In this seventh edition of CCSD’s Disability Information Sheets, we continue our focus on experience with technology among persons with disabilities by examining their rates of usage of various forms of technology. The primary source of data for this Information Sheet is Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey (GSS), Cycle 14, 2000.
In today’s society, the Internet plays a key role in providing people with valuable information. From news and weather to information about health issues, people without access to Internet technology may be missing a key information component. And, according to the data, persons with disabilities are less likely than their non-disabled counterparts – in every age group – to access the Internet.
Among persons aged 15 to 34, 75.9% of those without disabilities had used the Internet in the previous 12 months, compared with 69% of those with disabilities. For people aged 35 to 54, the figures were 58.6% and 44.6%, respectively, and among those aged 55 to 64, the rates were 35.6% for those without disabilities and 23.6% for those with disabilities. Even among seniors, persons without disabilities were almost twice as likely as those with disabilities to have used the Internet in the previous year (11.3% and 6.6%, respectively). (Note: See the supplementary tables and charts)
While individuals can access the Internet from a number of venues, having an Internet connection at home certainly improves a person’s chances of using this technology. The lower rate of Internet use among persons with disabilities is likely due to the large differences in household Internet access between persons with and those without disabilities. In 2000, only 28.6% of persons with disabilities lived in a household with an Internet connection; among persons without disabilities, this figure was considerably higher at 46.1%.
Household Internet connections varied by age, and there were particularly large gaps among persons of prime working age, as summarized below:
Additional study would be required to understand more about the impact that these gaps have on labour market opportunities.1
Today we are exposed to a variety of technologies for communication, entertainment or access to information. Some forms of technology are accessed almost equally by persons with and those without disabilities; in other cases, there are gaps.
Of the different forms of “technology” considered here, cable television had the smallest gap in access between persons with and those without disabilities. Among men with disabilities, 70.2% had watched cable television in the previous year, and among women with disabilities, the figure was 73.8%. Among men and women without disabilities, the figures were 74.5% and 74.6%, respectively. There were few variations in cable television use by age. (See the supplementary tables and charts.)
A small majority of persons without disabilities were cell phone users in 2000 (56.2%), whereas among persons with disabilities, cell phone use was much lower (at 36.6%). As well, frequent cell phone use was higher among persons without disabilities. For example, 38.2% of those without disabilities reported using a cell phone on a weekly basis, compared with 21.2% of persons with disabilities. (See the supplementary tables and charts)
As with other forms of technology, age is an important factor in cell phone use. Younger individuals were more likely to use cell phones and to use them more frequently than did older individuals, and men were slightly more likely than women to use cell phones (see Chart 1 and Table 1).
| Table 1: Use of Cell Phones and ATM Bank Machines in the Past 12 Months, by Age Group, Persons with and without Disabilities, Canada, 2000 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age Group | Frequency of Use | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities | ||
| Cell Phone | ATM | Cell Phone | ATM | ||
| 15-34 years | at least once per week | 38.7% | 66.6% | 42.6% | 72.7% |
| at least once per month | 11.2% | 16.2% | 12.3% | 12.8% | |
| less than once per month | 13.4% | 5.0% | 12.4% | 3.7% | |
| never | 36.7% | 12.2% | 32.7% | 10.7% | |
| 35-54 years | at least once per week | 31.8% | 63.7% | 42.7% | 71.9% |
| at least once per month | 7.9% | 15.0% | 7.1% | 12.0% | |
| less than once per month | 9.9% | 4.4% | 7.6% | 3.8% | |
| never | 50.5% | 17.0% | 42.6% | 12.3% | |
| 55-64 years | at least once per week | 16.0% | 42.7% | 29.0% | 49.8% |
| at least once per month | 6.7% | 16.4% | 6.5% | 14.5% | |
| less than once per month | 9.9% | 6.6% | 7.4% | 5.8% | |
| never | 67.5% | 34.3% | 57.2% | 29.9% | |
| 65+ years | at least once per week | 5.0% | 15.0% | 9.6% | 22.0% |
| at least once per month | 2.5% | 15.1% | 3.8% | 15.6% | |
| less than once per month | 5.6% | 6.3% | 5.5% | 7.2% | |
| never | 86.9% | 63.6% | 81.1% | 55.2% | |
| Source: Calculations by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's General Social Survey, Cycle 14, 2000. | |||||
Persons with disabilities are not accessing ATM machines at the same rate as those without disabilities, and once again, age is an important factor. Among the youngest group of adults, those with and those without disabilities were more similar in terms of their use of ATM machines (see Table 1). In 2000, only 12.2% of young people (aged 15 to 34) with disabilities and 10.7% of those without disabilities had never used an ATM machine.
However, there were larger gaps in the percentage who used ATM machines frequently (i.e., at least once a week). Within every age group, persons without disabilities were more frequent users of ATM machines. The largest gap was among seniors, where 63.6% of seniors with disabilities and 55.2% of seniors without disabilities had never used an ATM machine. And seniors without disabilities were also more likely than those with disabilities to be frequent users of ATM machines (at 22% and 15%, respectively).
While there were few gender differences among those without disabilities in terms of their ATM use, men with disabilities were more likely to use ATM machines, and to use them more frequently, than did women with disabilities. As summarized in Table 2, 48.4% of men with disabilities reported using ATM machines at least once a week, compared with 39.9% of women with disabilities.
| Table 2: Use of ATM Bank Machines in the Past 12 Months, by Gender, Persons with and without Disabilities, Canada, 2000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency of Use | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities | |
| Male | at least once per week | 48.4% | 66.5% |
| at least once per month | 12.8% | 12.4% | |
| less than once per month | 5.4% | 3.9% | |
| never | 33.4% | 17.2% | |
| Female | at least once per week | 39.9% | 64.3% |
| at least once per month | 17.8% | 13.4% | |
| less than once per month | 5.6% | 4.7% | |
| never | 36.7% | 17.7% | |
| Source: Calculations by the Canadian Council on Social Development using Statistics Canada's General Social Survey, Cycle 14, 2000 | |||
Disability Information Sheet No. 8 will focus on the impact of technology in the workplace and how this affects persons with disabilities. Data from Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey (Cycle 14), 2000, will be used.
1The GSS 14 asked only computer-users about their use of e-mail technology, and again, persons with disabilities were less likely than those without disabilities to have used e-mail. Among computer-users in 2000, 55.3% of persons with disabilities had also used e-mail in the past year, but among persons without disabilities, the figure was 66.6%. Use of e-mail technology is also closely linked with age. The highest rate of e-mail use was among younger persons aged 15 to 34. Among this age group, 63.5% of computer-users with disabilities had used e-mail over the last year, whereas the rate was 69.5% among younger persons without disabilities. For computer-users aged 35 to 54, 56.9% of