Facebook
Brian Gaff
Facebook. Well it has one of those audio captures on it, and I had to use
three tries to even be able to hear what language it was supposed to be.
I just do not understand why they do that, anyway, I digress.
What I wondered was this, where does it get a list of names from to present
to you as possible friends, both of which, at least name wise I know, though
it had little success with a second load, as it seems to think all my
friends are Chinese for some reason..
Actually, it looks like the site might have some uses, if its accessible,
and here we come with the question.
Is it accessible? There seems to be some pretty simple stuff on there, but
what are the pitfalls from a blind persons perspective, apart, I imagine
that the names on the site it gave me probably have no idea who I am of
course.
Anyway, the nvda screenreader managed the sign up OK, which was the main
thing to test.
Brian
Roland Zitzke
> Actually, it looks like the site might have some uses, if its accessible,
> and here we come with the question.
> Is it accessible? There seems to be some pretty simple stuff on there, but
> what are the pitfalls from a blind persons perspective, apart, I imagine
> that the names on the site it gave me probably have no idea who I am of
> course.
>
I had a brief look into this and yes, the whole thing is confusing,
especially when it comes to the status indicators, who is "just online"
and who is on my list.
Sometimes it helps to use the Jaws cursor to get a flat view of the screen.
Personally I refuse to sign up with any of those social networking
websites unless I really have to. There are not to many of us blind
computer users arround and these social networking sites collect data
item by item. I am not into "big brother" and I think that if you belong
to a small user group and disclose to much about you people will soon be
able to figure out your favorite bier brand.
Why does a company in California need to know my date of birth....?
But back to the accessibility issue.
I think other websites do a much better job to allow screen readers to
extract essencial information.
I signed up with xing several years ago (yes, I regred it) and I had no
problems operating that site by that time with Jaws.
/Roland
Brian Gaff
mainly, but the worrying fact is that the first two names it came up with
are people I know, or rather they have names the same as people I know. I
cannot tell, unless they respond, if they are the people or not in fact.
They are not around to ask at the moment in any case.
The only info they have is my date of brthi, apart from an old email address
I keep for spam generating things.
Brian
--
Brian Gaff - bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Roland Zitzke" <nur_fu...@someone.de> wrote in message
news:hhl2sg$csc$00$1...@news.t-online.com...
chris mcmillan
<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> writes
>
>What I wondered was this, where does it get a list of names from to present
>to you as possible friends, both of which, at least name wise I know, though
>it had little success with a second load, as it seems to think all my
>friends are Chinese for some reason..
>
that it 'samples' who you choose as your friends and then goes and reads
their friends and their friends and so on.
>
>Actually, it looks like the site might have some uses,
>
use it as a place to place photos for friends who can't access FlickR
but quite honestly the amount of rubbish I get from friends I hardly
understand a word of it. Sort of Facebook spam. I'm sending you 'this'
and 'that' - none of which is tangible but seems to be 'virtual'.
I actually signed up so I could see what gigs my niece is playing as
she' wants to become a comedienne - and is getting quite a few gigs
around London where she's based. Not bad for a couple of years worth of
work in her spare time.
I can still see enough to fight my way through the usual accessibility
problems. I think I'd have to give up the use of the net if I had to
thrash my way through audio captcha.
Sincerely Chris
> if its accessible,
>and here we come with the question.
>Is it accessible? There seems to be some pretty simple stuff on there, but
>what are the pitfalls from a blind persons perspective, apart, I imagine
>that the names on the site it gave me probably have no idea who I am of
>course.
>
>
>
>Anyway, the nvda screenreader managed the sign up OK, which was the main
>thing to test.
>
>Brian
>
>
--
Chris McMillan
http://www.chinavisionuk.org/
http://www.oneplusone.org.cn
chris mcmillan
<bri...@blueyonder.co.uk> writes
>Now, yes, I've only given minimal info there, just out of idle curiosity
>mainly, but the worrying fact is that the first two names it came up with
>are people I know, or rather they have names the same as people I know. I
>cannot tell, unless they respond, if they are the people or not in fact.
>
fill them in so the next best way to find out if they're who you think
they are is to see who their mutual friends are.
My daughter, because of her previous job, daren't put any info on the
list so if I lose her information I have to find remember what her
profile photo is (not her face), and then check her mutual friends - all
of whom are my mutual friends. In addition to which you have to rely on
your screen reader of course to do this for you.
Sincerely Chris
>They are not around to ask at the moment in any case.
>
>The only info they have is my date of brthi, apart from an old email address
>I keep for spam generating things.
>
>Brian
>
--
burt henry
domain for users.
Friends friends are listed, but as such with a msg something like "you
may know" and a link to see all friends of some friend.
Besides looking a pictures one can join or form groups to share info on
a certain topic, event, or place. This gives one a low pressure way to
share info with certain ppl, or if you choose with the whole world with
out setting up a blogg, or in the more selective case doing a mass
mailing or setting up a list.
Also for the folks that like to check up on friends, selebs, co.s etc.
can check up on what they are posting, and what there other friends or
fans are posting.
I rarely post to face book, reserving it for occasional social
commentary and the posting of some of the more striking stories I find
around on the web. Also it's a way for me to check up on my teenage
daughter who lives with her mother far from me. The games and other
social aps I tried to use were generally hard to sign-up for from a
blind-access perspective, and except for poles probably would not be
accessible to us anyway.
I'll post more on this later, but for now don't get to paranoid,
(everyone is really out to get you), don't do anything on-line that you
don't mind the whole world or any part there of knowing, and stay open
to new ideas.
Burt
burt henry
Yes I agree the sight is not that blind friendly, although the mobile
pages M.facebook, are much easier to use not changing focus constantly.
I've never tried to figure out the chat thing, but I don't chat as a rule.
If anyone here is on facebook, and has chatted there, please post any
tips.
As for privacy issues one has to decide as in non virtual life if having
more of a profile will attract more things, ppl, or biz you want, or
more of the negative kind. I am a part of the NVDA group on Facebook,
and damned proud to be an NVDA user/booster, but rarely go to the groups
pages; and judging by traffic the other blinks don't either. May go
check it quickly now.
Burt Henry
burt henry
On 1/1/2010 9:03 cafￜ, Roland Zitzke wrote:
> Why does a company in California need to know my date of birth....?
>
> /Roland
I don't remember if birthday is requireed info or not. If you want it
can be hidden from other users, but as we know anything can and sooner
or later will be hacked.
The co.. in CA. certainly needs demographic info for many possible
models for cashing in as we don't pay for using facebook or most other
soc. networking sights. I repeat_be careful on and off line. Do _not
post info, opinions, etc. anywhere that you don't want any and everyone
to know. (that includes of course usenet, and mailing lists that are
archived on-line_)
Burt Henry
burt henry
someone sends me a msg on facebook, but that's because I want them as I
don't go and check in there even once a week on average. As I said in
my earlier msg-if that old e-mail address was hotmail, gmail, etc., that
could have been the source of possible friends. I did a quick sign-up
using my g-mail account. If I remember this allowed me to bypass all
captchas and the like, and then I gave my O.K. for FB to check my gmail
contacts for possible facebook users. Facebook is now connected to dig
as well, so if I'm signed in to facebook I can put stories up on Dig
with out doing the whole normal dig sign-up thing, but of course it's a
bit slower.
Of all the web 2.0 soc-net sights, I find twitter (the one I was sure
I'd hate(still hate the name)) the most blind friendly, especially with
qwitter-a twitter client built by and for the blind, but useful for
others as well. It's kinda like instant RSS for yourself, and I mostly
use it as a way to post links to things I feel or important or
interesting+a bit of comment.
All of this is like most tech: it can be a time saver, a good promotion
tool, and a bit of fun, or a huge waste of time...but even books can be
a way to great disconnect, and a way of hiding from truth/the "real
world" if badly chosen or read in inappropriate times.
Some ppl live on usenet, some on facebook, some in books, and some at
the local barbarshop/hair salon or bar or coffee shop. A visit to any or
all of these can be a good thing, but too much....
Burt