Information Brief Bridging the Digital Divide in Post-Secondary Education: Technology Access for Youth with Disabilities

Today, technology plays a role in almost all educational, employment, and recreational activities. Computer access has the potential to help people with disabilities complete coursework independently, participate in class discussions, communicate with peers and mentors, access distance learning courses, participate in high tech careers, and lead self-determined lives (e.g., Burgstahler & Cronheim, 2001). People with disabilities benefit from the opportunities technology offers everyone else, such as word processing, Internet exploration, and database access. In addition, however, some individuals use technology to compensate for the inability to perform a specific function due to a disability. For example, a person who cannot speak with his or her own voice can use a computer-based speech synthesizer to “speak ” for him or her. Although the benefits of technology may be even greater for people with disabilities than for those without disabilities, individuals with disabilities are less likely to own a computer or to use the Internet (Kaye, 2001). Even for those who can operate a computer, the design of many Web pages, instructional software programs, and other electronic and information technologies create access barriers (Waddell, 1999). For example, We