Easy Chirp: Accessible Twitter Platform

Published: 2011-06-01 - Updated: 2022-03-19
Author: Disabled World | Contact: Disabled World (Disabled-World.com)
Peer-Reviewed Publication: N/A
Additional References: Disability Apps Publications

Synopsis: Easy Chirp accessible application empowers users with disabilities and low end technology to access Twitter online. Disabled users typically have significant problems accessing many websites and web services, including Twitter. Easy Chirp greatly helps the issue through many development techniques. In addition to reading and posting tweets. Easy Chirp, features include direct messaging, URL-shortening, running and saving searches, viewing popular links, and providing full support for lists.

Main Digest

The web-accessible application empowers users with disabilities and low-end technology to access Twitter, the popular social micro-blogging web service.

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The name change is due to several reasons, the foremost is that the Twitter rules of use for third-party applications does not allow the word "Twitter" in the name of the application. Also, the word "easy" is simpler to understand than "accessible", especially to those not in the accessibility or disability communities. And, the new name is considerably shorter, especially important with the 140-character limit in Twitter statuses, better known as tweets.

Disabled users typically have significant problems accessing many websites and web services, including Twitter. Easy Chirp greatly helps the issue through many development techniques including:

Ensuring that all links are keyboard accessible.
Easy Chirp is used by those with and without disabilities.
Providing consistent navigation and page structure; providing proper headings.
Easy Chirp works with or without JavaScript and is compatible with all major Internet browsers.

Mr. Dennis E. Lembree is the creator of Easy Chirp, and is dedicated to expanding the accessibility of the web.

"Web accessibility is finally becoming much more mainstream, as it needs to be. I think the name change reflects this by not specifically calling out accessibility, and helps expose the web app to a wider base of users." - Dennis Lembree of WebOverhauls

The website logo and design remain consistent after the name change.
The old domain name AccessibleTwitter.com will continue to be functional.

In addition to reading and posting tweets. Easy Chirp, features include direct messaging, URL-shortening, running and saving searches, viewing popular links, and providing full support for lists. A unique feature of Easy Chirp is the ability to tweet a link to an image with alternative text - both short and long descriptions. It was the first Twitter application - as well as the first social media application - to provide alternative text for an image. Although improving, lack of alternative text for images is an accessibility problem on Twitter and social media in general.

Mr. Jennison Asuncion works in the IT Accessibility space in Canada, and is himself a screen reader user. He chooses Easy Chirp for his Twitter application:

"I'm an active Twitter user who prefers an accessible web-based client. Easy Chirp fits the bill perfectly!"

Easy Chirp/Accessible Twitter has been mentioned in numerous articles and books, and received the American Foundation for the Blind 2011 Access Award.

For more information, visit: weboverhauls.com
For more information, visit: easychirp.com

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