Consumer Advisory Network 2021: People with Disabilities & Social Media

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Consumer Advisory Network 2021: People with Disabilities & Social Media

Consumer Advisory Network 2021: People with Disabilities & Social Media

This white paper examines how people with disabilities use social media. This report is based on results from the member questionnaire for our Accessibility User Research Collective, our national database of people with disabilities. The member questionnaire was updated in September 2020 to include questions on social media use. Our sample size is 290 respondents.

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Survey of User Needs 2019: People with Disabilities and Mobile Phone Use→

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Survey of User Needs 2019: People with Disabilities and Mobile Phone Use

This white paper examines cell phone use by people with disabilities. The data was collected in 2019 as part of the LiveWell RERC’s R1 Project: Discovery of User Needs & Preferences for ICT. The survey instrument is called the Survey of User Needs (SUN).

Research Note - Volume 2019, Number 01, March 15, 2019

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Survey on Clinician Perspectives on mRehab Interventions and Technologies

Implementing mRehab solutions for people recovering from traumatic injury or managing neurodegenerative diseases and other conditions requires informed engagement by rehabilitation clinicians. The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Community Living, Health and Function (LiveWell RERC) conducted a survey of rehabilitation clinicians to discover and document the state of clinician knowledge, experience and needs for mRehab interventions and technologies.

This mRehab survey was conducted from January 14 to February 27, 2019 using convenience sampling methods and online data collection on the Survey Monkey web-based platform. Participants were recruited through the researchers’ personal networks at Shepherd Center, Duke University Medical Center, the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, American Physical Therapy Association, American Occupational Therapy Association, American Speech- Hearing Association and others.

This Research Note summarizes a couple of key findings from the mRehab survey.

Research Brief - Volume 2017, Number 02, September 6, 2017

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Link Checkers and Basic Accessibility Testers for Websites

Ensuring website optimization and ease of use are goals of any developer. This holds especially true for organizations disseminating a lot of information to a variety of users from different backgrounds and with different ability levels. Broken links or missing alt text can be frustrating for some people with accessibility challenges. These also detract from the user experience. To mitigate these website errors or accidental exclusions, developers and even laymen can use various online resources to check the efficiency and ease of use of websites.

This report reviews some of these resources, giving broad information on services offered and how these tools can also be used as a basic accessibility test. Topics include:

  • Programs for website testing
  • Locations to download /use each program
  • Recommendations

Research Report - Volume 2017, Number 01, March 8, 2017

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Mobile Health Apps and the Needs of People with Disabilities: A National Survey

Mobile health (mHealth) technology is taking on a critical role in health care in the U.S. as maturing technologies grow increasingly capable of supporting the needs of health care providers to focus on population health instead of traditional fee‐for‐service models. Direct investment in mHealth technologies has grown substantially in recent years, as has merger and acquisition activity. Meanwhile large vendors of mainstream consumer technology (e.g., Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung) have dedicated more resources to mHealth solutions, particularly in the area of fitness and activity tracking, but also medical solutions. 

Research Brief - Volume 2016, Number 01

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Commercial and experimental biosensor solutions for use with stress management apps on smart devices

LiveWell RERC research and development staff are working to develop a wireless sensor that detects physiological indicators of stress through ecological momentary assessment and integrates with stress management apps on smart devices. The biosensor will integrate with two apps we are currently developing: 1) a coaching app for using a breathing technique for stress management built for wearable devices, and 2) a problem-solving app for smartphones and tablets. When the biosensor detects signs of stress, it will trigger a cue on a smart device that indicates to users that they may be experiencing an increase in stress and may benefit from using a stress management strategy. Confirmation of the need to use a selected stress management strategy will cause the respective app to launch.