#EdTechTeacherChallenge - January 2020: Twitter, Day 5

Check Your Accessibility Settings

Twitter's Accessibility Settings

This is the last of the Settings exploration that we will be doing for this challenge. Accessibility
Settings is usually used for people with a disability, but I find them helpful for other reasons as well.

For some people, it is less taxing on the eyes to have white lettering on a dark background when reading text on media devices. The default Display setting for Twitter is black text on a white background. I have my Display settings set to dim. This uses white text on a dark midnight blue background like you see in the image to the right. The Display settings also have a "Light's Out" option, which is white text on a true black background. Regardless of which Display setting you chose, you can make your page even easier to read by clicking on the "Increase Color Contrast" option. Here are some before and after screenshots using this option.

Twitter Display Settings without "Increase Color Contrast" 

Twitter Display Settings with "Increase Color Contrast"

The color differences are subtle, but for those that need that greater contrast, it makes a big difference in readability. With the "Dim" and "Light's Out" options, it makes the colors more of a pastel color.
















All of these options are based on your preferences. If you have motion sensitivity when looking at video on media devices, you may want to turn on the "Reduce motion" option. If you don't want video to play automatically, you may want to click "Never" under the "Autoplay" option.

I do recommend that you turn on "Compose Image Descriptions". This gives the option when you post images to add a description for people that are visually impaired. It is false to believe that people who are blind or have low vision do not use computers or cell phones. They browse websites like everyone else and there are new laws in place that institutions must include what is called "alt text" when posting images. When someone using the "Voice Over" accessibility option on their device, the "Voice Over" will "read" the "alt text" for the image so the person knows there's an image there and what the image is of.

At the end of 5 days, you have learned some of the more complicated aspects of Twitter. Tomorrow, we start the fun stuff with "Explore what is trending". Until then, love, peace and happiness always!