[gui-talk] AFB Access World and Facebook

Wed Jul 22 04:02:06 UTC 2009

Albert,

You're so generous!
Thanks,
Joel
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "albert griffith" <albertgriffith at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 7:54 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] AFB Access World and Facebook

So that others may read this from the March issue or here I've posted the
article below.
***separator:
A New Way to Find Old Friends: A Review of the Accessibility of Facebook
Janet Ingber

In the 21st century, there has been a communications revolution. Social
networking sites, including MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook, have given
people a new way to interact. By using each site's methods for finding
friends or people you may know, it is possible to connect with people from
the past or make new friends. These sites have specific groups with a wide
variety of topics, including "high school class," "where you grew up" and
"fans of a particular television show." During the past election, many
newscasters mentioned Facebook's exit polls.

In this article, I discuss the social networking site Facebook, although all
the sites basically work the same way. You fill out a profile by answering
questions and inputting information. You then verify that you are not a
spammer by typing a CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell
Computers and Humans Apart) into an edit box. A CAPTCHA is a randomly
generated string of letters and numbers. Once you are registered, you can
communicate with friends, join groups, post personal updates, and much more.
I indicate where some controls, text and links are when using a screen
reader. The location will probably be different for people not using a
screen reader--for users with low vision, for example.

Getting Started
Several months ago, Facebook changed its format. The original format was
more accessible, and pages had a lot less clutter. Unfortunately, Facebook
does not give users the option to use the older format. Some groups that
were created on Facebook lodged protests to no avail.

Before you embark on a trip into Facebook, it is essential that you
familiarize yourself with your screen reader's search functions, navigation
keys, and mouse keys. This knowledge will be critical once you start using
Facebook's features. Be prepared to expect some frustration while using this
web site. There is a lot to learn and some accessibility issues. As you make
more friends and participate in other Facebook offerings, your page will
become even more cluttered. I recommend that you move slowly and learn one
part of Facebook at a time. The layout of the Facebook page changes,
depending on which operation or search you are doing at a particular moment.
There are also many advertisements, and they can interfere with how your
screen reader presents information. While using the site, if you get
overwhelmed or confused, reload your Facebook home page and start again. For
this article, I used Windows XP, Window-Eyes 7.01, and Internet Explorer
7.0.

Registration
When the Facebook page loads, there is a login form for members, and under
that form is the sign-up form. The edit boxes do speak, but, when the
Sign-up button is activated, there is a CAPTCHA to enter in an edit box.
There is an option for an audio CAPTCHA, but it has a lot of background
noise and the numbers are spoken by various, sometimes hard-to-understand,
voices. With Window-Eyes 7.1 not in Browse mode, there was a link to replay
it. The advantage of this link is that the CAPTCHA is played through your
audio program, such as Windows Media Player, so it can be replayed many
times to ensure that the numbers are correct. MySpace does not offer an
audio version of its registration CAPTCHA. The CAPTCHA will be discussed
further later in this article.

If a mistake is present on your registration form, there is no way for your
screen reader to announce where the problem is. You need to navigate around
the page to find the error message, because it isn't always in the same
location. Once the registration form is successfully completed and sent, you
will receive a confirmation e-mail message to which you must reply in order
to activate your registration.

Navigating Facebook
Throughout Facebook, there are times where just activating a link does not
do anything. Here's a Window-Eyes trick that can help. You can use this
procedure whenever buttons or links do not appear to work.

Route the mouse pointer to the link or button that you want to activate.
This process is not exact, so you may have to spend some time looking for
what you want.
Turn Browse mode off.
Click the left mouse button.
Wait for the page to refresh.
If the page does not refresh, manually turn Browse mode back on.
Another major difficulty with Facebook is that there is so much other
clutter on the page. It will be necessary to use your mouse keys frequently.
There are advertisements on the page that are constantly changing. When
using the mouse keys, you will hear relevant information as well as part of
the advertisements. This can be confusing and cumbersome to navigate.

Your Profile
The first time that you log in, there will be a lot of information at the
top of the page, including links for applications, photographs, and groups.
>From now on, your Facebook pages will contain these links. This information
is not important now, but will be discussed once your profile is created and
you have been in contact with other Facebook members. On the screen, there
is a heading that says, "Fill out your profile info." You do not have to
fill out all sections, and you can go back and edit your profile. The
profile form is straightforward, using a combination of check boxes, combo
boxes, and edit boxes. Make sure that you save changes as you go through the
profile-completion process. Think carefully about what information you want
to make available in cyberspace.

Along with your profile, you will need to fill out information about who can
see it and how you want Facebook to communicate with you. The Account
Settings link brings you to a series of links where you can make choices
regarding where to receive e-mail, how to change a password and join a
network, and how Facebook notifies you about various activities and
interactions. The advantage of having Facebook send you information through
your regular e-mail program is that you do not have to go onto Facebook to
view it. This is especially useful if someone sends you a friend request or
wants to communicate with you.

The Privacy Settings link brings you to options that allow you to choose who
can view the profile and how much information is available. These options
are also accessed through a series of links within the Privacy Settings
link. Some of the options include how people can search for you, what
profile information is available for anyone to read, and what stories about
you people can view. There is an Applications Settings link, which will be
discussed later in the article.

Finding Friends
Now that your profile is set up and you have decided who can view it, it is
time to start making friends. The simplest way to get friends on Facebook is
to ask people whom you know, who are already using Facebook, to send you a
friend request. Depending on how you set up the Account Settings section,
Facebook can send you an e-mail message, informing you of the friend
request. The message will say, "Facebook," then the name of the person and
the words, "has added you as a friend on Facebook." In the e-mail message is
a link to go to the confirmation form. For someone to be a Facebook friend,
you must confirm that you approve him or her.

If you have not chosen to receive a separate e-mail message, the friend
request information will also be on your Facebook page. You can use your
screen reader's Find function and look for the word "request." This
technique is useful as you start using more of Facebook's functions and
making more friends. Another option is to search for the Friend Request link
and activate it. Both methods will bring you to the confirmation form.

The confirmation form is toward the bottom of the page. There is a button to
confirm the friend request and a button to ignore it. Above the button is a
link to view the person's profile. Along with the Confirm and Ignore
buttons, there is a link to send the person a message. If this link is
activated, an edit box will appear, and you can write a message. Sending a
message does not confirm or ignore a friend request.

To confirm the friend, activate the Confirm button. For Window-Eyes, you
will need to turn Browse mode back on manually. When you do, instead of
hearing the Friend Request buttons, you will hear that you have no more
friend requests and that you are now friends with whomever you just
approved. If you want to check to make sure that the friend request went
through, there is a link on your Facebook page that says, "recently added."
Activate this link, and you will be able to find the most recently added
friends, including the one you just added. If the friend's name is not
present, repeat the friend confirmation process.

Since Facebook is a social networking site, you may receive friend requests
from people you do not know. Friends of your friends can see part of your
profile. Your name may come up through Facebook's various search options. If
you do not recognize the name, you can ignore the request or activate the
link for the person's profile. Depending on how your screen reader
functions, you may need to use your mouse keys to view some or part of the
profile. How much of the profile is available to people who have not been
accepted as friends has been determined by the person's decisions in the
person's privacy settings. If you decide to accept the friend, activate that
button. If not, you can just ignore it or use Facebook's ignore feature.

Locating Old Friends
Facebook is a good way to get in contact with former classmates, coworkers,
and old friends. Go to the Find Friends link. From there, you are presented
with several search options. You can upload the contacts file from your
e-mail program, and friend requests will be sent to the people who are
already using Facebook. However, if you are on an e-mail list, everyone who
is also a member of Facebook will get the friend request. This could anger
some people.

Another option on the page is to search for coworkers and another is to
search for former classmates. There is also an edit box for searching by
name. If you are using Window-Eyes, you will need to use your mouse keys to
view the search results. Route the pointer to any of the search results and
activate your screen reader's left mouse button. This operation makes all
the search results accessible with standard navigation keys. Once you find
the correct person, you can activate his or her link. If you are searching
for a friend, you may receive many hits on the same name. You can limit your
search results according to where you live.

Toward the bottom of the page there is a button to add the person as a
friend. The person will receive notification of your request and has the
option to approve or ignore it. Above the buttons is a line that says, "send
a personal message." This is not a link or button. Use your mouse navigation
keys and click on the words. When the page reloads, an edit box will appear
right below the message line. You can then type in your message. Next,
activate the Add Friend button.

When the page reloads after activating the Add Friend button, you are
presented with a CAPTCHA. As before, there is an option to hear an audio
version. Right below that link it says, "Sick of these" and then a link to
"verify your account." Activating this link brings up an additional web page
where you are instructed to enter your cell phone number, and Facebook will
send a text message with a confirmation code to enter into the form.
Obviously, this can be a problem if you do not have a cell phone, have a
cell phone without either the feature or third-party software to read text
messages, or do not have sighted assistance available to read the text
message. Once the text is correctly entered, Facebook immediately responds
that your account has been verified. If you do not have your account
verified, every time you send a friend request, post a comment, or take many
other actions on Facebook, you will have to use a CAPTCHA.

Once your friend request has been sent, it is now up to the person whether
or not to accept it. If the person has accepted it, you will receive
notification on your Facebook page. If you have chosen, in your account
settings, to have Facebook notify you about friend requests being approved,
then you will also receive an e-mail saying, "Facebook," followed by the
name of the person and that he or she has confirmed you as a friend on
Facebook.

Facebook has a feature called People You May Know. Check the bottom of your
Facebook page periodically, and you will find this feature. Facebook lists
people on the basis of your profile and those of your friends. This feature
does not appear on every Facebook page that you load, so you will have to
look for it. If you find someone you know, there are links to add the person
as a friend and to send him or her a message.

Interacting with Friends--Facebook Style
Now that you have some Facebook friends, it is time to communicate with
them. Facebook offers many ways to do so. The simplest is to comment on what
someone has written about himself or herself or to write something about
yourself, and other people can comment on what you have written. As you
start having more interactions with friends, you will find their responses
listed near the top of the page. A response will say the friend's name and
then whatever action the friend took.

To write something for your friends to view, find the edit box for status
updates, which is located under your profile link. It will say, "What are
you doing right now?" then your name, followed by the word "is." Write your
information in the edit box and press Enter. You can change your status as
often as you wish. This information is then sent to all your Facebook
friends.

To read what your friends have posted, find Friend List Feeds in the middle
of the page. You can then arrow down and find the person's name, what the
person has written, anybody's comments, and what time the original post was
made. If you want to make a comment on what your friend wrote, left click
your mouse where it says, "add comment." Doing so will open up an edit box
where you can type your response. Under the edit box is a button that says,
"Comment." Your response will now be visible to all people who are somehow
connected to the original writer, including their friends and your friends.

Each Facebook member has a "wall." The wall is used for writing anything.
The subject does not have to be a status update. It can be a happy birthday
wish or a quick note. Before you write your first wall post, you may want to
view the walls of your Facebook friends, just to get an idea about what to
write. To write on someone's wall, you must first access the person's
profile. You can do so by activating the link that says, "All Friends." If
you recently added the friend whose wall you want to write on, you can
activate the link that says, "Recently added."

Once your friend's profile loads, click on the wall. When the page reloads,
click where it says, "Write something," which will bring up an edit box.
Write your message in the edit box and then activate the Post button.

If someone writes on your wall, this fact will be noted by your friends'
responses. You can also have Facebook send you an e-mail message when it
occurs. The e-mail message will contain the text of whatever your friend has
written.

E-mail
Like your regular e-mail program, you have an In-box and a Sent box on
Facebook. This feature is useful if you want to tell a friend something that
you do not want everyone else to read. To send an e-mail message, find the
link that says, "Compose New Message." Activate the link, and a form will be
loaded. Type in the person's name, the subject, and the message. When you
are done, activate the Send button.

To see whether you have e-mail, find the link that says, "In-box." Next to
these words, the number of messages in your inbox is displayed. If you do
not have any messages, the number zero is displayed. Above each e-mail
message is a check box. The boxes control what you do with the e-mail
message. You can mark the checked messages as read, unread, or delete. There
is a combo box, but it does not offer the delete option. The easiest way to
delete a message is to use mouse navigation to find the word, Delete and
left click it. Then a Delete and Cancel button is displayed. When you
activate the In-box link, there is also a link for sent messages. The same
operations work here as with the In-box.

Too Much Information
It is possible that some Facebook friends will inundate you with posts,
photographs, and other information. There are ways to control how much
information about a particular friend you receive. If you want to remove a
person from your friend list, open the friend's profile and activate the
Remove from Friends link.

If you do not want to remove a friend but want to limit the kind of
information that you do and do not want to receive, activate the Options
link within the Newsfeed list. Enter the names of the people you want to
receive less information about in the edit box. In the same setting is an
edit box to add people who you want to receive more information about.

Another way to control information is to use the links under your status.
These links include News Feed, Status Updates, and Notes. Activating these
links brings up only the specific area that these links address when you
view what information friends have recently entered.

Virtual Things
You can send and be sent many virtual things, such as coffee, hugs,
snowballs, and fish. These virtual items do not come directly from Facebook,
but from separate applications (apps) that you must install on your
computer. How Facebook handles each app is controlled by the apps settings,
which are under the Account and Privacy settings. Each application functions
differently, so some are more accessible than others. If someone sends you a
virtual thing, you must install its application before you can receive it.
To send a virtual item, you must install the application and then select who
you want to receive it. Some applications use check boxes for selecting
people, while others use links and others use graphics. Most applications
also have an edit box where you can type the friend's name. If you want to
block an application that was sent to you by a friend, go to Requests,
toward the bottom of the page. Find the link that says "Block This
Application" and activate it.

There are many apps from which to choose. Beside using the ones that friends
use to send you stuff, you can search for other apps. On the top of the
Facebook page, just below the title is the Applications link. Activating
this link brings up several search options, including a list of most popular
users. Remember that not all applications are accessible. Before you send
something to your friends, think about whether they would really like to use
the application required to receive your gift.

Under the Account and Privacy settings links is an Applications settings
link. These settings are controlled by radio buttons. There is a combo box
to choose which applications are displayed for editing. Along with
Applications, other Facebook options, such as Special Events and Notes, can
also be edited through the Applications settings link.

Finding Special Interest Groups
Another way to meet people on Facebook is to join a group. Facebook has many
groups that are related to schools, specific interests, neighborhoods,
music, and much more. Any Facebook user can create a group. You can view
groups that users' friends have joined, or you can search for a specific
group or interest. Toward the top of the page is a link that says, "Groups."
Activating that link will bring up a search form and a list of groups that
your friends have joined. If you have joined any groups, they will be listed
under My Groups. If you use the groups search form, enter key words and
review the results. Try to be as specific as possible with your search
terms. There is also a form to create a new group.

If you find a group that may be of interest, activate its link. A more
detailed description of the group will be presented, along with the names of
some of its members. It is possible to view the entire membership. You will
also be able to view the group's discussion board and wall. Although many
groups are open to the public, some are not. This information is given in
the group's description. If you decide that you want to join the group, just
activate the Join button. Once you are a member of a group, you will need to
visit the group's page to see who else has joined, read and/or post
comments, and take part in other group activities. If you have joined a
group, but no longer want to be a member, there is a Leave Group option on
the group's page.

Events
People can post specific events on Facebook, such as concerts, camp
reunions, rallies, and workshops. Other, more generalized events are posted,
such as when merchants are giving discounts or when people are celebrating
something. As you review your friends' posts, you may find events that they
will be attending, either physically or virtually. There is usually a link
to take part in the event. Facebook also gives you the option to create your
own event.

Universal Search Form
Slightly above the middle of the Facebook page is a Universal Search Form.
You can type anything into the form and receive many results. When the
search page reloads, you will be given links to narrow the results. For
example, my guide dog search query brought up filters to limit the results
according to groups, events, networks, and much more. My search brought up
more than 500 results. When I did the search with the groups search form, my
results were about half the number as with the universal search.

Photographs
Even if you cannot see photographs, you may want to post some for others to
view. Before you begin this process, make sure that you know where the
photographs are located on your computer. Activate the link near the top of
the page that says, "Photos." From there, go to My Photos. Next is a link to
create an album. Once that link is activated, there will be edit boxes to
enter information about your photographs and then to activate the Create
Album button. A new page will load, offering an Active X control to upload
photographs. According to Facebook's instructions, you should see a bar at
the top of the window or a pop-up window, neither of which was spoken by
Window-Eyes. There is also a Simple Uploader from Facebook, but according to
the site, it will not be as easy or as simple to use as the "Active X
control." However, I actually found it easier to use. The major difference
is that you cannot upload as many photographs at a time, but you can use
arrow keys for part of the process. Just click on the Simple Uploader link.

If you want to try the Active X control, click on Active X, and the download
will start. Once the control is loaded, your desktop will appear near the
bottom of the screen. Find the photographs the same way you would find any
other files. The Active X control gives you the option of uploading all the
photographs in a folder at the same time.

Once the photographs are uploaded, via either method, they need to be
labeled. There are edit boxes to do so. If the photographs contain other
Facebook members, there is an option to click on the member and type in his
or her name. Sighted assistance is needed, since this task is completely
graphical.

Chat
In spring 2008, Facebook began offering its own version of instant
messaging, called "Chat." These communications are done in real time and are
not visible to anyone other than the parties in the conversation. Although
Chat is a nice feature, it is difficult for a screen reader user to
navigate. However, with patience and practice, it can be done.

Toward the top of your page, it says, "online friends" and then gives a
number. This is not the place to activate Chat. Toward the bottom of the
page, after Applications, it says, "Online Friends." This information can be
accessed only with mouse hot keys. Left clicking on these words opens up a
list of friends who are currently online. Activate the link for the person
you wish to chat with. You may hear that no one is available to chat, but if
there is a list of people who are online, just ignore that message and
choose someone from the list.

Toward the top of the page, there will now be two edit boxes. When you use
Chat, always type in the bottom edit box. Type your text into the second
edit box and press Enter when you are ready to send your message. Facebook,
by default, has your computer make a sound when a Chat message is received.
To view the message, you can reload your page; use your navigation keys to
find the response; or, for Window-Eyes users, find the two edit boxes and
turn Browse mode off. Now use the tab and shift tab to read the messages.
The person's name will appear before what the person has written. When you
are finished chatting, you can clear the Chat history and/or close the Chat
window. These options are above the dialogue.

Additional Features
There are other features not covered in this article. Some of them, such as
bumper stickers and flair, are completely graphical. It is possible to
upload video, write notes, and perform other operations.

The Bottom Line
Although Facebook requires skill and a lot of patience, it is possible to
use it. In fact, a lot of skill is required, and some screen reader users
will find using Facebook to be too difficult. If you do stick with it, even
if you do not use all its features, you can reunite with old friends, meet
new people, and join common interest groups. As I said, learn one feature at
a time and expect some frustration. Please feel free to visit my Facebook
page.

The American Foundation for the Blind is on Facebook. Visit us at
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/16290?m=de0957a2.

If you would like to comment on this article, e-mail us at
accessworld at afb.net.

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 9:30 PM
To: GUI-Talk
Subject: [gui-talk] AFB Access World and Facebook

Albert,

An article about facebook  isn't linked or headlined on the current home
page of Access World for July. there's an article about Twitter, if that may

have made you think so for some reason (conflation, Is what I'm thinking,
actually), but otherwise, no. if they may have published an article about
Facebook in an earlier issue, do you remember when you saw it? I can run a
search, either on that site or just through Google, but I'd of course be
happy to simply have such an article pointed out to me. Thanks.
serach,usingJulyu.

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