Assistive Technology Access and Usage Barriers Among African Americans With Disabilities: A Review of the Literature...

The purpose of this article was to provide a comprehensive overview of the available peer-reviewed and gray literature on assistive technology (AT) access and usage barriers among African Americans with disabilities. Authors completed a historical review (Onwuegbuzie & Frels, 2016) of the extant literature on AT and disability public policy mandates by framing the context on AT access and usage disparities among African Americans with disabilities and discussing AT impacts on employment for African Americans. The authors also presented recommendations that might be considered by the field for increasing AT access and usage among African Americans with disabilities. It is clear that AT and associated assistive products are important commodities to the lives of individuals with disabilities in the United States; however, there are historical inequities between African Americans and Whites. As a result of these findings, the authors implore rehabilitation counselors in education and practice to further examine ways to alleviate the AT access and usage gaps for African Americans with disabilities within public policy, vocational rehabilitation service delivery, and institutional infrastructure systems.