DISABILITY DIGITAL DIVIDE: AN ANALYSIS ON SRI LANKA

THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ASIAN STUDIES 201520-21 JUNE, 2015, NIGATA, JAPAN

CHALLENGES AND ISSUES IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: ASIAN PERSPECTIVES

Nirosha Wedasinghe PhD (Reading)General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University -Sri Lanka

Introduction

  Disability digital divide is a pertinent topic

discuss in Sri Lanka.

Due to three decades of civil war many civilians become disabled

This study analyses the findings on disability and technology adoption among the disabled community in Sri Lanka.

Research Methodology

Approach

Research Strategy

Sample Collection

N = 494 participants

from SLLI Unit of Sri Lanka Army (Panagoda) and Ranaviru Appral

(Yakkala)

Field survey Literature

surveyObservation

Data Analysis

• Evaluated with technology

adoption theory• Analysis on theory with the

findings

Theory used for this study

Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory

DDI Measurement-Phase 01Type of Users Dependent

VariableRange of theDigital Divide Index

1. ICT Innovators DDI1 0.8 < DDI > 1.0

2. Early ICT Adopters

DDI2 0.6 < DDI > 0.8

3. Early Majority ICT Adopters

DDI3 DDI3 0.4 < DDI> 0.6

4. Late Majority ICT Adopters

DDI4 DDI4 0.2 < DDI> 0.4

5. Laggards in Adopting ICT

DDI5 DDI5 0.0 < DDI > 0.2

Level of Adoption of Basic ICT (B Basic ICT Facilities ICT) = Basic ICT Facilities/ 3 (i)  Level of Adoption of Intermediate ICT (I Intermediate ICT Facilities ICT) = Intermediate ICT Facilities/ 4 (ii)  Level of Adoption of Advanced ICT (A Advanced ICT Facilities ICT) =Advance ICT Facilities/ 3 (iii)

Descriptive Statistics-Phase 01Description Type Mean Medium ModeCurrent ICT Knowledge

Age 

25 Low  Low

25 Low  Low

28 Low  Low

English Knowledge Management Level 

Relevance of IT for Job related activities

Age 

29 Medium Office Package

30 Medium Office Package

27 Medium Office Package

Management Level Type of Work

Interest of ICT for future - (yes)

Age 

25 Low

25 Medium

24 MediumManagement

Level 

Adoption on ICT FacilitiesBasic Level Intermediate

Level

Advanced Level

Tele

phone U

se

Web A

ccess

Com

pute

r U

seO

ffice a

pplicati

on

Use

Mult

imedia

use

Scre

en r

eader

Soft

ware

use

Socia

l m

edia

use

IT A

dm

inis

trati

on

S/W

Desi

gn D

e-velo

pm

ent

rela

ted

Hig

h-t

ech S

/W U

se

B1 B2 B3 I1 I2 I3 I4 A1 A2 A3

050

100150200250300

Descriptive Statistics-Phase 2Age 18-25 25-35 36-45 >45

23 

90 

58 6

Type of Work

Admin Operational19 

158

Language Sinhala Tamil English177 - -

Gender Male Female175 

2

Leaving Arrangements

With Patents 112Shared accommodation with friends

7

With Partner 41Living alone 1In a rehabilitation centre 15

Healing Home for War heroes

1

Employment Status

Full Time 177Part Time 0Casual 0

Management Level

Upper 0Middle 55Low 122

Income Less than Rs. 15,000 0

Rs. 15,000 – Rs. 25,000 5

Rs. 25,001 – Rs. 35,000 71

Rs. 35,001 – Rs. 45,000 89

Rs. 45,001 – Rs. 60,000 12

60,001 0

Adoption on Technologies (Computers/Web/Mobile)

Mobile

ComputersWeb

Conclusions

1. Basic level ICT Facilities more used by the Sri Lankan disabled

2. Mobile usage is high compare to the computer and web usage among this community

3. There fore Mobile Application Developers need to consider accessibility guidelines for this disabled groups.

Recommendations

Mobile Application

s Developme

nts Considerati

ons for Disabled

Community in Sri Lanka

• Add alternative text to images

• Consider Captioning for Audio and video

• Transcription facilities for brail and other devises

• Proper row and columns headers for tables

• Testing with assistive technologies

• Get feedback from people with disabilities

• Follow latest release on w3c ,WAI accessibility guidelines for mobile accessibility

ACKNOWLEDGMENTThis research has been support by:

KDU Centre of the IT Support and Services

The Support of the Administration and the employees of the Sri Lanka Army Light Infantry(SLLI) Regiment – Panagoda and Ranaviru Apparel Yakkala

Students of the KDU- BSc in ICT – Batch 29