Young blind Asian woman using a smart phone with the voice accessibility function.
The expression “There’s an app for that” is based in truth: In 2023, there is a website or app for just about any task, and these digital platforms offer convenience, cost savings, and efficiency. Reliance on digital tools has only increased in the aftermath of a pandemic that necessitated widespread telework, virtual education, and online shopping. Today, by one account, large companies deploy over 200 apps with purposes spanning the gamut from productivity and communications to security and design tools (Okta, 2023).

Yet, the digital platforms have not been designed for everyone. According to the 2021 American Community Survey, there are more than eight million people in the United States who are blind or have low vision and many more who are deaf, have limited manual dexterity, or have cognitive or speech disabilities that affect how they use websites and apps. Many companies, organizations, and government agencies have begun to recognize the importance of serving this consumer segment, and in many cases, the internet has opened the doors to more accessible information and transactions. Nevertheless, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has found in past studies and through its programmatic work that people who are blind or have low vision continue to face significant barriers—and even exclusion—when trying to use websites and apps.

The Barriers to Digital Inclusion Survey (BDIS) was created to better understand how common these digital accessibility barriers are, where they occur, and what the consequences of these barriers might be. This research builds on recent AFB research studies that have revealed digital access barriers in some of the most critical areas, such as education and healthcare. For example, in the fall of 2020, 60% of educators teaching students who are blind or have low vision reported that their students had to use at least one inaccessible digital tool for online learning (Rosenblum et al., 2020) and in 2021, 57% of blind and low vision survey respondents who attempted to use telehealth platforms reported facing accessibility challenges (Rhoads et al., 2022).

This current survey investigated the prevalence and impacts of digital accessibility barriers across a variety of important domains with a focus on how access barriers in websites, mobile applications, video content, and electronic books affect the daily lives of people who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind.
Specific research questions that guided the survey included the following:

  1. How many blind, low vision, and deafblind individuals use websites and mobile apps to access various types of information and services?
  2. How many blind, low vision, and deafblind individuals use websites and mobile apps to access various types of information and services?
  3. What strategies do blind, low vision, and deafblind individuals use to work around access barriers?
  4. What are the most prevalent barriers to accessing video content and electronic books?
  5. What are the consequences of digital access barriers?




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