A common open space or a digital divide? A social model perspective on the online disability community in China

Guo, Baorong; Bricout, John C.; Huang, Jin

doi:10.1080/0968759042000283638

Cited by 101 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…A survey study in China indicated that a minority of people with disability have access to the internet; this represents a digital divide (Guo, Bricout and Huang, 2005). People with disability who have access experience a significant increase in frequency of social interactions and reduction of existing barriers in the physical and social environment.…”

Section: Theme 1: Access To Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

How do People with Disability Use and Experience Virtual Worlds and ICT: A Literature Review

Stendal¹

2012

JVWR

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There is wide agreement that information and communication technology (ICT) is a valuable tool for people with disability. Several research disciplines have focused on how people with disability can take advantage of the technology available for social, educational and personal purposes. Virtual worlds represent the latest addition to the technologies available, yet there is little research on how people with disability use and experience virtual worlds. A review of research conducted in different disciplines on the affordances and challenges of virtual worlds and ICT for people with disability is presented here. The main objective was to highlight areas that lack sufficient research in the field of virtual worlds for people with disability. Understanding how use of ICT influences people with disability is important to identify the possibilities and challenges virtual worlds offer to this group. Findings from this study indicate that there is little empirical research exploring the social aspects, work opportunities and personal value virtual worlds may offer people with disability. The research reviewed points to the importance of bringing research disciplines together to accelerate knowledge about the potential and promises of virtual worlds for people with disability.

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Section: Theme 1: Access To Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

How do People with Disability Use and Experience Virtual Worlds and ICT: A Literature Review

Stendal¹

2012

JVWR

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“…Though they have led to great insights, many existing studies draw from small and/or nonrepresentative samples (e.g., Bradley and Poppen 2003;Finn 1999;Grimaldi and Goette 1999;Guo, Bricout and Huang 2005;Seymour and Lupton 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The disability divide in internet access and use

Dobransky

Hargittai²

2006

Information, Communication & Society

345

211

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The increasing spread of the Internet holds much potential for enhancing opportunities for people with disabilities. However, scarce evidence exists to suggest that people with disabilities are, in fact, participating in these new developments. Will the spread of information technologies (IT) increase equality by offering opportunities for people with disabilities? Or will a growing reliance on IT lead to more inequality by leaving behind certain portions of the population including people with disabilities? In this paper, we draw on nationally representative data about Americans' Internet uses to (1) identify the extent to which people with disabilities are embracing use of the Internet; (2) how their use of the Internet compares to the Internet uses of the rest of the population; (3) how having a disability relates to and interacts with other social statuses (e.g. socio-economic status, age, gender) with regard to Internet use; and (4) what explains these trends. We draw on representative data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census of the United States to answer these questions. We find that people with disabilities are less likely to live in households with computers, are less likely to use computers and are less likely to be online. However, once we control for socio-economic background, we find that people with hearing disabilities and those who have limited walking ability are not less likely to be Internet users. Our research enables a deeper understanding of both the use of the Internet by people with disabilities and the spread of new IT more generally.

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“…In addition, both WeChat and QQ have voice message functionality, which could meet the special needs of people with disabilities. Guo, Bricout, and Huang (2005) indicated that the Internet can effectively reduce existing social barriers in social and physical environment for people with disabilities. Research has shown that social media platforms such as WeChat, Twitter, and Facebook are developing rapidly in the contexts of interpersonal communication, news and information dissemination, education, and other fields (Chen & Bryer, 2012;Gikas & Grant, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Social Media in Uncovering Information Services for People with Disabilities in China

Wang

Yuan

et al. 2017

IRRODL

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The tangible and intangible needs of people with disabilities have been neglected in research agendas over the past decades, particularly in China. Bringing more benefits to people with disabilities and combining information delivery with Internet technology to improve their quality of life is impossible if their special needs are ignored. This study employed the crowdsourcing through social media method to investigate information needs of people who are disabled. The results indicate that using the popular social media platforms WeChat and QQ can be an effective means of reaching out to this group. Information needs can be mainly divided into internal and external needs. Leisure, tourism, and entertainment as well as assistive devices are major internal information needs, whereas work, entrepreneurship, and living services are the main external information needs.Keywords: people with disabilities, feedback, crowdsourcing, information needs, social media, China Use of Social Media in Uncovering Information Services for People with Disabilities in ChinaWhat can assist people with disabilities in improving their social inclusion and social situation? To answer this question, scholars have mainly focused on community participation (Milner & Kelly, 2009) (Carter & Markel, 2001). Therefore, using a range of media to provide information on different levels is critical (Mitchell & Sloper, 2002).Most studies have determined the needs of specific groups through literature surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions (Barrett, 2005;Mitchell & Sloper, 2002). The present study expanded the investigation to all types of disability groups. The rapid development of network technology has brought a new means for solving this problem: crowdsourcing (Ford, Richard, & Ciuchta, 2015;Pitt-Catsouphes & Cosner Berzin, 2015), which is a relatively new development in information outsourcing. It is a virtue of network platforms that cooperation can be extended worldwide through various virtual social groups. Any individual who is interested in or has some understanding about crowdsourcing can participate in crowdsourcing. In addition to reducing costs, crowdsourcing can bring answers that are more comprehensive, richer, and more creative compared with those derived from traditional investigation.Two research questions were addressed in this study: (a) which platform do people with disabilities prefer to use, and (b) what types of service information do people with disabilities in China seek. These questions are critical because they can assist policy makers in both determining how to address the needs of people with disabilities and effectively reaching out to this special group. Therefore, in this study, the needs of various people with disabilities were investigated using the crowdsourcing method to improve the quality of online information services for people with disabilities.The remainder of this article is structured as follows. Section 2 discusses research related to disabled information platforms and crowdsourcing, an...

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A common open space or a digital divide? A social model perspective on the online disability community in China

Cited by 101 publications

References 21 publications

How do People with Disability Use and Experience Virtual Worlds and ICT: A Literature Review

How do People with Disability Use and Experience Virtual Worlds and ICT: A Literature Review

The disability divide in internet access and use

Use of Social Media in Uncovering Information Services for People with Disabilities in China

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