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2016 » Papers » Volume 2 » Facebook use by visually impaired students 1. FACEBOOK USE BY VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS Authors: Iordache Dragos Daniel, Patru Aurel Volume 2 | DOI: 10.12753/2066-026X-16-165 | Pages: 522-529 | Download PDF | Abstract
Social networking sites (SNS) are characterized by user-generated content, online identity creation, and relational networking. Facebook is by far the most popular social networking site being currently used by a large diversity of users, including people with special needs. World Health Organization reports that more than 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired: 39 million are completely blind while more than 246 million have low vision. Visually impaired people are a distinct category among the users of social networks. They are using the social networking sites with a set of accessibility tools. These tools differ depending on the severity of the visual impairment and may take the form of screen readers, magnifiers, etc. The goal of this study is to identify educational and social aspects related to the use of Facebook by visually impaired people as well as positive aspects and risks of using this social networking website. An interview guide has been developed for this purpose. Interviews are a standard method for exploring people's feelings, motivations, insight and experiences on any topic. A total of 24 visually impaired students from the Special School "Sf?nta Maria" in Arad participated in the interview. A content analysis has been used in order to analyse the answers. The results show that most of the visually impaired students participating in this study are using Facebook especially for socialization and less for educational purposes. Also, the main benefits of using Facebook are communication and keeping relationships with friends. The main risks are related to the privacy / security settings and advertising affecting navigation. | Keywords
Social networks, Facebook, visually impaired users. |
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