Facebook Status Updates - VoiceOver - iOS V8.1 - JAWS V15 - Internet Explorer

Posting Facebook Status Updates Using JAWS and VoiceOver

I've been spending a bit of time working with JAWS V15, Internet Explorer V11 and Facebook recently and I want to share my Status Update approaches here. I'm no expert in this social media area so I can't say that my routes through these tasks are generally accepted but they do work for the versions I am using here. As you will tell from the steps, it brings home a certain reality for a lot of AT users these days - that the app approach (given a level of accessibility there) is just so much less work in terms of pure cognition.

By the way, these steps assume that you have already logged in and that your account is functioning normally. First up is JAWS, running in the full-fat Facebook.com environment:

Post a Status Update (JAWS and Internet Explorer)

1. Move to your Timeline page, using the built-in Facebook keystroke of ALT 2 (if you are using Mozilla Firefox you will need to use ALT SHIFT 2). If this keystroke does not work as expected then navigate manually to the "Your Name" link via your JAWS links list (INSERT F7)
2. Focus will now move to your Timeline page, you can confirm this with INSERT T, the title bar of the page should contain your Facebook account name.
3. Move to the Update Status edit field (labelled "What's on your mind?") in one of the following ways:
• Tap the E key to move to the appropriate edit field. ("What's on your mind?")
• Access the JAWS list of form fields with INSERT F5.
Depending on how you have located the "what's on your mind?" edit field you will either be in Forms Mode already (if you used Insert F5) or you will need to launch it manually (if you used the E quick key). If you need to manually enter Forms Mode, make sure you are focused on the edit area and press ENTER - you should hear a kind of popping sound.

NOTE: In a web page, if you are ever unsure what mode you are currently in then use the JAWS keystroke key of ALT DELETE.

4. Now that you are in the edit field and in Forms Mode you can input your status update text...
5. When you have input your text use the TAB key to step out of the edit field. Back in virtual cursor mode, continue to press TAB until you have focus on what will either be a "friends button menu" or a "public button menu."

IMPORTANT: When JAWS reaches this button, the label actually indicates who can see the status update you have just written. Therefore, if you want to post for your friends only and no-one else - and JAWS announces "friends button menu" - you do not need to change anything as the appropriate level is already set by default.

6. If you do need to adjust this button to change the setting, you have three choices (although one of these "only me" is hardly entering into the spirit of social communications). Tap the SPACEBAR to open the menu and use the DOWN ARROW to move through the options. The two obvious choices are: "Public" (everyone can see it, friends or not) and "Friends" (only people in your friends list are permitted to read it). Choose appropriately at this point and press the SPACEBAR to confirm.

NOTE: If you really do need to use the "Only Me" option for your post(s) then you will have to activate the "More Options" item before it becomes available in the menu for you to choose.

7. If you have set a different level to the default you may find that your focus has jumped away to a completely different area in the page. If so, retrace your steps to the button using INSERT F5 to find the "Your Friends" button. When you have refocused, press the TAB key to move to the Post button and use the SPACEBAR to press it and send your post to your Timeline.

NOTE: When you are working the Facebook pages remember that they are often updated dynamically so JAWS, which is reading buffered code off-screen, may not be entirely up-to-date as a result. As a precaution, if you think something has gone awry or you are not hearing the options you expect to hear, refresh the screen with INSERT ESCAPE. Remember that you can also reload the entire page itself with F5, although you run the risk of losing any content you are halfway through when you do this so be careful.

Okay, that all probably sounded a bit more complex than it needed to be! But your message should now be posted to your own timeline and of course it will appear in your friends newsfeed.

Post a Status Update (VoiceOver and the Facebook app)

Taking a different route in now, this is how you go about achieving the same thing using the built-in iOS screenreader VoiceOver:

1. Use the ONE FINGER SCAN technique to locate the Main Menu button in the top left of the screen. DOUBLE TAP to open this menu.
2. SWIPE RIGHT or ONE FINGER SCAN down the open menu and focus on the "Your Name Here" option. DOUBLE TAP this to move focus to your own status updates page.
3. SWIPE RIGHT or ONE FINGER SCAN to locate the Write Post button. With focus on that object DOUBLE TAP to activate it.
4. Focus will move to the "What's on your mind?" text field and the on-screen keyboard will appear. From there type in your update or dictate it using the funky dictation tool available through the on-screen keyboard.
5. When you are happy with your message, SWIPE LEFT to go back to the Post button and activate this with a DOUBLE TAP. Your message is now posted to your timeline.