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IP: WEB OFFERS FEW RICHES FOR POOR
From: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 21:24:47 -0500
Although low-income and immigrant groups in America are increasingly gaining access to the Internet, little online content is geared to their needs, according to a report released yesterday by the nonprofit Children's Partnership. At least 50 million Americans are underserved by the Internet because it lacks information about jobs, housing, and education for these groups. Out of 1,000 Web sites, the study found only 6 percent containing information that people living at or below the poverty line said would interest them. Low-income Americans expressed an interest in local information about jobs and housing as well as multilingual content. Although 32 million Americans speak primarily a language other than English, about 87 percent of Web pages are in English. In addition, most online content is in text and graphics rather than sound and video, which are easier to understand although they require more bandwidth. The sites that provide accessible and practical information for low-income and non-English-speaking users belong mostly to community organizations, schools, and businesses rather than to the government, the study shows. (Los Angeles Times, 16 March 2000)
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