Disability Access and E-Government An Empirical Analysis of State Practices

Despite a body of federal and state laws and policies promoting access to e-government for individuals with disabilities, wide variation exists across the states in the level of Web site accessibility. This study seeks to identify factors accounting for why some states are more responsive than other...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of disability policy studies Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 52 - 64
Main Authors Rubaii-Barrett, Nadia, Wise, Lois Recascino
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2008
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Access to Computers
Case Studies
Comparative Analysis
Computers
Democracy
Departments
Design
Digital divide
Electronic government
Empowerment
Fiscal Capacity
Government agencies
Handicapped accessibility
Information technology
Internet
Laws
People with disabilities
Social services
Speed limits
State Agencies
State government
Technical Assistance
Usability
Web portals
Websites
e-government
accessibility
disability
digital divide
information
comparative state analysis
communication technologies
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Summary:Despite a body of federal and state laws and policies promoting access to e-government for individuals with disabilities, wide variation exists across the states in the level of Web site accessibility. This study seeks to identify factors accounting for why some states are more responsive than other states to the needs of people with disabilities in their use of e-government. Drawing on demographic, political, administrative, and economic arguments, the authors account for a substantial share of the variation among states using a model based on measures of need, partisan control of government, fiscal capacity, and state spending. The single most important variable in the model is the strength of a state's own technical assistance policy; the way a policy is formulated in terms of clarity of objectives and enforcement capacity is significant. The authors' findings have clear implications for policy formulation and implementation, and they suggest several avenues for future research.
ISSN:1044-2073
1538-4802
DOI:10.1177/1044207307311533