Digital Inclusion and Social Networks Among Adults with Disabilities in South Korea

Technology can contribute to a better quality of life, especially for people with disabilities who can benefit from digital inclusion in the online world. Indeed, digital inclusion has a variety of positive outcomes for people with disabilities, and one of these is that digital inclusion may promote social inclusion. The purpose of the study presented in this chapter was to compare digital inclusion for adults with disabilities with the general population in South Korea as well as associations between digital inclusion and social network for adults with disabilities. Although South Korea is globally well known as an internet powerhouse, adults with disabilities reported limited technology use in their daily life compared to the general populations and reported a few barriers to use digital technology. Further, social network among adults with disabilities was promoted by the digital inclusion. The implications for research and practice are discussed, with a focus on providing an evidence-based digital literacy programme.