If this section was truly disability friendly - what would be different?

Question

Please only answer this question as a person with a disability, or an advocate or ally.

What would have to change about this section (and Yahoo Answers in general) to make it disability friendly?

Answer 1

From the perspective from a blind person (who cannot see the screen as anything more than a white area in front of her, and uses a screenreader, JAWS, for all internet use):



All functions of Yahoo!Answers need to be made JAWS-friendly. Currently, when asking a question, the categorizing process is not fully functional with JAWS. I can pick one of the recommended categories, but I cannot select my own from the list, as the format is not one that JAWS reads. To fix this, category selection should be in drop-down menus instead.



Also, after asking a question, a JAWS user cannot go back and edit the question, delete it, or send it directly to voting with the Edit drop-down menu, as it is not a drop-down menu format that is read by JAWS. To fix this, it should be made into a regular drop-down menu (such as you often see in e-mail systems and on-line forms, or make the options in that drop-down menu seperate links.



These are my problems with Yahoo!Answers as a blind person. Easy fixes (simple format changes) could make these functions of Y!A JAWS-friendly, and I have contacted Yahoo with this suggestion, and never received any reply.



Other than these inaccessible functions, Y!A's format is pretty easy for me to manuever around, especially since they made each question link a seperate header, which I can use a HotKey to skip to the next question (for anyone who knows hotkeys, this will make sense...).

Answer 2

Some of the answerers before me have made very good suggestions about how to improve disability access here. I would just like to add that I think the whole Yahoo Answers website should be made disability accessible, not only the disability section. People with disabilities should have an equal access to all the other categories too.





p.s. I wonder how many people really read the question. Most of the suggestions that have been made have nothing to do with disabilities or making this section more disability friendly. There are more suggestions about the rating system, violations and personal preferences than there are about disability access. If people put half as much effort into improving disability access as they put into getting their own general preferences across, pretty much nobody would be left out anymore due to disability access issues.

Answer 3

when I are available in the process a query i hit upon offensive I document it yet i do no longer answer it. That way the guy does not get the delight of understanding they "have been given decrease than my epidermis". If greater human beings did this they gained't get any solutions, which takes the relaxing out of asking those questions. when I are available in the process an answer i hit upon offensive I document it and if i be attentive to the respond I answer the question. i think of if all human beings did that then Yahoo solutions would be a greater suitable place. I additionally think of that as long as their are a minimum of two human beings in this earth there is going to be injury emotions, ignorant and mean human beings. And we can't substitute that certainty. So we would desire to alter ourselves to be greater suitable emotionally. So all of us be attentive to that those that are mean ignorant human beings obtainable. we can attempt to lead them to understand what that's choose to be disabled, however the ideal determination is that persons. ultimately often times it takes turning out to be disabled to appreciate, and that doesn't constantly artwork. purely somewhat of L.ok. information.

Answer 4

Enable users to choose font type, font size and background color. This would help many dyslexic or vision impaired people.



Improve the spell check. Make it recognize disability related terms and common disability abbreviations. Make it more effective and user friendly (maybe have “correct spelling as you type” as an option).



Make the whole Y!A website more accessible for blind people. Format it in a way that common software for the blind can use it, so that blind users have access to all the same features as others.



Add an “undo” feature. People with limited mobility or poor motor skills often accidentally click on something different than they intended to and in many cases there is no option to change it back, such as when the person is voting a best answer, giving thumbs up/down and such. This option should have some limits though, such as that you only have a few minutes to undo or you can only undo the last few clicks you made. This should prevent abuse of this feature.



Make this section easier to find so that more people with disabilities will be able to use it. Many people post disability related questions in the Health section and don’t even know that there exists a PWD section. While I think it’s okay to have this section under Cultures and Groups, I think it would be good to have a shortcut from the Health section too.



And then there is something that the users can do to improve this place: Be more accepting of people with different disabilities. Don’t let this place be full of prejudice, insults and arguments. Be civil. Don’t be rude or pick on people for their cognitive disabilities, poor spelling or for having a milder/more severe/different disability than you etc. There is way too much hate and separation in this place. If someone gets on your nerve, just ignore them. You don’t have to like everybody, but you don’t have to go around fighting either. This section should be a place that people feel comfortable coming to to ask disability related questions.

Answer 5

I don't think it should show who did thumbs. It needs to be anonymous or gone all together. I think if we could see who is doing the thumbs down then it would just start fights. I tend not to thumb down unless it really is a bad answer or wrong all together or troll or abuse. Abuse I report regularly.

Answer 6

I'd like to see sub-sections. One for living with disablilities, another for disabilities as they pertain to laws and regulations (both state and federal) and another pertaining to finance and insurance (SSDI, Medicare, etc). I'd also like to see a link to a chatroom for us so that those of us who wish to communicate on bigger topics that are too complex to put in a few simple sentences or even just discuss and compare our day to day lives with each other in a more liberated basis, we could do so more easily, with more freedom.

Answer 7

The person can chance the colour, size and style of text to suit them.

As it could make it easier for some people to read



Words like retard would be removed



Repeat Jokes or question like the blind man in a circle would be removed



Rate the question and if many people give it a high mark to go to

good positive F.A.Q for people available for people who just became disabled like in car accidents easy to find

or the best answer with a different point of view in the case of subject like colchear hearing aids

Good link to good disability web sites and places

would be in an easy

Answer 8

And some way to block multiple accounts from the same computer.



Not automatically suspending people or erasing their answers when reported.



Maybe suggest some questions that haven't been really asked before so we can have variety.



Suspending people on 1st offence for about 3 days. First offence banning is to harsh, it could just be an honest mistake or legitimate difference of opinion, we don't want banning to get out of control like thumbs down, spam answers, etc.

Answer 9

1. This can apply to all yahoo answers sections. You should be able to see who gives Thumbs Up/Thumbs Downs. IMHO there is too much anonymity on Yahoo Answers, this would cut down on trolling and keep everything more honest.



2. More repercussions for false reporting. I suggest that if you report an answer and it is found that answer didn't violate any guidelines then the person who reported you has their account suspended for 24 hours for the first offense, 3 days for the second offense + the loss of all their points, and a perma-band for the 3rd offense. With that said, there should be some leeway given for those who consistently report legitimate violations.



3. Only 2 accounts per IP address. This should cut down on trolling, and abuse of the voting system. Granted this could greatly effect people who use Yahoo Answers from a public place.



The other complaints that I'm seeing, especially those who would like to see Yahoo Answers displayed differently can be rectified by changing the color schemes on the computer you're using. There are several color combinations to choose from, some are especially made with high contrast in mind. You can also change the text size in your browser.



Edit: King makes some intresting points, I would like to comment on them.



1. I don't agree with that one as it could be seen an encroachment on free speech. Yes there are terms that are considered more favorable than others. But not everyone chooses use to feel-good/ultra PC drivel. It's person's prerogative what terminology they choose to use.



2. Not a bad idea, but it must be fair and balanced. There's too much room for favoritism though.



3. I agree with that, though there must be sufficient evidence that the question was actually trolling. This could be hard to prove.



4. Agree 100%



5. I absolutely see where you're coming from on this one, but it must be noted that the person who asks the question has several days to make a decision. Most questions go 5 days or so before voting begins. It's not a yahoo answers problem, it's a person being too lazy to choose an answer problem



6. A good idea. Perhaps something where someone asking the question could chose the timeframe before the question goes to vote or just chose to have the question go to vote from the start. I don't think you can not have the question not go to vote eventually since there would be hundreds of unresolved questions.



7. Agree, and that's how it is now



8. Agree, but only one vote per person, not one vote per account. This is a tough one to enforce.



9. Agree, but as I said, make it public, let people know who was giving thumbs up and thumbs down.



10. While I wouldn't be heartbroken if they went away, I think it's a good idea to have them; they give credibility (provided they were earned fairly)



11. See 10.



12. Don't agree with that, Yahoo Answers is supposed to be a public forum, cherry picking the people you allow to answer your question will likely result in you getting the answer you *want* to hear, not necessarily answers from all perspectives.



13. I agree with that



14. It's setup pretty good as is. You can easily remove a contact that you don't want on your list if you want to.



15. Only really a problem if you use Yahoo IM. Most of the world uses AIM or MSN IM. But again, it's set up pretty nicely now. You can easily disable that feature in your profile if you want to.



16. Nothing says you have to enter a valid email. My Yahoo email is certainly not my primary one. So I keep it open since I'm more than willing to hear what others have to say. Weirdly I have yet to get any spam in my Yahoo email. I've only gotten Yahoo Answers related emails so far.



I think that there is too much anonymity in yahoo answers. People need to be held accountable for their actions. There's too much abuse of the system as it is. All my yahoo answer info is public, I have nothing to hide. I don't use Yahoo Messenger so that's why it marked private. But it's not that difficult to figure out what other IMs I use and what my SN is for them. I've never blocked anyone on Yahoo Answers.

Answer 10

1. PFL would be required when posting.



2. PWD moderators would be in the PWD section to moderate ALL messages.



3. ALL Internet Trolls would be permanently banned on the FIRST offense if they posted any "Trolling Bait Messages" about PWDs and Disabilities.



4. Persons with more than one Yahoo Answers accounts would be permanently prevented from answering their own posted questions and choosing their other Yahoo Answers Account(s) as "Best Answer" to their own posted questions.



5. People should allowed to ALWAYS give the "Best Answer" to the questions that they have asked instead of all questions always going to "Vote". Being allowed to give the "Best Answer" to the questions that you ask WILL PREVENT the majority of the "Best Answers" of always going to one person and will partially prevent favoritism.



6. People should ALWAYS have both options of sending their questions to "Vote" or choosing/giving the "Best Answer" to a person that has best answered the person's question.



7. The person who chooses a "Best Answer" should also be allowed to comment on the chosen "Best Answer and to give between an 1 Star Rating up to 5 Stars Rating on the "Best Answer".



8. Persons should always be allowed to vote on their own answer to someone else's question.



9. Keep the "Thumbs Up"/ "Thumbs Down" feature.



10. Do away with the "Top Contributors Badges".



11. Do away with the "Top 10 List".



The reason why the "Top Contributors Badges" and the "Top 10 List" should be done away with is due to the fact that answering questions should NOT be a competition on who can be a "Top Contributor" and who can be in the # 1 slot in the "Top Ten List".



12. ALL persons should be allowed to hide their questions and answers due to the fact that it will prevent angry persons and Internet Trolls from having easy access to their intended target's questions and answers.



13. ALL persons should be allowed to hide their Contacts and Fans network.



14. All persons should be allowed to NOT add Contacts and Fans to their network.



15. All persons should be allowed to NOT allow IM from a person's Yahoo Answers Profile Page.



16. All persons should be allowed to keep their email address PRIVATE and to be allowed to BLOCK everybody from emailing them on the Yahoo Answers Profile Page.



***I extremely greatly cherish my Privacy which is one of the reasons why I have set ALL my Yahoo Answers Profile options to PRIVATE and why I BLOCKED everybody from emailing me and BLOCKED everybody getting in touch with me by IM.***

Answer 11

I have an idea for myself but I can't say it.



I think Thumb Up and Thumb Down should be remove, it isn't working, biased, loopsided, and people don't alway take the most Thumb Up as the "gospel truth"

Answer 12

allow for different types of mental disabilities - psychological, such as bipolar, schizophrenia, etc... be treated as valid as physical disabilities.



the levels of functionality vary greatly, but the mentally ill have both a lot to offer and a lot of merry chaos. But calling us named and banning us does no one any service,

Answer 13

Change the automatic deletion when 2 users report it to where it goes to a committee for approval (i.e. after 2 or more users report it, an actual pool of elected users with experience in the PWD community then review the complaints and vote on whether or not the question/answer should be deleted.



Not allow users from the same IP address to vote on an answer from the same IP address. Even if it is people who share a PC. Too bad so sad they will have to get votes like us users who don't play the system.



Not allow yourself to vote on your own answer to someone else answer.



Not allow yourself to vote the best answer to the question you asked. I think it should always go to voting.



Allow the elected committee to vote on whether a user should be suspended or deleted.



A committee formed and the users voted by users and only one vote per IP address. Only one elected user per IP address. The elected user must have PWD experience.



Suspension time to also be decided through voting.



Trolls are suspended, then after next violation be banned from PWD indefinitely when the committee votes that they are indeed considered trolls.



If more than one troll is found from the same IP address then the IP address also be suspended, then any additional troll violations result in IP being banned.



Do away with the thumbs up/down feature as it is really useless.



I'll add more when I come up with them.



ADDED: Thanks for the support ☺. Wow there are so many great suggestions! I'll add that another change be that an answer not be hidden because of too many TD's.



ADDED: Some might disagree but I don't think you should be able to hide your questions & answers. With this said I think that if you are caught "following" someone to TD all of their Q’s & A’s then it should set a red flag and be considered stalking and it be a violation. Have a tracking system that if you TD more than once in an hour on the same user it set a red flag.



If you falsely report abuse you get suspension. After 3 false reports you are banned.



You should be able to contact the committee if you feel someone is "stalking" you and have a case opened to where they can track the stalkers and their IP address activity to see if they were maliciously TD you, reporting you, following your answers, sending hate email.



I like the user's comment about the acceptance of mentally disabled in this section.



Allow for people to become top contributors even though they don't always have "best answer". There are many users that answer almost all answers and are very knowledgeable in this category and do not have badges. It is hard to get top in this area because so many people answer and the odds go up. This is a good thing because many people are dedicated to help therefore those people should get a badge based on how many answers PLUS the committee votes whether or not to issue the badge. They would vote on whether the person has a good enough history of giving good knowledgeable answers.



ANOTHER ADD: I love this one: Allow the voters of answers to be shown (like they do the stars) and allow the voter to leave a comment on why they voted for it.



ADDDDDD: Why not make it mandatory that after a question has been in voting for X number of days the asker must choose best answer or no best answer in order to post any new Q's or A's. For example when this person goes to post Q or A a message pops up and states "You have questions that need attention before you can continue" In the pop up screen it includes a link to the answer. As for inactive accounts, we should have a designated area labled "Inactive Accounts Unresolved Questions". As soon as an account goes inactive the question automatically goes there and all badge holders & top ten in the category as to which the question was get a notification spot on their screen. Example, an added area that states 105 Unresolved questions remain in your top category please click here to view & vote. This way knowledgeable people in that category can make educated decisions and are familiar with the topics and more true best answers chosen. ****Give Top Cont badge credit for the more unresolved questions resolved by you in that category.



KEEP THE THUMBS UP AND DITCH THE THUMBS DOWN. That way trolls & multiple accounts don't ruin it for the answer or misguide people into thinking it's bad. But still get thumbs up option if you agree.

Answer 14

You would have to change the people that use YA and that isn't going to happen..

So you want to be the PWD leader and set policy here. No thanks. The baboons at Yahoo are bad enough.