NCBI CFIT publishes research on digital exclusion
Written by Mark Magennis Wednesday, 24 June 2009
According to recent research commissioned by NCBI CFIT, people with disabilities and older people in Ireland are on the wrong side of a growing 'digital divide', potentially leading to widespread social exclusion. One of the causes of this is the inaccessibility of many mainstream information and communication technologies, particularly websites and other internet-based technologies. This has major negative implications for businesses and government, as well as for the excluded individuals themselves who will find it more and more difficult to communicate and access services in an increasingly digital world.
This disturbing vision of the future is the conclusion of research commissioned by NCBI CFIT into the relationship between digital accessibility and social exclusion.
The report, entitled "ICT accessibility and social inclusion of people with disabilities and older people in Ireland: The economic and business dimensions", was commissioned from the Work Research Centre. It reveals that the rate of access to and usage of the internet among people with disabilities and older people is only half that of the general population. Although this is partly due to socioeconomic factors and attitudes to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), accessibility barriers are also shown to play a significant role. The majority of public and commercial websites in Ireland, for example, have serious accessibility and usability defects. These can present insurmountable barriers to many of the 20.5% of Irish adults who have a disability and/or are in the older age group.
Implications for excluded individuals
Disadvantages of not being digitally engaged include:
- An average 10% lower wages due to inability to use the internet and email.
- Exclusion from jobs or promotions requiring the use of ICTs.
- Exclusion from third level education and poorer grades in lower education.
- Increased average annual costs of €358 for shopping, €32 for banking and €61 gross interest on a one-year deposit of €5,000 when compared with online equivalents.
- An average of 69 minutes extra spent on each public service transaction compared with carrying it out online.
Implications for business
At the same time, businesses suffer due to:
- 86,000 fewer consumers of online shopping, banking and other services due to lower usage levels.
- Reduced choice of employees and employee retention levels.
- Increased customer support costs.
Implications for public finances
The drain on the public finances caused by digital exclusion affects everyone. The report points out that measures to increase digital inclusion would provide significant economic benefits such as the following:
- Annual savings of €8-20 million and increased GDP of €39-99 million for each 1% of people with disabilities who transfer from disability payments to employment as a result of being able to use ICTs.
- €70 million increase in GDP over three years if all adults with a disability became internet users.
- Annual savings of almost €4 million if 20% of people with disabilities used the internet for just three e-government transactions each.
Conclusions
The increasing use of ICTs for mainstream products or services is an increasing problem for those who are not digitally engaged, with knock on implications for businesses and the economy. The ageing of the population mean these problems are getting steadily worse. Measures to increase the accessibility and use of ICTs among people with disabilities and older people would provide major benefits, not only to those individuals but also to society at large.
Evidence shows that this can best be achieved by action on a number of different fronts, including:
- Greater attention to accessibility of e-government services.
- Including accessibility requirements in public procurements for ICT products and services.
- Strengthening legislation and regulation around digital accessibility.
- Effectively communicating the business benefits of accessibility and the relatively low costs of achieving it.
- More training in digital literacy for people with disabilities and older people.
- Assistance for people with disabilities, older people and other vulnerable groups in the costs of obtaining computers, adaptive technologies and internet access.
For more details download the full report (MS Word, 160Kb).