How can disabled people use the internet

The vast majority of U. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics. About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.

It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Newsletters Donate My Account. Research Topics. Read the other posts in our digital divide series: Digital divide persists even as Americans with lower incomes make gains in tech adoption Home broadband adoption, computer ownership vary by race, ethnicity in the U. Some digital divides persist between rural, urban and suburban America. Share this link:. For many disabled and special-needs people, the internet has proven to be truly life-changing.

Cohen suffers from muscular dystrophy, rendering him unable to use a keyboard. Nonetheless, he's been running this busy site since launching it as a message board in Alex Barker runs and works on the Advice and Information Line for AbilityNet , a charity that provides technological help and assistance to any of the UK's 9. AbilityNet is funded by grants and donations, and by charging for some services in order to generate the money necessary to provide advice and assistance for free.

It also has links with some of the tech industry's biggest names. In fact, the charity was born out of IBM in the s, when the company noticed a small group of its employees providing assistance to disabled users and elected to provide start-up funding for a dedicated organisation in that vein. In , AbilityNet was able to directly assist 43, people in overcoming their accessibility issues with computers — largely through its free phone and email support lines.

By placing it in a prominent spot, the button also serves as a reminder for authors to think about accessibility. A Microsoft-funded investigation about the economic value of accessible technologies to companies suggests several advantages for employees from increased talent diversity, boost in productivity, and increased retention.

For customers, showing a company cares about accessibility engenders loyalty and generates repeat business. It recovered the cost of the redesign within 12 months. Neglecting accessibility can be disastrous to businesses.

Inaccessible sites also present a legal risk. Kat Holmes, who previously led the Inclusive Design practice at Microsoft, notes that accessible design can even lead to innovation. Closed captioning, touchscreen mobile devices, audiobooks, and even the keyboard all originated as assistive technology, like Cerf did with email. Involving people with disabilities as co-authors is crucial. Ultimately, perhaps the biggest motivation for improving accessibility on the web boils down to a selfish reason.

By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy. Skip to navigation Skip to content. Discover Membership. If I go online I can lose myself for quite a while and it stops my mind wandering and thinking about myself. For 20 years, Cambridge Online has offered free courses to disabled and disadvantaged adults.

Every year new learners are referred to their centre where they deliver 4, one-to-one tutorials annually. There are 10 computers at the centre with adaptive hardware, touch screens, alternative keyboards and mice, and magnification and screen-reading software.

However using a computer is still something many disabled people struggle with. In the report released in June they cite that disabled people could save money by learning how to use the internet, for example by using cost comparison websites, yet disabled people were not online because of a lack of training, cost of equipment and the accessibility of web content.