Why the Government Can Improve Using Social Media.

Our Government has to catch up. I mean, social media can help our Government run more efficiently. Why? Well, social media is the world's biggest, most instant communication tool. This means everything when it comes to warning the public about a potential threat or natural disaster.

The Federal Social Media Community of Practice launched a Social Media Accessibility Working Group to collaborate with and deliver programs for accessibility communities and social media leaders across government. While this effort is a step in the right direction, I don't think spending hours, if not months, reviewing how to use social media is going to help utilize a tool that is updated second by second.

Here are my tips to help our Government connect better with the public:

1. Include ways to contact your organization, such as your 800 number, an online “Contact Us” form, or general contact email address for more information directly on your Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. profiles.

2.Use the Twitter API or Embedded Timelines feature to display your agency's tweets on your .gov site. Embedded Timelines feature on Twitter appears to have accessibility built-in even for those who do not have JavaScript.

3. All videos should have closed captioning. YouTube has a feature that will automatically caption videos less than 10 minutes. To increase accuracy of the YouTube machine translation, your video will need to have very clear-spoken words and little background noise.

These tips to help our Government improve using social media are just the tip of the iceberg.

For specifics, please contact me for a complimentary consultation.

Twyla Garrett