Commentary

Disability

  • by November 15, 2000
A recent Harris Poll, as reported by American Demographics in September, shows that 54 million consumers currently have some sort of disability. A disability, as defined by Harris, is anyone with a health problem, disability, or handicap that impedes him or her from participating fully in work, school, or housework. That’s 21% of American adults. The Poll reports that 40% of that market is online, and spends more time logged on than the non-disabled population.

Five years ago the US Census data indicated that persons with disabilities aged 15 and older had a total annual discretionary income of $175 billion dollars. Humphry Taylor, chairman of the Harris Poll, said "People with disabilities are not a fat, rich, affluent market" and are extremely diverse in age, ethnicity, and physical condition.

According to Harris Researchers, this target group is substantially different from non-disabled Web surfers. On average, adults with disabilities spend twice as much time on the Internet each week--20 hours--than their non-disabled counterparts. And, that time is all surfing… not e-mailing.

Why are these disabled people online?
- Improved quality of life: 48% vs. 27 % of adults without disabilities.
- Substantially improved lives: 56% of those aged 65 and older vs. 6% of non-disabled adults.

A market segment worthy of note says the Poll…
- the number of people with disabilities in the United States is on the rise.. expected to be significant with the release of Census 2000
- the aging of the Baby Boom generation means that the number of people with disabilities may swell to record numbers in the coming years.

For more information, see www.harrisinteractive.com

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