C. Stephanidis and M. Antona (Eds.): UAHCI/HCII 2013, Part II, LNCS 8010, pp. 655–663, 2013.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Network for All: A Proposal for an Accessible Social
Media Aggregator Solution
Mário Correia
1
, Gonçalo Cruz
2
, Ricardo Rodrigues Nunes
2
, José Martins
3
,
Ramiro Gonçalves
2
, Hugo Paredes
2
, and Paulo Martins
2
1
Vodafone Portugal - Comunicações Pessoais, S.A.,
Av. D. João II - Lote 1.04.01 - 8º, Parque das Nações, 1998-017 Lisboa, Portugal
mario.correia@vodafone.com
2
INESC TEC (formerly INESC Porto) and University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro,
Quinta de Prados, Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
{goncaloc,rrnunes,ramiro,hparedes,pmartins}@utad.pt
3
University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro,
Quinta de Prados, Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
jmartins@utad.pt
Abstract. This paper presents an on-going work around accessibility issues
within the use of social media. With a lack of background in this field, the pur-
pose of the study was to analyze the accessibility levels of different social
media websites and aggregators. Based on W3C Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines, we have selected three automatic evaluation tools in order to realize
a first set of preliminary tests. We verified that none of the websites clearly
passed in the evaluation process and our sample didn't meet the adopted acces-
sibility guidelines. The errors occurrence within the social media aggregators’
tests was less than in the social media websites. Therefore, it seems to be indis-
putable to propose a tool that allows users to manage their own social media
websites accounts in a more accessible way. Thus, this study presents a list
of defined requirements to implement an accessible social media aggregator
solution.
Keywords: Social media websites, Social media aggregators, Accessibility,
WCAG, W3C.
1 Background
1.1 Web Accessibility
Since 1999, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) aimed to ensure web accessibility by
creating guidelines that facilitate it, as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
(WCAG 1.0). Each one of the 14 guidelines is characterized by three main aspects:
the checkpoints, the priority levels (level 1, 2 and 3) and the conformance levels
(level A, AA and AAA). It aims to assure conditions in the web access, navigation
and interaction among users, decreasing architectonic barriers and making software
adaptations within the content presentation through alternative formats.