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Electronic assistive technology: benefits for all?
- Author:
- GATWARD John
- Journal article citation:
- Housing Care and Support, 7(4), December 2004, pp.13-17.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
For more than a decade there has been a powerful drive towards providing care services to older and disabled people in their own homes. Technology is beginning to provide devices and systems to help do this in a practical way that not only benefits service users and their carers but also has the potential to be very cost-effective. However, the ethics of telecare will increasingly demand attention. Highlights the need to address the problems of social isolation by care systems designed to use electronic assistive technology.
Holding the line online: exploring wired relationships for people with disabilities
- Authors:
- SEYNMOUR Wendy, LUPTON Deborah
- Journal article citation:
- Disability and Society, 19(4), June 2004, pp.291-305.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Clearly, the Internet represents a huge new step in interpersonal communications. It offers people with disabilities the possibility of confronting the issues of time, space, communication and the body, but what happens when people with disabilities engage with the computer? Do they use the Internet to develop friendships and intimate relationships? Does online communication enhance self-identity and social being? Do people use the Internet to transcend the vagaries of their frail and vulnerable bodies? Or are they simply 'holding the line' online, using the Internet as they would use a letter or a telephone? Is the Internet a chimera, a failed promise, for people with disabilities?
Disabled people and the internet: experiences, barriers and opportunities
- Authors:
- PILLING Doria, BARRETT Paul, FLOYD Mike
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 90p.
- Place of publication:
- York
The Government intends to make all government information and transactions available electronically by 2005. An increasing proportion of useful commercial and social information is available online. However, disabled people can face particular challenges using the Internet - for example, cost, access difficulties and unfamiliarity with electronic technology. (These limiting factors can be exacerbated for older age groups to which many disabled people belong.) This research examined whether the provision of information, goods and services through the Internet removes many of the access barriers faced by disabled people, or adds to them. Views were obtained from enquirers to AbilityNet, a UK charity giving free computing advice to disabled people, and from focus group participants.
Assistive technology: independence and well-being
- Author:
- AUDIT COMMISSION
- Publisher:
- Audit Commission
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 50p.
- Place of publication:
- London
This paper looks in more depth at the role of assistive technology (AT) in supporting independence. It examines the place of AT in the current policy context and describes the current evidence to demonstrate how AT can support independence. It analyses the current obstacles to progress and explains how change can be introduced. New assistive technology can play a vital role in supporting the ways in which millions of older or disabled people can maintain or regain their independence. It also has the potential to modernise the way in which many aspects of health and social care are currently delivered to the benefit of users, carers, service providers and the taxpayer.
Does the Internet open up opportunities for disabled people?
- Author:
- JOSEPH ROWNTREE FOUNDATION
- Publisher:
- Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 4p.
- Place of publication:
- York
The Government intends to make all government information and transactions available electronically by 2005. An increasing proportion of useful commercial and social information is available online. However, disabled people can face particular challenges using the Internet - for example, cost, access difficulties and unfamiliarity with electronic technology. (These limiting factors can be exacerbated for older age groups to which many disabled people belong.) Almost all questionnaire respondents welcomed the Government's initiative to put all services online, provided that alternative communication methods remained available. Internet usage enabled questionnaire respondents to communicate with others, and to reach a variety of information resources in spite of difficulties. These groups included those who were unable to leave their homes, those who found writing or reading common forms of print inaccessible, or those with speech impairments. Two-thirds of Internet users in the survey wanted to use the Internet more, cost being the main reason holding them back. Cost - of buying a computer, of online access and of assistive devices - was also the most common reason preventing Internet non-users getting online. Questionnaire respondents and focus group participants who needed assistive devices had significant problems in identifying what to use, in affording it, and in getting guidance or training with the equipment. Disabled Internet users who needed assistive devices to use a computer and the Internet found fewer websites that were easy to use and navigate than did those not using assistive devices. Only about one in ten respondents knew the location of their local UK Online centre (where help is available to learn initial Internet-using skills); there was little knowledge of the training provided by UK Online centres or other organisations. About 40 per cent of Internet-using respondents had tried but had been unable to find suitable training locally.
The web: access and inclusion for disabled people: a formal investigation conducted by the Disability Rights Commission
- Author:
- DISABILITY RIGHTS COMMISSION
- Publisher:
- Stationery Office
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 48p.
This report demonstrates that most websites are inaccessible to many disabled people and fail to satisfy even the most basic standards for accessibility recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium. It is also clear that compliance with the technical guidelines and the use of automated tests are only the first steps towards accessibility: there can be no substitute for involving disabled people themselves in design and testing, and for ensuring that disabled users have the best advice and information available about how to use assistive technology, as well as the access features provided by Web browsers and computer operating systems. Disabled people must frequently overcome additional obstacles before they can enjoy the full range of information, services, entertainment and social interaction offered by the Web: blind people need sites to provide, for example, text as an alternative to images for translation into audible or legible words by specially designed screenreading devices; partially sighted people may be especially reliant upon large-format text and effective colour contrast; people who are dyslexic or have cognitive impairments may benefit in particular from the use of simpler English or alternative text formats, such as Easy Read, and from the clear and logical layout of an uncluttered website; people whose first language is British Sign Language may also find Plain English indispensable; and people with manual dexterity impairments may need to navigate with a keyboard rather than with a mouse.
Using the evidence to develop quality assistive technology services
- Author:
- MOUNTAIN Gail
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Integrated Care, 12(1), February 2004, pp.19-26.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Reports on a literature review and provides illustrations of how the evidence can be used to underpin the development of assistive technology services for older and disabled people and disabled children. The aim is to support the development of user-focused, accessible services.
Social policy review 16: analysis and debate in social policy, 2004
- Editor:
- ELLISON Nick
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 298p.,bibliogs.
- Place of publication:
- Bristol
Annual selection of commissioned articles focusing on developments and debates in the UK, Europe and internationally.