Category Archives: internet

Disabled face ‘digital divide’

Disabled people face a “digital divide” with mainstream technology such as smartphones and tablets alienating those with special needs, charities have said.

Charities-have-warned-disabled-people-face-a-digital-divide- Charities have warned disabled people face a ‘digital divide’
Researchers for Scope and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design said many of the UK’s 11 million disabled people still have to choose between expensive specialist equipment and inaccessible mainstream gadgets.They found technology designed for disabled people is often expensive and has low functionality, while mainstream products such as iPads are rarely customised for those with additional needs.The research, funded by BT’s Better Future campaign, also found that emphasis needs to be placed on improving the information available to disabled people about enabling technology.Scope chief executive Richard Hawkes said: “Modern technology has the potential to transform disabled people’s lives – but first we need to get past the digital divide.

North-south divide in internet use amongst over 65s

North-south divide in internet use amongst over 65s

Source : Laura Grigg \ Age UK
Published on 17 September 2013 12:01 AM

North-south divide in internet use amongst over 65s

New data from Age UK reveals a north-south divide amongst older people when it comes to using the internet, with those aged 65 and over in the south of England generally more likely to be online compared to those in the north.

Older people in Tyne and Wear are the least likely in England to be online, where only 28% of people aged 65 and over report using the internet.

Meanwhile older people in Surrey are the most likely to be online, where 63% of people aged 65 and over report using the internet.

ITea & Biscuits Week

The research, which comes at the start of the our annual ITea and Biscuits Week, also reveals that there are only 4 areas in England where the percentage of older people online, outnumber those who are offline.

This week Age UK is running ITea and Biscuits Week to enable people who have never been online to try out technology for themselves.

Becoming a carer shouldn't mean the end of your career

Jackie Ashley’s reflections on caring for her husband Andrew Marr have highlighted a critical social issue

 

 

Jackie Ashley wrote about the tough realities she had to deal with in caring for her husband Andrew Marr.

Jackie Ashley’s honest reflections on the tough realities she had to deal with in caring for her husband Andrew Marr, and the reaction of so many to her very powerful personal account have cast a welcome spotlight on a rising and critical social issue.

Whether through serious illness, disability or growing older, rising numbers of people need help with daily living. Most often it is family and friends who give the everyday care and support they need and, as Jackie so rightly observes, we need society to grasp the impact not simply on individual lives, but on business, workforce, personal, health and social services and all aspects of our lives.