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Social inclusion in a Digital Age Jonathan Hassell Robin Christopherson Head of Audience Experience & Usability Head of Accessibility Services BBC Future Media & Technology AbilityNet Internet World 28 th April 2010

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What we ’ll talk about <ul><li>Who might be excluded from Digital Britain? And why? </li></ul><ul><li>Concentrating on disabled people </li></ul><ul><li>What do we need to do to encourage them online? </li></ul><ul><li>What do they have to gain? </li></ul><ul><li>The importance of skills and education </li></ul><ul><li>Personalising the web for their needs </li></ul>

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<ul><li>Who might be excluded from Digital Britain? </li></ul>

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21% of UK adults do 67% are C2DE vs 45% of UK population not have net at home or use elsewhere 10.5m adults aged 15+ Their average age is 61 . More than half are 65+

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2. Disabled people ’ s use of the web in the UK… … compared to what it could be

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Disabled people in the UK <ul><li>11 million adults </li></ul><ul><li>More likely to be older </li></ul><ul><ul><li>47% over 65 compared to 20% of general population </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Less likely to be working </li></ul><ul><ul><li>43% of disabled people of working age are working compared to 74% of general population </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Heavy media consumers </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Particularly of TV and radio </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Only half see themselves as ‘disabled’ </li></ul><ul><ul><li>This made little difference to attitudes to the media </li></ul></ul>Sources: Experience and expectations of disabled people (ODI 2008), TGI, Disabled for Life (DWP 2002), Phase 3 research

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Internet use in the UK EEDP (2008) and ONS (2007) 42% <ul><ul><li>Of disabled people have used the internet </li></ul></ul>67% Of the general population have ever used the internet

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Missing disabled internet audience… EEDP (2008) and ONS (2007) 58% of 11m = 6.4m

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Link between the needs of disabled and elderly people… <ul><li>older people tend to be more likely to be disabled </li></ul><ul><ul><li>47% of disabled people are over 65 compared to 20% of general population </li></ul></ul><ul><li>disability has a large impact on their likelihood to be online </li></ul><ul><li>even if they aren ’t officially disabled… </li></ul><ul><ul><li>they tend to have failing eyesight, hearing, memory, motor skills, mobility </li></ul></ul><ul><li>many organisations tend to think of them together </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Ofcom Disability & Elderly Consumer Panel </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>W3C ’s aging research and guidelines working group is part of their Web Accessibility Initiative most famous for the WCAG accessibility/disability guidelines </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Source: Ofcom Media Literacy Audit Fieldwork (June-August 2005) </li></ul>

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3. Encouraging disabled people to get online

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The main primary reasons for the gap are a function of age, interest, education and income <ul><li>Income matters. </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Internet usage in households earning > £21k is 70% </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Internet usage in households earning < £21k is 30% </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>13% say cost is a barrier to using the web more </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Age matters </li></ul><ul><ul><li>80% of 16-34s have used the web, whereas only 10% of 75+ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>There are twice as many disabled people 75+ as 16-34 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Interest and confidence matter </li></ul><ul><ul><li>65% say do not want to use internet more </li></ul></ul>EEDP (2008)

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Initial claimed barriers often mask different or deeper reasons Majority Minority Limited understanding Low perceived benefit vs cost Low confidence / skills Acquisition & installation process Basic affordability Impact on life Literacy & social exclusion Safety & security concerns Primary barriers Secondary barriers

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Emotional engagement & reassurance can increase understanding and consideration “ Now that you have shown us all that and explained it all, I’m quite a lot more interested. Maybe I’ll go to a course now to try and learn a bit more or ask my daughter to show me.” 75-84, Non User

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Primary barriers: lack of skills & confidence means many do not see net as available to them 75-84, Non User “ You’ve got to learn a new keyboard. All those computer controls! On my TV you’ve got buttons all over the place, I can barely cope with that!” “ I’d be frightened I’d do something and it’d go boom!” 75-84, Non User

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4. Why this is so important – what disabled people have to gain from web usage…

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Disabled people say the web makes them feel less isolated 48% of disabled people say the internet would help them feel less isolated 51% of disabled people who use the internet daily say it helps them feel less isolated Source: EEDP

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This was most important for our mentally ill participants <ul><li>Depressed people may use the internet to help manage their lives during depressive episodes </li></ul><ul><li>Yeah, I think so. I mean, you know when - with bipolar disorder you have - you know - several times of - several weeks or several days which you - you don't feel like sort of being around people, or directly speaking to people. So, you know - we use the internet - it's marvellous, because I can do everything on it - you know - from banking to - you know - watching TV, and cooking, or buying stuff online. </li></ul><ul><li>Female, Bipolar Disorder, London </li></ul>

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Some BSL users favour YouTube for communication <ul><li>I know YouTube but a lot of deaf are using it out there in the community I mean America the deaf are using it a lot…it links with the internet and it's got pictures and they use web cam and it's all over the world so deaf people are there because they can be signing to each other </li></ul><ul><li>Male, Hearing impairment, Birmingham </li></ul>

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5. Skills and education for inclusion…

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Access tools/Assistive Technologies are crucial for those who need them You know as a visually impaired person I am already different, and if I can't have access to things that other people my age have access to then I'm made further different. Visually Impaired, London The thing is we are so much slower than sighted people. Technology goes two step forward for everybody else and one step forward for us. Male, Visual Impairment, London

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Any specific skills? What “inclusion” expects from disabled people <ul><ul><li>an Assistive Technology to exist to make sites accessible </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>web users to: </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>be aware that an Assistive Technology exists for their need </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>most are not </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>are able to afford that technology </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>most are C2DE so have difficulty affording expensive techs </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>are able to work out how to install it </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>most are not technical </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>are able to work out how to use it </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>most are unconfident </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>are able to use it to access online content </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>thus… most never get this far, even if the site is WCAG AAA </li></ul></ul></ul></ul>

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Use of Assistive Technologies is low… EEDP (2008) 6-8% <ul><ul><li>Of UK web users use an Assistive Technology (screenreader, adapted mouse or similar) to access the Internet </li></ul></ul>

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When the benefits should be useful to most users… Microsoft/Forrester Research study 2003, USA 57% <ul><ul><li>Of computer users (aged 18-64) are likely or very likely to benefit from the use of Assistive Technology </li></ul></ul>

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6. My Web My Way – a partnership between the BBC and AbilityNet

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My Web My Way - 2006 <ul><li>Information on: </li></ul><ul><li>Customisation of OSes: Windows, Mac, Linux </li></ul><ul><li>Customisation of browsers: IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera </li></ul><ul><li>Assistive technologies: e.g. screenreaders, screen magnifiers, text to speech systems, voice recognition systems, hardware (keyboards, mice, trackballs, switches) </li></ul><ul><li>Award-winning, recommended by BSI PAS-78 </li></ul>

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My Web My Way - 2010 <ul><li>Now includes: </li></ul><ul><li>Cleaner design and navigation </li></ul><ul><li>Updated info: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>customisation of OSes: incl. Windows 7, Snow Leopard </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>customisation of browsers: Google Chrome </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Case study videos </li></ul><ul><li>BBC accessibility news, new features on BBC Online for disabled people etc. </li></ul>

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7. How personalisation of websites could really help

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Examining our current model - the Inclusion model <ul><li>the one-size-fits-all “design for all” approach </li></ul><ul><li>design it for the mainstream, tweak it so disabled people can use Assistive Technologies to make it work for them </li></ul>

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Inclusion model problems – diversity of needs <ul><li>rarely considers disabled people ’s actual needs… or compares them with non-disabled people’s needs </li></ul><ul><li>different user groups can have conflicting needs </li></ul><ul><ul><li>BBC iPlayer disability focus group (2009) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Vision impaired / dyslexic </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>“ I like the black – it’s cool” </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>“ I hate it – I find it really tiring” </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Low literacy </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>“ can it just talk or something?” </li></ul></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>Aging / learning difficulties </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><ul><li>“ it was just too overwhelming” </li></ul></ul></ul></ul>

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Non-disabled people can have similar problems… “ It’s good – it gives everything. 95% appeals to me” <ul><li>BBC homepage user testing 2009 </li></ul>“ It’s busy. There is no list .. . It’s a bit difficult. Once I’ve closed the boxes, it’s much better for me. I can see all the options. I don’t need to scroll.”

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A complementary model: personalization <ul><li>cf. web 2.0 personalisation… </li></ul><ul><ul><li>BBC homepage, iGoogle, MySpace… </li></ul></ul><ul><li>for disabled people: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>being able to select how they want to view web sites </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>being able to select between levels of interface complexity (available on much software) </li></ul></ul><ul><li>can help all disabled people, but especially users with: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Dyslexia, Aspergers, ADHD, poor vision or mild to moderate Learning Difficulties </li></ul></ul><ul><li>advantages: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>frees designers, product managers from some constraints </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>but requires more work, and testing of multiple paths/interfaces/content </li></ul></ul><ul><li>e.g. iPlayer subtitles </li></ul>

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BBC ATK at a glance – a possible way forwards <ul><li>a way of letting people know why they should want… </li></ul><ul><li>to use an engaging way of setting and storing their accessibility preferences… </li></ul><ul><li>and getting sites to respond to them </li></ul><ul><li>… which works consistently across BBC Online… </li></ul><ul><li>… and ideally cross-platform to mobile + IPTV </li></ul><ul><li>… and ideally across the rest of the web </li></ul><ul><ul><li>… providing common tools for sites to respond to those preferences </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>… and a common model for existing tools to use to find a user ’s preferences </li></ul></ul><ul><li>opening up BBC content, and the rest of the web, to underserved audiences </li></ul>

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e: jonathan@hassellinclusion.com t: @jonhassell w: www.hassellinclusion.com Contact me