RE: Pew Internet & American Life Project

Thanks for this, Avi.  Striking how inaccessible and unusable the HTML
version of the report is!

John

John Slatin, Ph.D.
Director, Institute for Technology & Learning
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, f 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
web http://www.ital.utexas.edu
 


-----Original Message-----
From: Avi Arditti [mailto:aardit@voa.gov] 
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 3:19 pm
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: Re: Pew Internet & American Life Project



I'm forwarding this message posted to CARR-L (Computer Assisted
Reporting and Research) ...


From: Robin Jones [mailto:guiness@uic.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 11:39 AM
To: GREATLAKES@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
Subject: Article: Disabled least likely to use Internet, says study


The following article is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA and
Accessible IT Center for your information:

The Center for An Accessible Society
Disabled least likely to use Internet, says study

Almost three quarters of Americans who report having a disability also
do not use the Internet, says a new study from The Pew Internet &
American Life Project. Over a quarter of these respondents say their
disabilities make it difficult or impossible to go online. "Currently,
the disabled are less connected than many other groups of Americans,"
says the report.

"Just 38 percent of disabled Americans use the Internet," says the
study. "This compares to the 58 percent of all Americans who use the
Internet. 

Some 18 percent of survey respondents said they had disabilities -- "a
percentage that is very close to the 20 percent of Americans that the
U.S. Census Bureau reports with disabilities," says the study.

"Researchers Colin Keane and Joel Macht of the Neil Squire Foundation
have noted that many of the disabled lack access to adaptive
technologies that would help them use computers and retrieve information
from Web sites. At times, it is physically hard for the disabled to gain
access to wired rooms and buildings. Other times, computer work stations
at public sites cannot be adjusted or lack appropriate desks, chairs,
software or adaptive hardware to make the computer and Internet more
usable. In addition, the disabled as a group are poorer than other
Americans and have a hard time affording the extra expense of adaptive
technology. "

"It is important to note that respondents in our survey self-defined
themselves as disabled or not," say the researchers. "They were asked if
they had any disability, handicap, or chronic disease kept them from
participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities, and
they then answered yes or no. In addition, respondents who said they
were disabled were also allowed to self-define their disability as one
that impairs the use of the Internet or one that does not.

"Thus, it is likely that some individuals (especially those who have
little knowledge of the Internet and computers) believe their disability
impairs Internet use when in fact it does not."

"There are social and psychological explanations why some Americans do
not use the Internet," says the study's authors. "A person's sense of
personal empowerment can make a difference in her decision to go online
or not. Those who feel less in control of their lives are less likely to
go online."

Read The Ever-Shifting Internet Population: A new look at Internet
access and the digital divide HTML format 
(http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/reports.asp?Report=88&Section=Report
Leve

l1&Field=Level1ID&ID=378#navigate (Long url, may appear on more than one
line. Copy and paste into your browser) PDF format
http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=88 (long URL, copy and
paste into your browser)

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is a non-profit initiative of
the Pew Research Center for People and the Press.
(http://www.pewinternet.org/about/about.asp?page=4)

Source:
http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/webaccess/pewinternetstudy.html
Forwarded to CARR-L by

Nan Hawthorne, Content Developer
eSight Careers NetworkT
Yahoo! Messenger: write4blind

A Bridge Connecting Business Leaders to
Talent in the Disability Community

E-mail: hawthorne@nanhawthorne.com
URL: http://www.eSightCareers.net

Received on Friday, 25 April 2003 16:29:59 UTC