The Digital Divide
Digital divide is a term used to describe the gap between people who have digital access and those who don’t. The gap is continuously growing. This is a problem because a lot of things are done digitally now such as job hunting and shopping online. People that aren’t digitally literate or have access are put at a disadvantage.
The Implication Of The Different Forms Of The Digital Divide
People With Disabilities
People with disabilities lose independence. The internet can change their lives allowing them to buy food without leaving the house, blind people can listen to audio books and people that can’t use their hands can use speech recognition software. Sadly, statistics show many disabled people don’t have digital access and their lives are made even more difficult.
People That Can’t Afford Digital Access
People that can’t afford digital access won’t be able to find jobs, get relevant news on what’s happening in their society and educate themselves. They won’t have the same opportunities as everyone else. Society has an impact on the success of a business. So, jobs decrease and business start to loose money.
Poor Digital Access Areas
Poor digital access means they won’t have access to internet. It will be harder for government to implement digital access (as the gap widens). They will be forced to move location to where digital access is. It will be harder to get a good paying job as many of them now require you to be computer literate. The areas with little digital access can't grow and become and effective part of society.
References:
Anon. 2013. Disability and the Digital Divide. Accessible Society. [online]. Available at: http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/webaccess/digitaldivide.htm [Accessed 23 April 2017].
Margaret, R. 2014. Digital Divide. Whatls. [online]. Available at: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-divide [Accessed 23 April 2017].
Anon. 2016. Bridging the Digital Divide. FACCC. [online]. Available at: http://www.faccc.org/event/faccc-technology-conference-bridging-the-digital-divide/ [Accessed 23 April 2017].