Inequality and the Internet - Why Some Remain Offline - NYTimes.com Your otherwise excellent article about the digital divide ("Most of U.S. Is Wired, but Millions Aren't Plugged In," Business Day, Aug. 19) missed an opportunity to discuss the significant digital divide between people with disabilities and those not (yet) disabled. The Commerce Department report on which your article was based recognized the impact of disability. It found that Internet use among those with a disability is only 48 percent compared with 76 percent for those with no disability. In every metric used in the report, people with disabilities lagged behind. Your reporters rightly covered the digital divide based on race, age, education, class and geography. Disability deserved to be covered as well. In my experience as a disability civil rights lawyer working with the blind community on technology and information access issues, the disability divide has two major components. First, disability cuts across and magnifies all other factors you mention. Second, and equally important, there is a digital divide for people with disabilities because of a lack of accessible online content. Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, recognized that, saying: "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. Your article's analysis of the digital divide understates American progress and overstates the American disadvantage compared with other major countries. Since 2008, Internet use in the United States increased to 85 percent of households from 79 percent, which represents 24 million more users. Other major countries have the same problem, with just slightly higher use. In the United States three-fifths of those who do not use the Internet are 65 or older, and almost nine-tenths are 50 or older. Income is important, too, with half of non-Internet users having incomes below $50,000 a year. But the fact that fewer than 1 in 10 eligible low-income households sign up for $10-a-month broadband underscores the importance of factors other than the monthly fee as a barrier to Internet use. After age, the best predictor of Internet use is computer ownership. MARK COOPER Director of Research Consumer Federation of America Washington, Aug. 19, 2013