Mobile phone usage among Kenyans with disabilities has grown substantially in recent years, with visually impaired persons recording the highest adoption rates, a new Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report reveals.

The survey shows that in 2024, 80.8 percent of visually impaired Kenyans were using phones, up from 63.9 percent in 2019.

This is the fastest growth among all disability groups and highlights the impact of improved access to smartphones equipped with assistive technologies.

Following closely are Kenyans with movement disabilities, whose phone use rose to 77.3 percent last year from 60.1 percent five years earlier.

The rise in smartphone adoption is linked to features like screen readers that help visually impaired users carry out tasks they could not before.

Women with visual impairment use phones more than men, with usage at 83.8 percent compared to 76.5 percent for males.

Other disability categories also recorded growth, including persons with hearing impairments, whose phone use increased from 40.3 percent to 51.7 percent, and those with cognitive disabilities, moving from 37.8 percent to 59.4 percent.

Kenyans with communication disabilities showed the fastest rise in phone use, jumping from 17.8 percent in 2019 to 51.4 percent in 2024.

Persons with self-care disabilities continue to have the lowest phone usage, though numbers improved from 25.4 percent to 44 percent over the five years. Interestingly, more men than women with self-care disabilities use phones, the report notes.