Social Media: The Move Toward Greater Accessibility

In a technology-based society, social media is proving to be the future of marketing and business communication. Social media technology such as networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, blogs, and wikis are being used to interact with existing customers, attract new customers, make professional connections, and learn about the environment a business is operating in. Social media is not always accessible to people with disabilities, however, making it difficult for these people to get involved in the social media revolution.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is launching an initiative to reform social media and improve its accessibility for the one billion disabled people worldwide. Social media accessibility is critical for equal opportunity within the workplace and during the job search.

If a company’s marketing efforts are based in social media, a disabled employee may not be able to work in the marketing department due to inaccessible social media platforms. If a company is posting job listings to social media platforms in formats that are inaccessible for screen readers, a visually impaired person will be unable to get the necessary information to apply for the position.

Social media is critical to the future of business communication and the initiative to make social media more widely accessible will enhance the overall value of social media communications!

For more information on the accessible social media initiative, check out the full article from The Business of Federal Technology.