Elderly couple using laptop in their living room

Digital Inclusion

What is Digital Inclusion?

The term Digital Inclusion covers:

Digital skills

Being able to use digital devices (such as computers or smart phones and the internet. This is important, but a lack of digital skills is not necessarily the only, or the biggest, barrier people face.

Connectivity

Access to the internet through broadband, wi-fi and mobile. People need the right infrastructure but that is only the start.

Accessibility

Services need to be designed to meet all users’ needs, including those dependent on assistive technology to access digital services.

People likely to be digitally excluded

There has been real progress in internet and online services.

Use Ofcom and Office of National Statistics data to see the latest figures on internet access.

But there are still significant levels of digital exclusion, for example:

11,300,000

people lack the basic digital skills to use the internet effectively

4,800,000

people never go online at all

90%

of households have internet access

78%

of people go online using a mobile device

Barriers to digital inclusion

Research for the UK digital strategy suggests that there are a number of important barriers, and more than one may affect individuals at any one time.

They are:

access - not everyone has the ability to connect to the internet and go online
skills - not everyone has the ability to use the internet and online services
confidence - some people fear online crime, lack trust or don’t know where to start online
motivation - not everyone sees why using the internet could be relevant and helpful

As access, skills and confidence improve, it is increasingly important to tackle other barriers, including:

design - not all digital services and products are accessible and easy to use
awareness - not everyone is aware of digital services and products available to them
staff capability and capacity - not all health and care staff have the skills and knowledge to recommend digital services and products to patients and service users

Good Things Foundation have produced an informative report on motivations of non-users of the internet.

Digital Inclusion Scale

The Government Digital Service has developed a digital inclusion scale which maps individuals’ digital capability on a scale from 1 to 9, from those who don’t use the internet at all to digital experts.

Some sections of the population are more likely to be digitally excluded than others. These are:

older people
people in lower income groups
people without a job
people in social housing
people with disabilities
people with fewer educational qualifications excluded left school before 16
people living in rural areas
homeless people
people whose first language is not English

For more information on digitally excluded populations in the UK see the annual UK Consumer Digital Index from Lloyds Bank. The 2019 Consumer Digital Index shows:

11.9m people (22% of the population) do not have the digital skills needed for everyday life in the UK
by 2030 it is predicted that 4.5m people (8% of the population) will remain digitally disengaged
people with a disability are 35% less likely to have essential digital skills for life

Good Things Foundation publishes an annually updated Digital Nation infographic showing who's digitally excluded in the UK and the reasons why they are not online.

Assisted digital

Digital inclusion initiatives can help users improve their digital skills so that they can use online services. However some people will still need assisted digital support such as: