Enhancing Internet Search Abilities for People with Intellectual Disabilities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This article presents how young adults with intellectual disability (ID) from Sri Lanka, who had not previously used the Internet, interacted with Google search while enhancing their web search abilities throughout three web search workshops. Considering the little attention paid to the learning needs of people with ID in the current offering of web search learning tools, we iteratively developed a suite of learning tools to support our participants when they need help in the web search workshops. We employed an iterative participatory approach, with observations and semi-structured interviews, to reflect on how to design eLearning tools that enhance the participants’ interactions with web search. The qualitative thematic analysis resulted in five distinct themes on strategies to support, build on, and develop the abilities of young adults with IDs as they engage with Google search in their native language: application of existing abilities, basic skills to match learning needs, conceptual understanding, animations to facilitate visual memory, and promoting active engagement. These themes will be a starting point for understanding participants’ learning needs and behavior on web search, which would be important for future research on learning support as well as on software design.

Online training programs for adults with disabilities: a systematic review

“…About the characteristics of the study participants (see Table 2), most studies provide specific details on age, sex, and type of disability. The studies encompass a range of age groups, with some focusing on specific development stages (Arachchi et al, 2021;Bruce et al, 2017;Garcia et al, 2023;Mead et al, 2023). Participant numbers vary significantly, from a single participant in the study by Silva de Souza et al ( 2018) to 5586 participants in Mead et al (2023), bringing the total number of participants across all studies to 6129.…”

“…Now, if we narrow our focus to the subset of individuals with disabilities within the sample under consideration, excluding the study by Mead et al (2023), where the large sample skews the overall statistics, we find that 55.83% of participants are male, while 44.15% are female among those with disabilities. The studies also cover various types of disabilities: two concentrate on intellectual disabilities (Arachchi et al, 2021;St. John et al, 2022), two on autism spectrum disorder (De Felice et al, 2023;Garcia et al, 2023), two on Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (Bruce et al, 2017;Moëll et al, 2015) and two on visually impairments (Güdül Öz & Yangın, 2021;Silva de Souza et al, 2018), with others addressing additional disabilities.…”

“…The methodologies employed across these studies vary, with 50% utilizing quantitative methods (e.g., Bruce et al, 2017;De Felice et al, 2023;Mead et al, 2023;Moëll et al, 2015;Worobey et al, 2018), 37.5% using mixed methods, and 12.5% adopting qualitative approaches. These studies assess the effectiveness of ICT-based training by analyzing improvements in various domains, including cognitive (e.g., Chiu et al, 2023;Moëll et al, 2015 andWorobey et al, 2018), physiological and physical activity (e.g., Busse et al, 2022;Fjellström et al, 2022;Rimmer et al, 2022;Silva de Souza et al, 2018), educational and behavioral (v.gr., Ayuso & Santiago, 2022;Bruce et al, 2017;Curtiss et al, 2023;García et al, 2023;Güdül Öz & Yangın, 2021;Moëll et al, 2015) and performance variables (Arachchi et al, 2021;De Felice et al, 2023;Mead et al, 2023). Additionally, several studies assess the feasibility, usability, satisfaction, and participants' perception of their experiences (e.g., Busse et al, 2022;Fjellström et al, 2022;Garcia et al, 2023;Güdül Öz & Yangın, 2021;Rimmer et al, 2022;St.…”

Web search to access health information by adults with intellectual disability

“…Feng et al. (2008), Arachchi et al. (2021a, b) conclude that people with intellectual disability can develop abilities to work with computers in educational programs and that those transferable skills would be helpful in the extended use of technology facilities in their life.…”

"It Is Easy Using My Apps:" Understanding Technology Use and Needs of Adults with Down Syndrome

“…In the United States, 25 DS clinics currently accept adult patients, only available to 5% of the population [63]. A promising alternative or enhancement to traditional skill development for adults with DS could be assistive technology [4,36,53]. Educational assistive technologies are only one category that could interest adults with DS.…”