Beyond the Manual: Mapping Peer-Generated Content about Wheelchair Care and Adaptation on YouTube

Paper Title

Beyond the Manual: Mapping Peer-Generated Content about Wheelchair Care and Adaptation on YouTube

Publication Info

• Topic area: Analysis of user-generated content on wheelchair care and adaptation on YouTube.
• Keywords: Wheelchair care, DIY adaptation, YouTube, accessibility, assistive technology, peer knowledge, community engagement, repair, customization, solidarity.

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Limited understanding of how wheelchair users document and share repair, maintenance, and customization practices online. Existing research focuses on controlled or artifact-centric studies, neglecting everyday, "in-the-wild" practices.
• Significance: Capturing user-led practices can reveal unmet needs and inform the design of assistive technologies (AT) and support systems, addressing gaps in formal services.
• Motivation and related work: Prior studies have explored DIY AT and online platforms for disability communities but lack systematic analysis of wheelchair users’ practices on video-sharing platforms like YouTube. This study aims to fill that gap by analyzing peer-generated content.

Solution

• Proposed approach: Systematic analysis of 290 YouTube videos and 800 comments using thematic coding and statistical models to map wheelchair care and adaptation practices.
• Novelty:
  1. Provides an empirical account of wheelchair-related maintenance, repair, and adaptation practices documented on YouTube.
  2. Identifies nine user needs driving these practices, spanning functional and motivational aspects.
  3. Introduces the "Ladder of DIY Adaptation," a conceptual model categorizing DIY practices by complexity.
  4. Characterizes community engagement, showing how videos foster knowledge exchange and solidarity.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Data collection: Identified videos using 15 keywords, screened 6,841 videos, and finalized 290 for analysis.
  • Thematic coding: Developed a codebook to classify video topics, delivery styles, and user needs.
  • Statistical analysis: Used negative binomial regression to analyze engagement metrics (views, likes, comments).
  • Comment analysis: Thematically analyzed 800 sampled comments to understand community interactions.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • Seven video topics identified, with repair (29%) and build/modification (23%) being the most common.
  • Nine user needs surfaced, including affordable services, mobility, safety, daily living, leisure, and self-expression.
  • Engagement patterns showed styling videos attracted the most views (IRR=9.92), while custom-built wheelchair videos fostered the most comments (IRR=2.77).
  • Comments revealed three layers of interaction: direct feedback, personal reflections, and tangential topics.
• Advantage over baselines:
  • Provides a nuanced understanding of DIY wheelchair practices, highlighting gaps in formal AT design and services.
  • Demonstrates how YouTube serves as both a knowledge repository and a community hub.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Dataset: 290 videos from 194 unique channels, published between 2009–2025.
  • Metrics: Engagement analyzed via views, likes, and comments; qualitative coding of video content and comments.
  • Models: Negative binomial regression for engagement metrics; thematic analysis for qualitative insights.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Focused on English-language videos, excluding non-English contexts.
  • Participation bias toward users with digital literacy and internet access.
  • Future work could expand to other platforms (e.g., TikTok, Reddit) and include non-digital participants.

Summary

This study systematically analyzed 290 YouTube videos to map wheelchair care and adaptation practices shared by users. It identified seven video topics and nine user needs, ranging from practical mobility and safety to emotional solidarity and self-expression. The "Ladder of DIY Adaptation" conceptualizes these practices by complexity, from simple accessorizing to full custom builds. Engagement analysis revealed that styling videos attract broad audiences, while custom-built wheelchair videos foster deep community discussions. The findings highlight YouTube’s dual role as a knowledge repository and a socio-technical infrastructure for solidarity, offering actionable insights for AT design and HCI research.