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Box 2.3
Access to information technology is particularly important and valuable for blind and low-vision citizens. The ability to use computers and network services boosts the employment prospects of such people and enables them to participate in on-line communications. The following comments were recently submitted by the American Foundation for the Blind to the Federal Communications Commission:
According to research conducted by the American Foundation for
the Blind for the Department of Education, blind and visually impaired people
are as likely as the general population to have consumer electronics in
their homes, to use personal computers, and to use Internet and on-line services.
This, despite the fact that blind persons tend to be poorer, on average,
than the general population, and tend to be employed much less often. . . .
Since studies have shown that computer users and Internet users tend to have
higher income than the general population and that people tend to use
computers and the Internet at work, it is particularly noteworthy, given these
differences in income and employment, that usage rates for blind and visually
impaired persons are similar to the general population, suggesting the increased
importance of this access to them. . . . A study completed just before the passage
of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) estimates that 43 percent of
employed persons who are blind or visually impaired use computers to
write (Kirchner, Corinne, and Harkins, Don, Issues and Strategies Toward
Improving Employment of Blind or Visually Impaired Persons in Illinois,
American Foundation for the Blind, 1991, Table VI-5 (a)). |