Report 13:

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,
re s e a rch 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 diff iculty
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.


The present
report, using data from the same survey, demonstrates
that gaps in computer and Internet use
based on disability status are just as large as those
based on race and ethnicity.




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.



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Tecnologias computacionais tem um grande potencial para mudar as vidas e aumentar a independencia das pessoas com deficiencia.

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.

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==========CONCLUSION===============================

People with disabilities are perhaps the single
segment of society with the most to gain from the
new technologies of the electronic age. Yet they
have among the lowest rates of use of these technologies.
As a result, the potential benefits of computers
and the Internet to the disability community
are a long way from being realized.


Many
people with disabilities, whether elderly or not,
lack an awareness of the potential benefits of this
technology, an understanding that, for themselves
especially, a computer and an Internet connection
could become not a toy, but an important tool with
which to gain greater independence and social
integration.

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People with disabilities are perhaps the single
segment of society with the most to gain from the
new technologies of the electronic age. Yet they
have among the lowest rates of use of these technologies.


a computer and an Internet connection
could become not a toy, but an important tool with
which to gain greater independence and social
integration.
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==============característica dos intrevistados=============

Respondents are
asked whether anyone in the household has “a
health problem or disability which prevents them
f rom working or which limits the kind or amount of
work they can do.” The question provides a re a s o nable
way of identifying a sample of persons at least
15 years of age who are limited in their ability to
work.