Chapter 3: The Web and People with Learning Disabilities

Before moving on the concentrate in detail on the writer's research, this chapter puts it into context by examining three topics pertaining to the World Wide Web and its exploitation by people with learning disabilities. The first of these relates to possible barriers to using the system, particularly considering problems with short-term memory and language. The second examines the usability of the Web, taking into account these possible difficulties. It looks at studies that have been carried out with the cohort, by researchers other than the writer, whose work is examined in more detail later in the volume. It concludes with evidence on how people with learning disabilities do actually use the Web, taken from academic studies and large-scale surveys.