Who is surfing the Internet?

The Survey on Income and Program Participation (SIPP, 1999, carried out by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, National Telecommunications and Information Administration) reports the following statistics on disability groups:

• 7,310,000 Americans with “vision problems” (3.5% of the population)
• 6,961,000 Americans with “hearing problems” (3.3%)
• 6,272,000 Americans with “difficulty using hands” (3.0%)
• 2,945,000 Americans with a learning disability (1.4%)

Results of the survey on the number of people with certain disabilities and “access” to the Internet show that:

• 21.1% of people with “vision problems” have Internet access (1,542,410 people)
• 27.2% of people with “hearing problems” (1,893,392)
• 22.5% of people with “difficulty using hands” (1,411,200)
• 42.2% of people with a learning disability (1,242,790)

Consequently, our disabled audience is not a small one and we need to develop courses that are usable and accessible to them all.

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