How Did People with Impairments Perceive Public Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic and What Are Their Suggestions for Accessible Crisis Information?

ID	IMPAIRMENT/ROLE	CHARACTERISTICS	DATA SOURCE
1	Aphasia, Stroke	Female, middle aged, living with family	Interview
2	Autism, Anxiety	Male, young, living alone	Interview
3	Parent to daughter with Intellectual disability	Female, retired, living with family	Interview
4	Blind	Female, middle aged, living with family	Interview
5	Blind	Male, middle aged, living alone	Interview
6	Blind	Female, retired, living alone	Interview
7	Blind	Female, middle aged, living alone	Interview
8	Low vision	Male, retired, living with family	Interview
9	Blind	Male, middle aged, living alone, having children living far away	Interview
10	Deaf	Female, middle aged, recently moved to Sweden, living with family	Interview
11	Deaf	Male, retired, living alone, having support from daughter	Interview
12	Deaf	Female, retired, living alone	Interview
13	Deaf, ADHD	Female, middle aged, living with family	Interview
14	Deaf	Female, middle aged, recently moved to Sweden as refugee, living with family	Interview
15	Blind	Female, middle aged, living with family	Interview
16	Support person for people with aphasia	Female, middle aged, living with family	Interview
17	Blind	Male, middle aged, living alone	Interview
18	Autism, AHDH, Epilepsy	Female, retired, living with family	Interview
19	Blind	Female, middle aged, living with family	Interview
20	Intellectual disability	Female, young, living with family	Interview
21	Intellectual disability	Female, young, living alone	Interview
22	Autism, ADHD, Depression	Male, middle aged, living alone	Interview
23	Low vision	Female, middle aged, living alone	Interview
24	Intellectual disability	Male, middle aged, living alone	Interview
25	Relative to a person with Autism	Female, retired, living alone	Interview
26	Aphasia, Stroke, Headache	Female, retired, living alone	Interview
27	Aphasia, Stroke	Male, middle aged, living with family	Interview
28	Deafblind	Female, retired, living alone	Interview
29	Low vision	Female, retired, living alone	Interview
30	Dyslexia	Male, young, living alone	Focus Group 1
31	Dyslexia	Female, middle aged, living with family	Focus Group 1
32	Dyslexia	Female, retired, living alone	Focus Group 1
33	Dyslexia	Female, middle aged, living with family	Focus Group 1
34	Dyslexia	Female, retired, living alone	Focus Group 1
35	Dyslexia	Female, young, living alone	Focus Group 1
36	Project leader/Support person for Dyslexia, working in the disability movement	Female, middle aged, living alone	Focus Group 1
37	Project leader working with people with reading difficulties	Female, middle aged, living with family	Focus Group 2
38	Aphasia, Stroke	Female middle aged, living with family	Focus Group 2
39	Aphasia, Stroke	Female, retired, living alone	Focus Group 2
40	Intellectual disability	Male, young, living alone	Focus Group 2

[i] ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders.

Age categories Young: ≤30 years, Middle aged: 31–64 years, Retired: ≥65 years.

Table 2

Participants in the validating and interpretive workshops.

ID	IMPAIRMENT/ROLE	CHARACTERISTICS	DATA SOURCE
41	Aphasia, Stroke	Female, middle aged	Validation workshop 1
42	Autism, Anxiety	Male, young	Validation workshop 1
43	Intellectual disability	Male, young	Validation workshop 1
44	Support staff to people with dyslexia	Female, middle aged	Validation workshop 1
45	Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, AHDH	Male, retired	Validation workshop 2
46	Dyslexia	Male, middle aged	Validation workshop 2
47	Hearing impairment	Female, middle aged	Validation workshop 2
48	Intellectual disability	Female, young	Validation workshop 2
49	Dyslexia	Male, retired	Validation workshop 2
50	Autism	Male, young	Validation workshop 2
51	Teacher in special education for people with intellectual disability	Female, retired	Validation workshop 2
52	Dyslexia	Female, young	Validation workshop 2
53	Brain fatigue	Female, retired	Validation workshop 2
54	Occupational therapist, specialised in cognitive impairments	Female, retired	Validation workshop 2
55	Dyslexia, Hearing impairment	Male, retired	Validation workshop 2
56	ADHD	Male, young	Validation workshop 2
57	Special educator for people with intellectual disability	Female, middle aged	Validation workshop 2
58	ADHD	Male, middle aged	Validation workshop 2
59	Support staff to people with autism	Female, middle aged	Validation workshop 2

[i] ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders.

Age categories Young: ≤30 years, Middle aged: 31–64 years, Retired: ≥65 years.

Table 3

Results of the thematic analysis on two research questions about perceived accessibility of the public crisis information and suggested improvements for accessibility of future crisis information.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS	THEMES
1. Perceived accessibility of the public crisis information about the COVID-19 pandemic	1.1 Usual information strategies and channels could be maintained during the pandemic
	1.2 Usual information strategies and channels were not maintained or disturbed during the pandemic
	1.3 Local public information about the pandemic was not presented in accessible formats
	1.4 The pace of publishing accessible information was not synchronised with the general information
2. Suggested improvements for enhancing the accessibility of future crisis information	2.1 Use multiple means for presenting public information
	2.2 Provide information at the same time and pace for everyone
	2.3 Be prepared and practice before the crisis

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/sjdr.1129 | Journal eISSN: 1745-3011

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Language: English

Page range: 601 - 619

Submitted on: Feb 26, 2024

Accepted on: Oct 29, 2024

Published on: Nov 13, 2024

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

accessibility,

communication channel strategy,

digitalisation,

disability,

public crisis management,

Sweden,

universal design

© 2024 Karl Gummesson, Karin Forsell, Stefan Johansson, Catharina Gustavsson, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 26 (2024): Issue 1