Dobransky Kerry, Hargittai Eszter
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Am Behav Sci. 2021 Nov;65(12):1698-1720. doi: 10.1177/00027642211003146.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing stay-at-home orders caused tremendous restrictions in social contacts, which led to increasing use of the internet for daily tasks and social interactions. As prior research has established, people with disabilities (PWD) had already been using the internet for such purposes prior to the pandemic, especially for health-related content. Through a national survey administered during the first few weeks of the pandemic in the United States, we explore how people with and without disabilities used social media to exchange information and engage in activities about COVID-19. Findings reveal that PWD were more engaged with information about COVID-19 than those without disabilities, even when controlling for sociodemographics and internet experiences and skills. These differences are especially pronounced concerning more active engagement such as sharing information, interacting, and supporting others on social media. Although the content is about a health crisis in which PWD are disproportionately vulnerable, these effects largely remain when we enter controls for health status, belonging to high-risk groups for COVID-19, and personal experiences with COVID-19. Findings highlight the benefits of universal design, both for PWD specifically, and for society more broadly, as the general population ramps up use of tools long fought for and used by PWD.
新冠疫情及随之而来的居家令极大限制了社交接触，这使得人们在日常任务和社交互动中越来越多地使用互联网。正如先前研究所表明的，在疫情之前，残疾人就已经出于此类目的使用互联网，尤其是用于获取与健康相关的内容。通过在美国疫情头几周进行的一项全国性调查，我们探究了残疾人和非残疾人如何利用社交媒体来交流有关新冠疫情的信息并参与相关活动。研究结果显示，即使在控制了社会人口统计学特征以及互联网使用经历和技能的情况下，残疾人比非残疾人更积极地参与有关新冠疫情的信息交流。这些差异在诸如在社交媒体上分享信息、互动以及支持他人等更积极的参与行为方面尤为明显。尽管内容是关于一场健康危机，在这场危机中残疾人面临的风险格外高，但当我们纳入健康状况、属于新冠疫情高危群体以及新冠疫情个人经历等控制变量后，这些影响在很大程度上依然存在。研究结果凸显了通用设计的益处，这不仅对残疾人尤其如此，对更广泛的社会群体也是如此，因为普通大众正在增加使用长期以来由残疾人争取并使用的工具。
