Ever encounter a site that’s inaccessible or “down” and wonder, “is anyone else experiencing this or is it just me?” Herdict, ( a portmanteau word that combines the words “verdict” and “herd”) created by the Berkman Center for Information and Society at Harvard University, answers this question and many others about online accessibility around the world. Herdict participants report when a site becomes inaccessible and provide comments about why it may be inaccessible.

The United States, China and Iran report high instances of inaccessible sites, with Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook being among the most-blocked sites around the world. You get a nice view of all this in the “Herdometer” a world map of locations and site reports that is constantly being updated by members of the “herd”. To participate in this project, you can download an add-on to your browser that not only helps you to report sites, but gives you a breakdown of the inaccessibility stats of any site you visit.  The results may surprise you!

To learn more, check out the video where Shep the Sheep explains it all.