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A survey of technology accessibility problems faced by older users in China

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Abstract

Internet accessibility for older users has become an important issue to promote inclusion and participation in the Information Society. This paper proposes an investigation into the technology accessibility problems faced by older users in China. The research reported here was conducted by means of an exploratory survey with a Web-based questionnaire and discussions with older users at meetings. The study had 180 valid answers and involved representatives from each of the 25 provinces of China. The results show that 39% of the participants cannot or can only partially access information, because of various kinds of accessibility problems. Many participants indicated that the main problems in accessing the Internet were health barriers, circumstances barriers, and Internet design barrier. The possible reason for these difficulties could be that the government doesn’t foster a social environment conducive to helping the elderly to get online and that it does not provide services for the elderly designed to help them access information electronically. The poor rate of accessibility industry for the elderly, as well as the lack of Chinese accessibility laws, is an important issue that must be dealt with to promote greater Internet accessibility for the elderly.

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Notes

  1. National bureau of statistics of China, China Statistical Yearbook 2009, China Statistics Press.

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Acknowledgments

Our thanks to the China Ministry of Education and IBM for funding this work, and to Dr. Peter Kelly for his contributions to the revision of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Special Education College of Beijing Union University, 1A 2nd Lane Puhuangyu Road, Outside of Yong Ding Gate, 100075, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Dengfeng Yao

  2. Foreign Language School of Jingchu University of Technology, 448000, Jingmen, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Yunfeng Qiu

  3. Huanggang Disabled Persons’ Federation, 438000, Huanggang, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Hairui Huang

  4. Hubei Disabled Persons’ Federation, 430000, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Zaixin Du

  5. China50plus, Inc, Room 513, Building 1, #13, BeiErTiao, ZhongGuanCun, 100080, Haidian District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Jianqing Ma

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  1. Dengfeng Yao
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Correspondence to Dengfeng Yao.

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Yao, D., Qiu, Y., Huang, H. et al. A survey of technology accessibility problems faced by older users in China. Univ Access Inf Soc 10, 373–390 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-011-0222-3

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