Disability and ICTs in the Caribbean: Enabling Visually Impaired Caribbean Youth

Abstract

Purpose

In the last two decades, there has been much research and attention on information and communications technologies (ICTs) as tools that can contribute to the economic and social lives of persons with disabilities (PWDs). However, few studies have sought to explore and document the experiences of PWDs who use these technologies to access the democratic space. Using Democratic Governance as a conceptual framework, this qualitative study seeks to address this gap in the literature by exploring the experiences of several visually impaired Caribbean youth with the use of ICTs to access the democratic space.

Methodology/approach

This study uses the qualitative research design and is guided by Husserl’s Descriptive phenomenology. The study sought to explore common patterns elicited from the specific experiences of 14 visually impaired citizens in Jamaica and 9 in Barbados through the use of semi-structured interviews.

Findings

The findings suggest that ICTs have in some ways contributed to the lives of these visually disabled youth, specifically as it relates to improving their ‘political knowledge’ and encouraging ‘political talk’. In other words, ICTs have played a contributive role in terms of including visually impaired Caribbean youth in the democratic space.

Originality/value

This study contributes to improving our understanding of how and in what ways ICTs can promote the inclusion of visually impaired persons in the democratic space.

Citation

Waller, L. (2016), "Disability and ICTs in the Caribbean: Enabling Visually Impaired Caribbean Youth", Communication and Information Technologies Annual (Studies in Media and Communications, Vol. 12), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2050-206020160000012001