't exactly got the power to tell other people how to run their websights. facebook can make their sight as accessable as they like, but they can't make other people make their sights accessable. it's up to the owners of the aplications, games, etc if they want to make their sights accessable for us or not, regardless of how popular facebook is.
I use both: the big one on my computer and the lite one on my PAC Mate. And, I use Firefox / it's not so sluggish with Facebook and yeah just use the parts you want ... im not into the chat or people send each other furry inspirational type things ... just check the walls and inbox mostly plus my group pages for new cigars and stuff ...
ok ok ok... fine. Petition abandoned. But I still want to see them implementing Aria...
sorry to bring this back to the top, and you're all going to hate me for this but anyway:
to the original poster, i can see what you are trying to do with facebook. as i mentioned in a previous post, i know some people who would be willing to sign it.
to the poster that said something about things run slow when the facebook site is loaded, i agree that's true enough. you kind of get round it though.
someone mentioned the facebook light, which i've used several times. as i mainly use facebook for comunicating with groups and fan pages, i think that needs to be implamented on the light version.
now to liz's points, yes. facebook is extremely accessible as it is, in fact i think it's improved from a few months ago. i've noticed a problem with the mobile site just of late, for some reason it won't let you join groups. for that i'll just log in to the main site, go to groups, then use the links lisyt to find what ever number of invitations i have.
applications are extremely accessible too, i use the quizzes a lot, the music player, and also send friends gifts. the only problem i've found is with an aplication called are you interested, where it refuses to let me sign a patition.
so, to wrap this up, use what parts you need too, sure you'll come across problems, but you can probably get round most of them.
Agreed with the last post, but they really should fix that problem with the mobile site where it doesn't let you join groups. There is a way around it, all you have to do is also become a fan of the group and it lets you join. This probably would seem strange to most people though, so I don't know if I'd become a fan of every group I join. Then again, I personally don't join that many groups, so maybe it wouldn't look weird because the groups I do join are things I really like anyway.
As for the petition, I don't think you should give up on it just because some people find the site accesible. I think it's accessible enough, but there's always room for impvovement, and there's no harm in trying to gather people together on a cause like that. It probably won't change anything, but like you said, at least they know that there are people who are concerned with how their site operates.
Thank yu for explaining some of the problems to me, Journalist.
I have recently been unable to watch videos posted on Facebook. It might be my Flash settings although I have the latest version. I cannot find the controls to play or pause a film anywhere. Admitedly, this is mildly annoying.
Brice