JRL JRL of the Faculty of Commerce for July 2017,Vol. 54 No. 2 Scientific Research. Dr. Rasha Abd El Aziz Social Networks Website Associate Professor Mr. Ahmed Hassan Accessibility for People with Teaching Associate Visual Disability: An Experi- Business Information Systems De- partment, Arab Academy for Science mental Study Technology and Maritime Transport إمكانية وصول اﻷشخاص ذوي اﻹعاقات البصرية لمشبكات اﻻجتماعية: دراسة تجريبية ملخص البحث Abstract Social networks‘ accessibility is vital for إِىا١ٔةةةلوصٌٛ ةةةٛيوإٌةةةٝوصٌتةةةيىاأوص ّا ١ةةةلو ِةةةشو full participation in the society; especially حٞٛ١وٌٍّتاسولوصٌىاٍِلوفةٟوصٌّت ّة ووٚصا ةلونإٌ ةيلو for people with disability. Accordingly, the ٌﻷشخاصورٞٚوصﻹ الل.وٚناٌ اٌٟ،وفإْوصٌغشضوِٓو٘زٖو purpose of this study is to investigate how is Facebook accessible to people with visu- صٌذسصسلوٛ٘وصٌ حم١كوفٟوو١ف١لوإتاحلوٛ ٚيوصﻷشةخاصو al disability and the impact of enhancing رٞٚوصﻹ الةةلوصٌييةةش٠لوٌّٛلةة وصٌف١ ةةيٛنوٚ ةةشوت ض٠ةةضو -Facebook accessibility on their usage. In or إِىا١ٔلوصٛ ٌٛيوٌٍف١ ةيٛنو ٍةٝوصسة خذصَورٞٚوصﻹ الةلو der to understand the research problem, an experimental method was utilised, where صٌييش٠لوٌٍّٛل . ِٓو ًوفُٙوِتىٍلوصٌيحث،وتُوصس خذصَو fifty pretest questionnaires were distributed طش٠ملوتتش٠ي١ةل،وح١ةثوتةُوتٛص٠ة وصّ ة١ٓوصسة يألو ٍةٝو over visually impaired respondents to select صٌّ ت١ي١ٓورٜٚوصﻹ اللوصٌييش٠لوليًوصﻹص ياسو ص ١اسو -suitable candidates for the experiment. Fi fteen respondents were found to be experts صٌّششح١ٓوصٌّٕاسي١ٓوٌٍ تشنل.وٚلذوٚ ذو ْوصّ لو تشو -in using computers, Internet, social netwo ِتةاسواو٘ةُوصيةشصيوفةةٟوصسة خذصَوصٌحٛصسة١روٚصﻹٔ شٔةة و rks, and assistive technologies, and have ٚصٌتةةةةةيىاأوص ّا ١ةةةةةلوٚصٌ ىٌٕٛٛ ١ةةةةةاأوصٌّ ةةةةةا ذ ،و completed the experiment on Facebook to identify accessibility problems. After that, a ٚ ٔتةةضٚصوصٌ تشنةةلوفةةٟوصٌف١ ةةيٛنوٌٍ ةةشلو ٍةةٝوِتةةاوًو post-test questionnaire was conducted to إِىا١ٔةةلوصٌٛ ةةٛي.وٚن ةةذورٌةةه،و ةةشٞوصسةة ي١اْوِةةاون ةةذو -investigate the impact of enhancing Face ص ص ياسوٌٍ حم١ةكوفةٟو ةشوت ض٠ةضوإِىا١ٔةلوصٌٛ ةٛيوإٌةٝو book accessibility on the usage of people with visual disability. ِٛلة وفاسة١يٛنو ٍةٝوصسة خذصَوصﻷشةخاصورٞٚوصﻹ الةلو صٌييش٠ل. ظٙشأؤ ائجوصٌيحثو ْون ضو١ِةضصأوِٛلة و -The research results show that some fea tures of the Facebook website are inacces- ف١ يٛنو و٠ّىٓوصٛ ٌٛيوإٙ١ٌاوٌﻷشخاصورٞٚوصﻹ اللو sible for people with visual disability, while صٌييةةةش٠ل،وفةةةٟوحةةة١ٓو ْوص١ٌّةةةضصأوصﻷصةةةشٜوشةةةيٗولانٍةةةلو -other features are semiaccessible. The re ٛ ٌٍٛي.وٚلذو ي وصٌيحثو ْوصﻷشةخاصورٞٚوصﻹ الةلو search concludes that people with visual disability have received insignificant atten- صٌييةةةش٠لوٌةةةُو٠حهةةةٛصونا٘ ّةةةاَووي١ةةةشوف١ّةةةاو٠ ٍةةةكونٙةةةزٖو tion regarding these problems. Finally, the صٌّتاوً.وٚ ص١شص،و٠ت١شوصٌيحثوإٌٝولائّلوِٓوصٌ ٛ ١اأو -rese-arch suggests a list of recommenda ٌٍف١ يٛنوِةٓو ةًو ْوتىةْٛو وسةشوسةٌٛٙل. ٘ةزٖوصٌٛسلةلو -tions for Facebook in order to be more ac cessible. To sum up, this paper is one of ٟ٘وٚصحذ وِٓو ذدول١ًٍوِٓوصٌذسصساأوصٌ ٟوت طشقوإٌٝو -few studies that brings the topic of web acc ِٛضةةةٛموإِىا١ٔةةةلوصٌٛ ةةةٛيوإٌةةةٝوصﻹٔ شٔةةة وِةةةٓوليةةةًو essibility by disabled people into the era صٌّ ةةةةٛل١ٓوفةةةةٟوصٌ يةةةةشوصٌةةةةزٜوت يةةةةشوف١ةةةةٗوصٌتةةةةيىاأو where social networks is the way out of the digital divide. This makes it a thorough inv- ص ّا ١لوٟ٘وصٌ ي١ًوٌٍخشٚجوِٓوصٌفتةٛ وصٌشل١ّةل.وestigation that helps social networks make ٚ ٘ةةزصوِةةاو٠ت ةةًوصٌيحةةثوتحم١مةةاوشةةاِكو٠ ةةا ذوصٌتةةيىاأو -better informed decisions. Hence, the origi ص ّا ١لو ٍٝوصتخارولشصسصأوِ ١ٕش .وٚناٌ ةاٌٟ،وفةإْو -nality of this article lies in its focus on ac ةةاٌلو٘ةةزٖوصٌّةةاد وتىّةةٓوفةةٟوتشو١ض٘ةةاو ٍةةٝوصٌتةةيىاأو .cessible social networks ص ّا ١لوصٌ ٟو٠ّىٓوصٛ ٌٛيوإٙ١ٌا. -Keywords Web Accessibility, Visual dis ability, Social Networks, Facebook, Assis- tive Technologies. Paper type Research paper. Dr. Rasha Abd El Aziz , Ahmed Hassan Social Networks Website Accessibility for People… و 1. Introduction There are many Internet attempts to maintain equality and improved inde- The ability to access and use the In- pendence. However, a great number of ternet is becoming increasingly im- websites still mainly target the majority portant for full participation in the soci- of users, with little concern about those ety (Lorca et al, 2016); especially for with a visual disability (Wild, 2016), people with disabilities. The term ―digi- and Egyptian people with visual disa- tal divide‖ is used to describe the gap bility in particular have received negli- between those who do and do not have gible attention regarding this matter. access to information and communica- This creates a desperate need to address tions technology. Social networks web- this issue in Egypt. Therefore, the main sites play an important role in many aim of the research is to identify Face- people's lives; as they use these social book accessibility barriers that face networks to communicate with each Egyptian people with visual disability other, and to share and exchange infor- while surfing the website, and examine mation. There is a variety of popular the impact of enhancing Facebook ac- social networks; some of which are: cessibility on the usage of people with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The visual disability in the Egyptian con- role of social networks in the Arab text. The overall aim of this study can countries is not only limited in socializ- be achieved by answering the research ing and entertainment, but rather ex- questions: How is Facebook accessible tends to include a wide variety of uses to Egyptian people with visual disabil- that range from national engagement ity? And what is the impact of enhanc- and political participation to business ing Facebook accessibility on the usage entrepreneurial efforts and social ch- of Egyptian people with visual disabil- ange (Arab Social Media, 2017). ity? According to Internet Live Stats Accordingly, the following sections (2016), there are over three billion and explore literature review on visual disa- four hundred million Internet users. bility in general and web accessibility Egypt is an important country in the for people with visual ability in particu- region, due to its strategic location, and lar. After that, previous work related to notably high population, reaching over worldwide accessibility guide lines, 87 million (according to the Egyptian assistive technologies, and social net- Central Agency for Public Mobilization works applications is illustrated. Then, and Statistics) on August 2015. In Ma- the research methodology used in the rch, 2017, Facebook reported that it has current study will be demonstrated with around 1.94 billion monthly active us- elaboration on population and sampl- ers, with 156 million users in Arab co- ing, questionnaire design, research fra- untries, 23% of which are in Egypt. Tw- mework, accessibility testing with ex- itter on the other hand, has around 313 periment design, procedures and partic- million monthly active users, with 11.1 ipants. The questionnaire results are th- million users in Arab countries, and 1.7 en shown, followed by the research dis- million active users in Egypt (Arab So- cussion, conclusion, recommendation cial Media, 2017). and future work consecutively. 2 Dr. Rasha Abd El Aziz , Ahmed Hassan Social Networks Website Accessibility for People… و around 90% living in low-income set- 2. Literature Review tings (WHO, 2016). They can be divid- The World Health Organization (W- ed into: inability to see images clearly HO) has classified disability into three and distinctly, loss of visual field, ina- key definitions that are often used in- bility to detect small changes in bright- terchangeably but have different me- ness, color blindness, and sensitivity to anings: Impairment, Disability and Ha- light (Ahmed, et al., 2017). ndicap. ‗Impairment‘ refers to an abno- rmality in the anatomy, anatomical, ph- Due to the negligible attention paid ysiological, or psychological function. to people with visual disability, there is On the other hand, ‗Disability‘ refers to no accurate or updated statistics of the any limitation of an individual‘s ability number of people with visual disability to perform an activity in a normal man- in Egypt. According ―Al-Ahram‖ new- ner. Finally, ‗Handicap‘ refers to a sho- spaper (2013), the number of people rtcoming for a person due to an impa- with disabilities in Egypt is around 20 irment or a disability that hinders him- million. This can be divided into 6 mil- /her from fulfilling of a normal role on lion with mobility impairment, 6 mil- an equal level with a peer group due to lion with intellectual disability, 4 mil- physical and social barriers (Wood, lion with hearing impairment and 4 mil- 1980; DPI, 1982; Lang, 2007). lion with visual disability. In Egypt th- ere is lack of awareness about the visu- 2.1 Visual Disability ally disabled people and how to deal Disabilities are divided into Mobili- with them. Many parents of visually ty Impairment, Cognitive, Hearing, Sp- disabled people might deal with a low eech, and Visual Impairment. Visual im- vision person as a blind person due to pairment refers to an impairment in vi- lack of awareness. Not to mention the sion that, even with correction, affects lack of computer and internet related the educational performance. It ranges courses in schools that are especially from low vision impairment to total bl- tailored for people with visual disability indness (Zitkus, et al., 2016). The In- (Marshall, et al. 2009). ternational