What content is published on websites of organizations supporting people with disabilities? Secondary analysis of online sources

Abstract

The article describes the results obtained in the research conducted in the form of an analysis of online secondary sources (websites of organizations supporting people with disabilities). The study covers websites of ten major European organizations whose main activity is to help people with disabilities. The research question is: ”What topics and issues dominate in the web content created by organizations, and what is overlooked, unnoticed?”. The analysis of websites makes it possible to identify five significant thematic categories that dominate the content published by the selected organizations; these categories are - education, legal issues, architectural barriers, financial issues, social activities. In addition, the research makes it possible to diagnose the absence of several critical disability-related topics in the published content. Essential issues omitted on the institutions’ websites include adulthood and sexuality of people with disabilities, everyday life of people with disabilities and their families, and individual perspectives of people with disabilities (presentation of topics from the group’s point of view, lack of personal viewpoint). According to research result there is also a hierarchy of disabilities in the content published on the websites (e. g., a small number of articles devoted to intellectual disabilities or mental disorders).