Facebook is a popular free social networking website where people can create profiles, share information, share photos and respond to information posted by others. Facebook Community Pages are designed for a group of people who are dedicated to a topic or experience. These community pages help people connect with others in the same field or who share the same interests. For educators and family members of students who are visually impaired, there are numerous Facebook Pages that help the VI community stay current on and share information about VI topics. When posting – especially when posting on Community Pages – be sure to make your images accessible!
Here are some examples of VI-related Community Pages
- Paths to Literacy Facebook Page shares posts and is a discussion platform for Paths to Literacy and Paths to Technology websites
- Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired/O&M Specialists
- Orientation and Mobility Specialists Group
There are also groups for parents of children who are visually impaired, technology for visually impaired, specific device pages – such as iPhone and iPad Apps for the Blind and Visually Impaired and more!
Facebook Accessibility
Facebook is accessible with screen readers. Read more about navigating Facebook with a screen reader here, Facebook accessibility for users with visual impairments here and Facebook keyboard shortcuts here.
Facebook has reported that 350 million new Facebook photos are uploaded every day! However, most people have never thought about adding image descriptions (also called Alt Text Descriptions) to the photos that they post. Do you add image descriptions to your Facebook photos?
Learn more about the basics of writing image descriptions here and more details about writing image descriptions here.
How to Add Image Descriptions to Facebook Photos
- Upload a photo.
- Select the photo. The photo will be on the left 2/3rds of your screen and information about the photo will be on the right side of the screen.
- Select Edit.
- Type in the photo image description under ‘Add a description’
- Type in the name of people you were with, if applicable, under ‘Who were you with?’ (Note: Only people who have Facebook accounts can be added here.)
- Type in the location under “Where was this photo taken?”
- Adjust the pickers to add the year, month and day.
- Select Done Editing.
Note: You must use a computer to add image descriptions. VoiceOver will read the image description on an iPad; however, currently you cannot add the image description when using Facebook on an iPad.
To hear the image descriptions in a group of photos, double tap on one of the photos, then you can flick or drag through the photos and hear the image description.
By Diane Brauner
