Abstract
The European Union has recognised the importance of information technology in addressing issues of social inclusion and equal opportunity and has defined eInclusion as part of the i2010 initiative (European Commission, 2005). The use of social networking applications by individuals and by companies is growing and industry analysts have identified the benefits to organisations of using Web 2.0 social collaboration tools (Boulton, 2008). This research examines the use of social networking sites by people with visual impairments, exploring whether there is full access and therefore social inclusion. Or is there, as is claimed (Whittle, 2007), a situation that although “sites such as Facebook and MySpace are meant to have ushered in a new era of online collaboration, (but) not everyone is invited to the party”? If there is a social exclusion from sites that integrate with the enterprise for business reasons, what are the implications for established accessibility guidelines and for e-business theory?
Recommended Citation
Leahy, Denise and Ó Broin, Ultan, "Social Networking Sites and Equal Opportunity: The Impact of Accessibility" (2009). BLED 2009 Proceedings. 41.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/bled2009/41