Title
Disability and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Using Twitter to Understand Accessibility during Rapid Societal Transition
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced institutions to rapidly alter their behavior, which typically has disproportionate negative effects on people with disabilities as accessibility is overlooked. To investigate these issues, we analyzed Twitter data to examine accessibility problems surfaced by the crisis. We identified three key domains at the intersection of accessibility and technology: (i) the allocation of product delivery services, (ii) the transition to remote education, and (iii) the dissemination of public health information. We found that essential retailers expanded their high-risk customer shopping hours and pick-up and delivery services, but individuals with disabilities still lacked necessary access to goods and services. Long-experienced access barriers to online education were exacerbated by the abrupt transition of in-person to remote instruction. Finally, public health messaging has been inconsistent and inaccessible, which is unacceptable during a rapidly-evolving crisis. We argue that organizations should create flexible, accessible technology and policies in calm times to be adaptable in times of crisis to serve individuals with diverse needs.
Year
DOI
Venue
2020
10.1145/3373625.3417023
ASSETS '20: The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility Virtual Event Greece October, 2020
DocType
ISBN
Citations 
Conference
978-1-4503-7103-2
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
9
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Cole Gleason1576.80
Stephanie Valencia282.14
Lynn Kirabo301.69
Jason Wu442.12
Anhong Guo515117.33
Elizabeth J. Carter662.77
jeffrey p bigham72647189.29
Cynthia L. Bennett823424.83
Amy Pavel9595.35