Blind faith in the web? Internet use and empowerment among visually and hearing impaired adults: a qualitative study of benefits and barriers
-
Mariek Vanden Abeele
,
Rozane de Cock
and
Keith Roe
Abstract
In this article we explore and contrast the uses and gratifications (sought and obtained) of the internet for blind/visually impaired and deaf/hearing impaired individuals. The uses and gratifications approach integrates the different issues that surround disabled persons’ internet use into one rich and coherent framework which allows a better understanding of the relationship between benefits obtained from internet use, underlying needs and the barriers that create gaps between gratifications sought and obtained. Based on 21 in-depth interviews, our study shows that both visually and hearing impaired individuals use the internet mostly for gathering information and for communicating with friends and family; meeting new people online was not a priority need. To a great extent these internet uses are driven by the underlying need for independence and active agency. Although our visually and hearing impaired informants share this need, the two groups differ in the gratifications obtained from the internet due to different barriers that hinder their use.
© 2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Prelims
- Article
- Blind faith in the web? Internet use and empowerment among visually and hearing impaired adults: a qualitative study of benefits and barriers
- A mixed report: The effects of strategic and substantive news content on political cynicism and voting
- Mediatization at the margins: Cosmopolitanism, network capital and spatial transformation in rural Sweden
- Evolving global communications policy agendas and ‘North-South’ relations: the internet and telecommunications
- Book reviews
Articles in the same Issue
- Prelims
- Article
- Blind faith in the web? Internet use and empowerment among visually and hearing impaired adults: a qualitative study of benefits and barriers
- A mixed report: The effects of strategic and substantive news content on political cynicism and voting
- Mediatization at the margins: Cosmopolitanism, network capital and spatial transformation in rural Sweden
- Evolving global communications policy agendas and ‘North-South’ relations: the internet and telecommunications
- Book reviews
