ACCESS DENIED

Common Online Barriers
for People with
Disabilities
About one in ten potential voters needs an
accessible website. Barriers to the Internet
are most frequent for the 8.1 million
Americans who have difficulty seeing,
the 6.7 million people who have difficulty
grasping objects such as a mouse or typing
on a keyboard, and the approximately
10.6 million adults who have some type of
cognitive or learning disability. 10
The spectrum of disability experiences
is extremely broad. The following is an
overview of some of the most common
barriers people with disabilities
experience in using the Internet. While
not comprehensive, the review should
provide a basic understanding of the
usual ways people with disabilities can
best access the web.
Photo: Thinkstock
8.1 million Americans
have vision disabilities.
People with Visual Disabilities
People with visual disabilities are generally divided into two groups: those with
limited vision (“low vision users”), and those with no vision (“blind users”). Both
groups are legally blind, and both may use a computer with different types of
assistive technology.
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ACCESS DENIED: BARRIERS TO ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION FOR CITIZENS WITH DISABILITIES