The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Digital Equity Act recognizes eight “covered populations” as disproportionately experiencing digital inequity. These groups are to be a focus of efforts supported through grants and planning processes:

1. Individuals living in households with incomes at or below 150 percent of the poverty line.
2. Individuals 60 years of age or older.
3. Veterans.
4. Individuals with disabilities.
5. Individuals with barriers to the English language (including English language learners and those with low literacy).
6. Members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
7. Individuals residing in rural areas.
8. Individuals incarcerated in non-federal correctional facilities.

These groups experience difficulties accessing the internet for varied yet overlapping reasons. In this and upcoming articles, we look at data that explains why these populations are being targeted for digital equity efforts.

Individuals With Disabilities

In 20218 more than 40 million people in the United States were living with a disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. According to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, even as majorities of these Americans report having certain technologies, the digital divide between those who have a disability and those who do not remains:

• Some 62 percent of adults with a disability say they own a desktop or laptop computer, compared with 81 percent of those without a disability.
• Just 72 percent of adults with a disability say they own a smartphone, compared with 88 percent of those without a disability.
• Seventy-two percent of adults with a disability report having high-speed internet at home, compared with 78 percent of adults without a disability.
• Roughly a quarter of Americans with disabilities (26 percent) say they have high-speed internet at home, a smartphone, a desktop or laptop computer, and a tablet, compared with 44 percent of those who report not having a disability.
• Americans with disabilities are three times as likely as those without a disability to say they never go online (15 percent versus 5 percent). And while three-quarters of Americans with disabilities report using the internet on a daily basis, this share rises to 87 percent among those who do not have a disability.
• Older Americans are more likely than younger adults to report having a disability. And these older age groups generally have lower levels of digital adoption than the nation as a whole.

Additionally, people living with a disability can find it harder to find a job, limiting their income, access to technology, and opportunity to develop digital skills. In 2017 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), only 53.3 percent of deaf working-age adults were employed, compared with 75.8 percent of hearing people. Equally as important, 42.9 percent of deaf people have opted out of the labor force, more than double the rate of hearing people (20.8 percent).

Even for those with access who have adopted broadband, the internet still may not be a welcoming place. There have been many lawsuits over the years claiming that websites are not accessible to those with disabilities.

For more see:

• What Would Digital Inclusion and Equity for the Deaf Look Like? by Thomas “Tommy” Horejes, Ph.D.
• Perrin, Andrew and Sara Atske. “Americans with disabilities less likely than those without to own some digital devices” Pew Research Center (September 10, 2021)

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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