Accessible Twitter Applications

There's simply no denying it. Twitter is one of the web's killer applications of the moment. It's not uncommon to hear of people buying a computer and getting online, just so they can start tweeting.

Twitter is also proving popular with blind and partially sighted people. The Twitter website itself is reasonably accessible, and there are several accessible alternatives available to people as well.

Accessible Twitter

  • Application type: Website.
  • Developed by Dennis Lembree.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Technical level: Easy.

Accessible Twitter is an alternative Twitter website. It has all the functionality of the standard Twitter site, but is much more user friendly to blind and partially sighted people.

Accessible Twitter Top Feature

When typing in a tweet, Accessible Twitter automatically warns you when you only have a certain number of characters left. The audio warnings alert you to the fact that either 30, 15 or 5 characters remain from your 140 character limit.

Accessible Twitter Links

TwInbox

  • Application type: Microsoft Outlook plugin.
  • Developed by TechHit.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Technical level: Easy.

TwInbox, previously known as OutTwit, plugs Twitter directly into Outlook. It adds a toolbar to Outlook, and once configured gives you the ability to send, receive and manage tweets as easily as your email.

TwInbox Top Feature

A simple keyboard command calls up a message box from anywhere in Outlook. You can create any kind of tweet, including @messages and direct messages. TwInbox automatically checks that your tweet is under the 140 character limit and lets you publish your tweet at the touch of a button.

TwInbox Links

Jawter

  • Application type: Screen reader extension (beta).
  • Developed by Sean Randall.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Technical level: Intermediate.

Jawter is an extension to the Jaws screen reader. It brings all the standard functionality of Twitter to Jaws, without the need for an intermediate Twitter application to be open.

Jawter Top Feature

Jawter lets you change the way tweets are displayed. You can change the order that the sender's name, the tweet time and the tweet itself are displayed. You can also choose to hear tweet times expressed as "11.30am", or "15 minutes ago".

Jawter Links

McTwit

  • Application type: Programme (open source).
  • Developed by Jamal Mazrui.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Technical level: Easy.

McTwit is a powerful Twitter application developed specifically for blind and partially sighted people. It has a simple interface, which uses standard Windows controls to give you access to all the standard Twitter features. It's also available in a command line version.
Brian Hartgen has also produced Jaws scripts for McTwit. Whilst they're not required, they enhance this flexible Twitter application for Jaws users.

McTwit Top Feature

Simple keyboard commands for accessing your tweets. For example, Alt + n grabs the tweets from people you're following, Alt + R grabs all the @messages about you, Alt + r grabs all the direct messages sent to you, and Alt + p grabs all the tweets from the public timeline.

McTwit Links

Qwitter

  • Application type: Screen reader extension.
  • Developed by: Mongoose Enterprises.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Technical level: Easy.

Qwitter is an invisible Twitter application that can be accessed from anywhere within Windows. Compatible with most popular screen readers, it provides simple access to most standard Twitter functionality.

Qwitter Top Feature

Qwitter uses very simple commands to call up lists of tweets, @messages, direct messages and sent tweets. The commands are all easy to remember, and include useful options such as the ability to call up a list of links within a tweet. This makes it easy to choose a link and open it in the browser.

Qwitter Links

Tweets60

  • Application type: Mobile.
  • Developed by: Ravensoft.
  • Cost: Free.
  • Technical level: Easy.

Tweets60 is a Twitter application for Series 60 mobile phones (3rd/5th editions). It is compatible with the Talks screen reader, and provides access to most standard Twitter functionality on the move.

Tweets60 Top Feature

Tweets60 lets you post tweets, manage who you're following, and keep up to date with automatic polling, all from your mobile phone. Despite all this functionality, it uses smart synchronisation technology to keep data useage to a minimum.

Tweets60 Links

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