The Wild, Wild West of Accessible Social Media: Part One
In this blog post for Tales Of The Reluctant Blind, I share my experiences as a freelancer for Chris Knapp, founder of Accessiversity Labs, an innovative accessibility and usability testing and learning lab dedicated to making online platforms more inclusive for blind and low-vision users. Check out the original blog post here.
Headshot of Sydney Naseef.
Ever wonder what Chris’ process is for sharing content on his website, blog, newsletter and social platforms? Well, I am Sydney Naseef, and I am honored to play a role in helping Chris disseminate his stories, learnings and experiences by working as a freelancer for Knapp Strategic and Accessiversity Labs. I’ve been working with Chris for almost a year (all of which has been entirely virtual), and while it has been rewarding in the traditional sense of gaining more professional experience, it’s important to note just how much I’ve learned as a result of this collaboration with Chris, and how my attitude toward the importance of web and social accessibility has drastically shifted as a result – which is the essence of this two-part blog.
In February of 2020, right before the world as we knew it shifted entirely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was lucky enough to come into contact with Chris Knapp, owner and managing member of Knapp Strategic and founder of Accessiversity Labs (thanks to the wonderful Andrea Kerbuski for connecting us)! I was approaching graduation from Michigan State University and honing in on what is now my full-time job in advertising in Chicago. Therefore, I anticipated my work for Chris might be a more short-term role; it all started with the simple request of creating a MailChimp newsletter template, after all.
When I first met him, Chris was still in the beginning planning phases of how he wanted to market Accessiversity Labs, with little to no knowledge of the vast social media world or how to properly utilize it. I remember during one of our initial calls, Chris saying, “Listen, making sure the website is accessible is one thing, but Facebook, LinkedIn and these other social platforms are like the wild west in comparison. I wouldn’t even know where to start in terms of the accessibility considerations when it comes to posting this sort of social content.”
So, at that moment I was deputized, and the more we interacted via emails, texts and phone calls, the more of this web and social work I started to take on for Chris. After Andrea created the Accessiversity Labs Facebook page and Knapp Strategic website, it became my job to grow the account and site, generate engagement with Chris’ followers and viewers, and keep the website up-to-date with the latest blogs and other content. It was also my role to get Chris’ old LinkedIn page up-and-running so he could begin to utilize that page in a professional manner to grow his network, which has ultimately led to connections with exciting guest bloggers and interviewees for Tales of the Reluctant Blind.
I had prior experience in the digital and social realm having held a number of positions in public relations, communications and marketing. What I did not have was any kind of expertise in web/social accessibility, and there was really no playbook to follow for how to make these platforms accessible to the blind and low-vision community. Slowly but surely, I became Chris’ go-to individual for all things digital regarding Accessiversity Labs, meaning it was my job to learn about accessibility as I went – whether that be from interactions with Chris or from online guides. I didn’t realize until I truly dove into this topic and began working alongside Chris regularly and started learning about his life, work and ultimate mission to help bring accessibility to all, just how gratifying and fruitful a role this would be.
I am someone with no physical limitations preventing me from living what most would call a “normal” life each day. It wasn’t until meeting Chris that I began to take stock of just how blessed I am to be able to write that sentence, specifically when it comes to my vision. As most of you likely already know as a result of reading this blog or keeping up with Accessiversity Labs on social media (which you all should!), Chris is statutorily blind as a result of an auto-immune disorder as a young adolescent. He details his experience of undergoing countless surgeries and grueling recoveries after the onset of this rare and unexpected disorder in his very first blog, “Tales of the Reluctant Blind: Introducing the Accessiversity Blog”. At the age of just 22, Chris was statutorily blind, with a prosthetic left eye and only a sliver of usable peripheral vision in his right.
He was 22. As I write this, I am 22.
It is in reading these stories and in our conversations that I truly understand the unique level of resilience and adaptability of Chris Knapp. One of the more humble individuals I’ve come to know, Chris does not let his disability slow him down. With Knapp Strategic and Accessiversity Labs, he is actively making a difference in the disabled community with a passion for ensuring those with similar conditions can live each day with a greater sense of normalcy – to put it simply, by leaving his print on a more accessible world.
Whether it’s helping a small business make their website more accessible and usable for all of their customers through a consultation with Accessiversity or sharing personal stories on his Tales of the Reluctant Blind blog in an effort to get the conversation started around the need for accessibility, Chris is reaching new people each day, changing minds and shifting perspectives on the topic of accessibility. Just like he did for me.
Perhaps most exciting about our partnership is that while I was learning about accessibility in the digital space, Chris was learning about the digital space itself in tandem. In essence, we were both “building the airplane as we flew it”. I come to him with questions related to accessibility, and depend on Chris to let me know if something I’ve shared isn’t coming through properly on his screen reader. Whether it’s a question of, “How is the information displayed when you use your keyboard shortcut to bring up a list of headings on the page?” or “Is the alternative text being read aloud to you?”, I am able to get the unique perspective of someone who uses assistive technology, if I am ever in doubt. And in the many instances of trouble-shooting and going back to the drawing board when Chris informed me that he was experiencing difficulties seeing or understanding elements of my post – perhaps due to wonky headings, bolded text, etc. – is when I learned the most.
Vice versa, when Facebook or LinkedIn is giving Chris a hard time as he continues to learn the ins and outs of using these platforms, I am on call to help him through it to the best of my ability. This has been another learning curve for me, being a visual learner. It’s not always as simple as, “Do you see the button at the top?”. I must find new, precise ways to explain processes that are commonplace in my sighted world. It’s a professional relationship of give and take, and neither of us have all the answers (or often, many of the answers...so, thanks, Google!).
I think that’s the biggest thing that I want people to take away from this blog. You do not need to be an expert in accessibility to make your social platforms more inclusive. Heck, you don’t even have to know the first thing about accessibility to start – I certainly didn’t. What’s important, simply, is that you start. If it wasn’t for starting, Chris wouldn’t be perusing LinkedIn regularly and making connections, ultimately leading to exciting new content for the blog. If it wasn’t for starting, there would be no Accessiversity Labs Facebook Page or blog. If it wasn’t for starting, I wouldn’t be here writing this blog post.
All you need to do to begin is recognize that not everyone is just like you – and recognize that there is a need for accessibility in the online world. Not everyone can hop on Instagram or Facebook and mindlessly scroll. Not everyone can type out an email or shoot over a text with ease. Many people have a near or distance vision impairment – according to the World Health Organization, 1 billion people fall into this category globally. This means that many people do not go through the day like you or me. Many people have additional processes, systems or techniques to complete daily, ordinary tasks – processes that Chris himself has discussed in a number of his blogs.
That is why, if you have the opportunity to make your websites more accessible and social platforms more inclusive, I hope you will take this blog as a reminder that putting in that additional work to do so and tackling projects with that mindset does not go unnoticed. You don’t have to have everything all figured out right away. It’s just a matter of getting started, and changing your mindset. And if you need assistance figuring out where to begin, please reach out to Chris Knapp and schedule a consultation today. And don’t forget to check out part two of this blog where I will share a basic guide of easy-to-implement, practical tips to update your social platforms to be more accessible and inclusive.
It’s never too late to leave your print on a more accessible world...all you have to do is start!
Don’t miss part two, coming 1/28!
