The Compelling Case: Disability and the Digital Divide

We are all engaged on some level in trying to close the digital divide. For people with disabilities that divide is greater and even more isolating than for other communities.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has issued a report, "Falling Through the Net: Toward Digital Inclusion," that has, for the first time, extensive statistics on Internet access and computer use among people with disabilities.

The report states that people with a disability are only half as likely to have access to the Internet as those without a disability: 21.6% compared to 42.1%. And while just under 25% of those without a disability have never used a personal computer, close to 60% of those with a disability fall into that category.

President Clinton, on a recent trip to Flint, delivered a speech to a group of disability advocates and community leaders in which he focused on the digital divide for people with disabilities. After referring to Stephen Hawking, the astrophysicist with Lou Gehrig's disease who uses assistive technology to communicates his thoughts, Mr. Clinton said,

"Millions of other people with disabilities can also access and use the information super highway if we build the necessary on-ramps. For example, we're creating a national network of community technology centers so that all Americans, no matter where they live or what their incomes, have easy and affordable access to the Internet."

Policy

The question of access to community programs and services is a civil rights issue for people with disabilities and needs to be understood in that context. You would not deny service to any other group protected under our civil rights laws.

By adopting a policy that recognizes peoples' rights, promotes inclusiveness and welcomes everyone, you can make a tremendous difference in the level of resources and support available to people with disabilities in the community.

Practice

By putting this policy into practice you can change people's lives. A great deal can be accomplished with some small but significant beginning efforts, like many of those mentioned throughout this guide. For example, by learning to use the accessibility tools and features provided in the software programs you already use, you can provide access to critical technology tools for many more people. By providing your training materials on disk, you increase the number of people who can access them in the way that works best for them.

Funding

There is a growing awareness that access is something that needs to be supported and appropriately funded. For example, the Community Technology Foundation of California has adopted a bold and innovative policy which requires all of its applicants to describe in their grant proposals how they are serving people with disabilities.

The government has long had policies that require access, however, it is fairly recent that serving people with disabilities in mainstream organizations is appearing as a priority for funding in a wide range of Requests for Proposals ( RFPs) being released by the federal government. There is also a major emphasis on closing the digital divide.

Following are some statements and statistics that could be very useful to you in building a case in your grant proposals and contracts for funding to support your access improvements. The statistics sited here can be found on the  the web site of Disability Statistics Center of the University of California at San Francisco website.

• The incidence of disability in the U.S. population breaks down as follows:

  • 19.4% of the whole U.S. population or 53.9 million people
  • 20% of African-Americans
  • 21.9% of Native Americans
  • 15.3% of Latinos
  • 9.9% of Asian / Pacific Islanders
• Disability rates increases significantly with age.
• The overall unemployment rate among people with disabilities is 67%. It is even higher for people with more severe disabilities, such as blindness.
• There are extremely few computer training resources for people with disabilities.

President Clinton also said in his Flint speech,

"Now, if we want to keep the rest of the economy growing, we have to make information technology more accessible. It's responsible for about 30 percent of the economic growth we've enjoyed over the last eight years. And we have to bring more people into the circle of opportunity to work in information fields. That means people with disabilities have to be able to enter the 21st century work force, not only for your [people with disabilities] own benefit, but for the rest of America as well."

Expectations

In the research study conducted by the Alliance for Technology Access for the California Endowment, a number of key facts emerged from the multiple interviews and focus groups conducted in underserved communities.

• Mainstream community-based organizations want to serve more people with disabilities and increase access, but don't know how to do it or where to start.
• People with disabilities in underserved communities want to be served by the same community organizations that serve everyone else.
• They want to work with the people they trust.

And the people they trust are you. Community-based organizations are not only the source of innovative ideas and strategies; you are the keepers of community values and visions.

Expectations are rising on all levels. People with disabilities are beginning to expect that their world will be increasingly accessible. As our society becomes increasingly diverse, there is a growing expectation that we will promote the inclusion of everyone and embrace diversity.

Raise your expectations. There is a great deal you can do to expand your reach and impact. This guide has presented strategies and tools to assist you in doing just that and in promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities.

The opportunity is here and now to begin to address the issue of equity for ALL people.