Computer and Internet Use among People with Disabilities
From: Disability Statistics Center
By: H. Stephen Kaye, PhD

Computer technology and the Internet have a tremendous potential to broaden
the lives and increase the independence of people with disabilities. Those
who have difficulty leaving their homes can now log in and order groceries,
shop for appliances, research health questions, participate in online
discussions, catch up with friends, or make new ones. Blind people, who used
to wait months or years for the information they needed to be made available
in Braille or on audiotape, can now access the very same news stories,
magazine articles, government reports, and information on consumer products
at the very same time it becomes available to the sighted population. People
who have difficulty holding a pen or using a keyboard can use the latest
speech recognition software to write letters, pay their bills, or perform
work-related tasks. 

These new technologies hold great promise, but as this report makes
abundantly clear, the computer revolution has left the vast majority of
people with disabilities behind. Only one-quarter of people with disabilities
own computers, and only one-tenth ever make use of the Internet. Elderly
people with disabilities, and those with low incomes or low educational
attainment, are even less likely to take advantage of these new technologies.
African Americans with disabilities also have an especially low rate of
computer and Internet use.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.dsc.ucsf.edu/UCSF/pub.taf

