The Social Network: How People with Visual Impairment use Mobile Phones in Kibera, Kenya

Abstract

Living in an informal settlement with a visual impairment can be very challenging resulting in social exclusion. Mobile phones have been shown to be hugely beneficial to people with sight loss in formal and high-income settings. However, little is known about whether these results hold true for people with visual impairment (VIPs) in informal settlements. We present the findings of a case study of mobile technology use by VIPs in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi. We used contextual interviews, ethnographic observations and a co-design workshop to explore how VIPs use mobile phones in their daily lives, and how this use influences the social infrastructure of VIPs. Our findings suggest that mobile technology supports and shapes the creation of social infrastructure. However, this is only made possible through the existing support networks of the VIPs, which are mediated through four types of interaction: direct, supported, dependent and restricted.

Inclusion and Independence: The impact of Mobile Technology on the Lives of Persons with Disabilities in Kenya and Bangladesh

“…In several cases participants chose to use basic or feature phones due to their specific needs as well as affordability. This is in line with results reported by [14] which showed that people with visual impairment who lived in a Kenyan informal settlement felt more independent using basic and feature phones compared to smartphones due to low levels of digital literacies and the difficulty encountered interacting with touch screen interfaces.…”

“…This benefit was particularly clear for both basic mobile phones. These results are in keeping with the recent Kenyan study by [14].…”

“…This is in keeping with thinking expressed by Holloway in her framework for assessing Disability Interaction [20] and the framework of Human Infrastructure [21] Mobile phone use is known to be mediated within low resource settings and (e.g. [14]). Socioeconomic factors as well as societal norms can result in mediated access to a mobile phone by surrogate users [21] and this was confirmed in our study with women in particular only having access to a mobile phone through a family member.…”

Value beyond function: analyzing the perception of wheelchair innovations in Kenya

“…Within the context of the research users were happy to be advised by clinicians and technicians that they trusted, but their aspiration was to increase their own knowledge so that they could make better decision for themselves. This is in line with the observation of mobile technology use of visually impaired people in Kenyan informal settlements described by Barbareschi et al [7], where participants reported being happy to be supported in their interactions with technologies but they were not always comfortable having to fully trust others.…”

“Give Us the Chance to Be Part of You, We Want Our Voices to Be Heard”: Assistive Technology as a Mediator of Participation in (Formal and Informal) Citizenship Activities for Persons with Disabilities Who Are Slum Dwellers in Freetown, Sierra Leone

“…While studies focusing on AT in terms of new technology [ 7 ]; health systems [ 8 ] and partnerships [ 9 ]; access to education and livelihoods [ 8 , 10 ]; and COVID-19 [ 11 , 12 ] are increasing, there remains very little evidence concerning the impact of AT on access to participation in activities of citizenship, and even less concerned with the very poorest persons with disabilities in the Global South. There are of course some notable exceptions, such as this informal country capacity assessment undertaken for AT provision and supply [ 13 ] and this example of the social network mediating assistive technology use in informal settlements [ 7 ]. Though much previous research has highlighted the importance of persons with disabilities being able to participate in the issues that affect their lives themselves [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], this work rarely considers the role of AT.…”