People with disabilities of all types have about half the Internet access
as those without disabilities and those with vision and mobility
impairments have even less connectivity to the Internet.

kelly





 INTERNET ACCESS LIMITED FOR MINORITIES, DISABLED


   By Tracy Seipel
   San Jose Mercury News
   October 30, 2000

   For the first time, the U.S. Department of Commerce computer use
   survey examined computer and Internet access for disabled Americans,
   and learned that they are only half as likely to have access to the
   Internet as those without a disability.

   And Internet access for blacks and Hispanics, though up overall, lags
   far behind their white and Asian counterparts in America.

   Computer and Internet usage is up for most Americans, regardless of
   their race, education or income, according to the fourth national
   survey of digital haves and have-nots released this month.

   More rural households have Internet access--up 75 percent from 1998.
   Blacks and Hispanics have shown gains, and the disparity in usage
   between men and women has largely disappeared.

   Americans 50 years and older--while still less likely than their
   younger counterparts to use the Internet--experienced the highest rate
   of growth in Internet usage of all age groups.

   Overall, the survey found that in August 2000, just over half of all
   households had computers, up from 42.1 percent in December 1998.

   And 41.5 percent of all homes had Internet access, up from 26.2
   percent in the 1998 survey. The report said 116.5 million Americans
   have some kind of Net access.

   The report, "Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion,"
   offered other insights, including:

   Americans 50 years of age and older are not only among the least
   likely to be Internet users, the use rate for this group was only 29.6
   percent in 2000. However, people in this group were almost three times
   as likely to be Internet users if they worked.

   Even with high-speed Internet services, a relatively new technology
   used by only 10.7 percent of online households, there are disparities.
   Rural areas, for example, lag behind central cities and urban areas in
   broadband penetration, with 7.3 percent of homes equipped with
   high-speed access, compared with 12.2 percent for cities.

   The report said that 28.4 percent of disabled people have some kind of
   Internet access, half the rate of those without a disability. People
   who have impaired vision and problems using their hands have even
   lower rates of access than others.


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