net-based research for partying university student (grin) (fwd)

net-based research for partying university student (grin) (fwd)

[Hans Zoebelein]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 05:49:42 -0500
From: JENNISON ASUNCION <j_asunc@ALCOR.CONCORDIA.CA>
To: Multiple recipients of list BLIND-L <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
Subject: net-based research for partying university student (grin) (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 13:02:24 -0500 (EST)
From: Chris Smart <chriss@speech.braille.uwo.ca>
To: access-l@io.org
Subject: net-based research for partying university student (grin)

Hi.  I am a blind first-year university student, planning on writing a brief
sociology paper on the impact the internet has had on the
visually impaired community.  I am particularly interested in whether or not
access to the net has improved the lives of visually impaired people, and if
so, in what ways?  I.E.  employment, education, access to information we
were not able to access directly before, and so on.

If you could take ten minutes of your time and complete the following
survey, it would be greatly appreciated.  If you received this message on a
mailing list, please be sure and address your reply only to me, and not to
the entire list.
I am aware of how access to the net has changed my life, but want to gather
a range of opinions and experiences from visually impaired people of various
ages, of differing backgrounds, etc.

The paper I hope to write as a result of this research will be approximately
1750-2000 words in length.  For this reason, please feel free to address
issues not mentioned in the survey, and/or expand on those that are.

Please reply directly to this message, either inserting your answers
immediately after each question, or, if you chose to delete the questions in
your reply, please retain the original question numbers to which your
comments refer.
Once again, if you received this on a list, make sure your response does not
get sent to the list, unless this is desired.

Sincerely,
Chris Smart
Email:  chriss@speech.braille.uwo.ca or chris@uoguelph.ca
Phone:  (519) 824-4120, ext. 76197


1.  What is your name?

2.  What is your age?

3.  What is your amount of visual impairment?  Do you have any other
disabilities besides a visual impairment that I should be aware of?

4.  How long have you been a user of the net?

5.  How much time do you usually spend online per day?  Please pick one of
the following:
a.  half an hour or less
b.  1 hour
c.  1-2 hours
d.  2-3 hours
e.  more then three hours

6.  Where did you first hear about what the net could apparently do for you?
Examples are newspaper article, friends/family, service agency involved in
helping you in relation to your disability ... What do you feel influenced
your decision to get on the net the most?

7.  Do you feel your knowledge of, and access to, the net has significantly
improved your access to previously inaccessible material?  This can include
books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

8.  If yes, were you even aware of the existence of some of this material
before going online?

9..  Do you rely less on sighted assistance where accessing media such as
newspapers and magazines are concerned, now that you are online?

10.  Have you ever taken any educational courses online?

11.  If so, were these in persuit of a degree or diploma of some kind, or
merely for recreational interests?  Examples of these might be creative
writing classes offered through something  like Virtual University?

12.  Have you ever looked for employment on the net?

13.  Have you ever applied for a job online?

14.  Do you currently have a net-based small business?  Examples of this
could be world wide web page design or the production and sale of some kind
of computer software.

15.  Do you feel that access to the net has helped improve your knowledge of
how others with a similar disability to your own cope with technology
issues, and life in general?

16.  Do you feel that the net helps "level the playing field" so-to-speak,
where disabled people are concerned in terms of socialization?  Does the
relative anonymity of the net allow you to meet anybody, able-bodied or
otherwise, with one's disability(s) not being an issue and not hampering
interaction?

17.  As a visually impaired person, do you find it easier meeting fully
sighted people online as upposed to other social settings such as bars,
places of employment, or community-based recreational activities?

18.  Do you find their attitude towards your disability, if you chose to
disclose it, is generally more or less favorable then it
would be if you met them in some other setting or environment?

19.  It is said that every new technology has both positive and negative
effects on us.  Do you feel the net has had any negative effects on your life?
An example may be the idea that spending time on the net deters from other
more traditional forms of social interaction.

20.  Every so often we hear of people who spend a large amount of time
online, referred to as so-called "net-adicts".  Do you feel this issue has
any relevance where disabled people are concerned, the idea that spending
too much time online may be counterproductive in terms of promoting social
integration?

21.  Are there any other issues related to the lives of visually impaired
people and the internet that this survey does not address?  Has access to
the internet and the information available therein affected your life
in some other way that I should be aware of?