Search results for: “disability”

Introduction Disabled Americans face unique challenges as they consider using the Internet, but they also can reap rewards for going online. The Internet offers the promise of greater connection to others, greater access to information, and potentially greater “mobility” through virtual space. But currently, the disabled are less connected than many other groups of Americans. […]

Introduction The “digital divide” has been a concern of policy makers since the middle of the 1990s when the Internet emerged as a major communications medium and information utility. Anxiety about the divide centers on arguments that those who do not have access to the Internet are disadvantaged compared to Internet users for a number […]

20% of non-Internet users live in a house with an Internet connection WASHINGTON – There is far more fluidity in the Internet population than most analysts imagine. About a quarter of Americans live lives that are quite distant from the Internet – they have never been online, and don’t know many others who use the […]

Austin Free Net. (2002) “Who Uses Community Technology Centers? A Survey of Public Access Computer Users,” Austin, TX, February 2002. Available at http://www.austinfree.net/about/AFNClientSurvey.pdf as of 8/14/02. BECTA (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency). (2001) “The Digital Divide, A Discussion Paper” prepared for the British Department for Education and Employment, for a conference in February 2002. […]

Internet use is fluid. Of the findings in this report, the most notable is that Internet use is fluid. Net Dropouts, Intermittent Internet users, and Net Evaders (non-users who live in wired homes) are three groups that defy conventional notions of a binary, on-off way of thinking about Internet access. And because the way people […]

Introduction A fact that continues to stun the technology community, its adherents, and many online Americans is that more than half of non-Internet users – 56% of them – say they probably or definitely will not ever go online. In April 2000, we asked non-Internet users whether they wanted to go online or not—and only […]

Introduction We asked non-users why they do not go online – an admittedly difficult question because people often find it hard to talk about something they do not do and find it hard to articulate the reasons they do not do it. Many non-users simply said they did not want or need to access the […]

Introduction: The four types of users and non-users There is no monochromatic pattern to Internet use. People have a variety of relationships to the technology. Clearly, there are an identifiable number who use the Internet now. At the same time, there are those who have tried using the Internet and dropped off. Others who say […]

Message in a Bottle In the two weeks following the 2002 general election, the Institute for Politics, Democracy, & the Internet conducted interviews with campaign staff from 33 of the most hotly contested races for governor, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Representative.  We wanted to learn about the Internet’s utility as a campaign tool from campaign […]