Access denied: the shortage of digitized fitness resources for people with disabilities

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted every aspect of life, including how people exercise and access fitness resources. Prior to COVID-19, the global burden of disease attributable to sedentary behavior disproportionately affected the health of people with disabilities (PWD). This pre-existing gap has only widened during COVID-19 due to limited disability-friendly digital exercise resources. The purpose of this work is to examine this gap in accessibility to digital fitness resources, and re-frame the notion of accessibility to suit the contemporary context.

Materials and methods

Using machine learning, video titles/descriptions about home exercise ordered by relevance populated on YouTube between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020 were examined.

Results

Using the search terms, “home exercise,” “home-based exercise,” “exercise no equipment,” “workout no equipment,” “exercise at home,” or “at-home exercise,” 700 videos ordered by relevance included 28 (4%) that were inclusive of participants with disabilities. Unfortunately, most digital fitness resources are therefore inaccessible to PWD. The global pause the pandemic has induced may be the right moment to construct a comprehensive, indexed digital library of home-based fitness video content for the disabled. There is a further need for more nuanced understandings of accessibility as technological advancements continue.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Physical activity is incredibly important to the quality of life and health of all people.

• Physical activity levels, however, remain lower among persons with disabilities.

• Access to disability-friendly resources remains a challenge and worsened by the circumstances of COVID-19 due to an apparent lack of digital fitness resources for persons with disabilities.

• A broader and comprehensive definition of accessibility must recognize digital advances and access to physical activity for persons with disabilities must feature digital resources.

Keywords:

• Accessibility
• inclusive
• home exercise
• people with disabilities
• digital resources

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).