An Examination of the Communicative Behaviors and Digital Divides Among the Deaf.

Recently, the Internet and web-enabled technologies provide persons with disabilities with increased media access and use opportunities. However, the foci of the bulk of Internet research have been on adult Internet use, with relatively less research on those with hearing disabilities who may be affected by crucial social, economic and technical barriers to digital informational use. This paper discusses and examines how Deaf persons use media and communication technologies in their daily communication ecology, the relationships between Deaf persons' online and offline communicative behaviors, and the factors affecting their computer and Internet use, based on recent fieldwork among Deaf college students. Results show that Deaf students use a variety of communication technologies of which mobile devices were most frequently used. Despite the availability of these technologies, face-to-face communication was still the preferred option by many Deaf persons. Results also show that the online and offline behaviors were not strongly related to each other, therefore suggesting that communication technologies may be a substitute rather than a complement to existing modes of communication and point to future research implications to better understand persons with disabilities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]