BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE: DAILY BRIEFING
May 5, 1999
It's a World Wide Web of Opportunity
That's the message from John Lancaster, a paralyzed vet and
Presidential adviser
John Lancaster knows a thing or two about disability issues. Paralyzed
from the waist down (he was shot in the back during the Vietnam War),
he has worked as a litigator for many disability groups, including the
Paralyzed Veterans of America. We worked together at the American
Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Washington almost two
decades ago.
Today, he's the executive director of the President's Committee on
Employment of People with Disabilities (PCEPD). And he has a new
message: Access to the World Wide Web will give the disabled more
power to buy goods and services, and help business tap a new job pool.
Chatting recently in his wheelchair, he lists reasons why disabled
people must participate in the Information Age revolution by having
access to the Web. "First, the country must recognize that businesses
are becoming more electronic, and as a result electronic commerce is
spiraling. Second, the economy is changing to an information
technology base thus creating a shortage of workers -- and
opportunities for disabled people. Third, people with disabilities are
among the largest unemployed populations in the country. Lastly,
disabled people are consumers."
IMPRESSIVE STATS. As businesses build Web sites to sell their goods
and services to consumers, they are making it easier to transact
business with their suppliers and distributors. Some industry
estimates show E-commerce spending set to quadruple from about $12
billion in 1998 to $44 billion worldwide by 2002. And E-commerce gives
consumers the convenience of shopping 24 hours daily. Lancaster has
dozens of statistics like that right at his fingertips: "50% of the
households in the country that have Internet access will make
purchases online by the end of this year," is another he throws out.
He cites a report released last year by the U.S. Commerce Dept. titled
The Emerging Digital Economy. It concludes that information technology
(IT) industries are growing at more than double the rate of the
overall economy.
Already, IT represents 8.2% of U.S. gross domestic product and has
driven on average 25% of real economic growth over each of the last
five years, according to the Commerce report. Traffic on the Internet
doubles every 100 days -- and the overwhelming bulk of it is
business-related.
Of profound importance to the national economic health is the shortage
of workers in the IT sector and in digital technologies. "Business
leaders are running out of qualified people, particularly in the
high-tech industries, with the labor shortage likely to become tighter
in the next 15 years. And computer-related jobs are among the fastest
growing job occupations in the world," Lancaster says. More than
345,000 computer programmer and systems analyst jobs are vacant in
U.S. companies with more than 100 employees, according to the
Information Technology Association of America.
FALLING BARRIERS. IT-related jobs pay very well, too. These workers on
average earn almost $46,000 per year compared to an average of $28,000
for the private sector as a whole. And the ITA estimates that demand
is expected to grow from 874,00 jobs in 1996 to 1.8 million by 2006.
"A positive result from this labor shortage is barriers of
discrimination are beginning to fall, and businesses are hiring
disabled people," Lancaster says.
U.S. Census Bureau data released in 1996 shows there were 29.4 million
working-age Americans with disabilities in the 21- to 64-year-old age
group. Of this number, 15.4 million were employed (52%), and more than
14 million (48%) were unemployed. About 79% of the 14.2 million people
with severe disabilities are jobless, Census says.
Unemployment is highest among African Americans and Hispanics with
disabilities. Census says 72.2% of African Americans with disabilities
and nearly 52% of Hispanics with disabilities aren't working. "These
figures are abominable," says Lancaster.
The disabled offer more than just an underused job pool in cyberspace.
Lancaster encourages businesses to also look at the large untapped
customer base in the disability market. "At 20% of the population,
people with disabilities comprise the nation's largest minority
group," says Lancaster. There are significant opportunities to the
business community here in strategic marketing.
FLASHY, BUT USELESS. Statistics gathered by the PCEPD show that
disabled people have $175 billion in discretionary income, and more
than 20.3 million people in the country have at least one family
member with a disability. Access to the Internet presents significant
opportunities to people with disabilities (see Assistive Technology,
4/21/99, "Online School: A Boon for Disabled Students -- and
Teachers").
Unfortunately, Web developers often focus on creating flashy,
eye-catching graphics that are inaccessible or hard to use by Web
users with disabilities, particularly people with eye strain,
blindness, low vision, or color blindness.
With more people using the Web at home, and with the numbers of
disabled people rising as the population ages, it makes good business
sense for companies to address Web accessibility issues so that
disabled people have an avenue to online products and services.
Otherwise, companies "will lose these customers," Lancaster argues.
"Employers can lead and ensure that any Web sites they develop are
accessible to disabled people."
Williams writes frequently for BW Online on assistive technology
products and issues. For questions on assistive technology write to
[log in to unmask]
Editors Note: Many E-mails to Williams have asked him to define
assistive technology terms. John responds: "One of the most frequently
asked questions is, "What are assistive technology devices?" The
Technology Related Assistance Act (Public Law 100-147) defines
assistive technology devices as "Any item, piece of equipment or
product system, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf,
modified or customized that increases, maintains or improves
functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities."
EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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