Technology – What disabled consumers choose to buy and why

Technology – What disabled consumers choose to buy and why

Introduction

Most of us use some form of technology every day and many of us could not now work or stay connected with our family and friends without technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic we relied on technology for news, information and entertainment, to shop and maintain social connections with family and friends, and of course, to work.

We asked disabled consumers about technology they had bought in the last two years. This included hardware such as TVs, phones, consoles and software such as games or streaming services such a Netflix, Spotify, Disney+ and Amazon Prime. We wanted to know what they bought and why and to what extent their disability or health condition influenced their choice.

Download the PDF for the full report.

Who is this for?

‘What disabled consumers choose to buy and why’ is for everyone involved in improving the experience of disabled consumers whether online, by phone or in-person. The findings will be useful for customer experience managers, customer service personnel, facilities and property managers and also for D&I and HR professionals responsible for attracting and hiring customer-service staff.

Methodology

Business Disability Forum (supported by Microsoft) commissioned Open Inclusion to gather business and consumer insights in the period from September 2021 to January 2022.

These insights were drawn from:

• Ten depth interviews with businesses were undertaken by Business Disability Forum amongst their Members and Partners.
• A quantitative survey of 1001 people. A quantitative survey carried out by Ipsos on behalf of the Business Disability Forum, interviewing 1,001 adults aged 18+ in Great Britain between 26 November and 5 December 2021. The survey was carried out to explore the differences in attitudes to decision making between disabled and non-disabled consumers. Disabled respondents self-selected their disability and included people with sensory, physical, neurodiverse, mental health, cognitive and long-term conditions and access needs related to aging. In total 457 respondents opted in to one or more of these. The data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions for age within gender, government office region, working status, social grade (and ethnicity in the UK).
• A qualitative and detailed online survey (241 respondents all with disabilities answered a 25-minute questionnaire).
• Focus groups of four separate 90-minute sessions facilitated by Open Inclusion.

View full research methodology.

Read more

See the rest of the sector-specific reports in this series:

• Banking and insurance
• Days out and leisure
• Holiday accommodation
• Hospitality
• Retail
• Utilities.

See the main report and detailed findings.