March 23, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
A new report identifies an element of the “digital divide” that few have paid attention to — the lack of information on the Internet that is useful to people who are poor, live in rural areas, or are members of minority groups.
Published by the Children’s Partnership, a public-policy organization in Santa Monica, Calif., “Online Content for Low-Income and Underserved Americans: The Digital Divide’s New Frontier” estimates that language and literacy barriers, as well as the Internet’s lack of local information and cultural diversity, prevent at least 50 million Americans from taking full advantage of what the Internet has to offer.
“It is as important to create useful content on the Internet — material and applications that serve the needs and interests of millions of low-income and underserved Internet users — as it is to provide computers and Internet connections,” states the report.
The report’s findings are based on group discussions with more than 100 low-income Internet users, interviews with almost 100 community technology leaders, analysis of 1,000 Web sites, and a review of literature and programs designed to deal with the problem of unequal access to technology.
The report recommends that businesses, government, and philanthropy develop online content and searching mechanisms that users with limited reading and language skills can use, build sites that offer local information, provide more technology training, and conduct more research on what poor people and members of minority groups need to make better use of the Internet.
The Children’s Partnership has received grants from the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, in New York, and the Morino Institute, in Reston, Va., to distribute the report.
For more information: Go to http://www.childrenspartnership.org.
