User Testing of Social Media - Methodological Considerations

The use of social media has in recent years increased dramatically. It is imperative that social media are accessible to all. To ensure this, it is important to conduct user testing as part of an accessibility and usability assessment of social media services. This paper focuses on the methodology applied in such undertakings, and its purpose is to draw attention to important aspects that should guide user testing and user studies of social media services. This is done by sharing the experiences gained in the project Net Citizen. The main target groups for the paper are those planning the implementation of social media services and those who conduct accessibility and usability user testing. Key findings are that cumulative usability issues can be likened to poor accessibility. Further, that web services that are accessible in a strict technical sense, may not necessarily be perceived as accessible by real users.