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1 – 10 of over 2000Rebecca Mgunda Majinge and Stephen Mudogo Mutula
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implication of copyright on access to electronic and print information resources by people with visual impairments in university…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implication of copyright on access to electronic and print information resources by people with visual impairments in university libraries. The paper examines the extent to which electronic and print information resources in university libraries are accessible to people with visual impairments; the extent to which existing national/international copyright laws facilitate or hamper access to electronic and print information resources by people with visual impairments; examine challenges facing people with visual impairments in accessing electronic and print information resources; and how these challenges can be ameliorated.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on review of empirical and theoretical literature and is underpinned by Oliver’s (1990) social model of disability.
Findings
The findings reveal that many university libraries the world over lack the capacity to offer an effective information service to people with visual impairments. Furthermore, the stringent copyright laws and licensing regimes for purchasing or transcribing content from one format to another make provision of information services to people with visual impairments difficult. In-university libraries are faced with various challenges in accessing electronic and print information that include among others copyright and licensing restrictions, and system design issues. Assistive technologies (ATs), enabling policies, skilled staff and facilitative copyright regimes can help ameliorate some of these barriers.
Practical implications
ATs, enabling policies, skilled staff and facilitative copyright regimes are key to unlocking the barriers that hinder people with visual impairments from effectively accessing print and electronic resources in university libraries. Protection of the basic rights of persons with disabilities including visual impairments, the elimination of social discrimination and bridging the accessibility gap are integral to social inclusion. This paper provides the basic information to university libraries for addressing challenges associated with access to electronic and print resources by people with visual impairments.
Social implications
Access to information to all including people with visual impairments in society is a basic human and moral right that every human being must enjoy. The Sustainable Development Goals’ 2030 agenda for sustainable development envisages a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity […] equality and non-discrimination, an equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met (United Nations, 2015), and inclusive rights such as education, access to services (including information) and employment for people with disabilities.
Originality/value
This paper builds on existing literature and contributes to the growing body of knowledge on access by people with disabilities predicating on World Summit on Information Society principle and agenda 2030 on sustainable development goals.
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Abbas Riazi, Mei Ying Boon, Catherine Bridge and Stephen J. Dain
The purpose of this paper is to provide an evidence‐base for home modification guidelines for people with visual impairment due to age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an evidence‐base for home modification guidelines for people with visual impairment due to age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), from the perspective of people with AMD, by exploring the home modifications they find useful and would recommend to other people with visual impairment due to AMD as being effective.
Design/methodology/approach
People with impairments may not be aware of their own coping with inability strategies until they are asked to express their strategies. A qualitative approach using semi‐structured individual interviews was used to elicit the perspectives of people with AMD with regards to their preferred home modification interventions. Interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim into text for thematical analysis using Nvivo 8.
Findings
In total, 31 individuals (aged 79.1±5.6 years) with AMD and no other ocular diseases were recruited from a low vision clinic or the Macular Degeneration Foundation database in a metropolitan city. Interviewees had not received any formal home modification assessment from a government provider. Nevertheless, 70 per cent of participants stated that they undertook home modifications themselves or with the assistance of family and friends. The most important functional modifications as perceived by the participants concerned the installation of hand rails, non‐slip matting, colour contrasting safety stair nosing, single lever taps, slip resistant flooring, lift chairs and motion sensors that activated pathway lighting. Kitchens, steps and bathrooms were perceived as hazardous locations. Most participants had difficulties with reading fine‐print material on kitchen appliances, washing machines, microwave ovens and remote controls for electronic devices in the home.
Originality/value
An evidence‐base for useful home modifications as suggested by people with visual impairment was perceived to be a valuable resource for other people with visual impairment who may not yet have developed adaptive strategies. Industrial and interior designers and low vision rehabilitation services who aim to improve functionality of the home environment will also find these suggestions useful.
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C.A. Beverley, P.A. Bath and R. Barber
The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which two existing models of information behaviour could explain the information behaviour of visually impaired people…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which two existing models of information behaviour could explain the information behaviour of visually impaired people seeking health and social care information.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted within a constructivist paradigm. A total of 28 semi‐structured interviews (face‐to‐face or telephone) with 31 visually impaired people were conducted. Framework analysis was used to analyse the results.
Findings
This study identified several factors that may affect a visually impaired person's information behaviour. These related to the presence of other health conditions or disabilities, participants' understanding of the word “information”, their interactions with information providers, their degree of independence, the support they received from friends and family, their acceptance of their own visual impairment, as well as their awareness of other visual impairments, their registration status and their willingness and ability to pay for aids, adaptations and equipment.
Originality/ value
This study provides a new and valuable insight into the information behaviour of visually impaired people, as well as testing the applicability of a specific and generic information model to the information behaviour of visually impaired people seeking health and social care information.
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Catherine A. Beverley, Peter A. Bath and Rosemary Barber
The purpose of this study is to examine the health and social care information needs of people with a visual impairment; to identify the health and social care information sources…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the health and social care information needs of people with a visual impairment; to identify the health and social care information sources used by visually‐impaired people seeking information; to identify differences in the information needs of people with different visual impairments; to examine ways in which developments in information provision may help to meet the needs of visually impaired people.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 28 semi‐structured interviews (face‐to‐face or telephone) were conducted with 31 visually impaired people living in or near Sheffield, UK. The participants included two groups: people with an age‐related visual impairment, and people with a visual impairment since birth or early childhood. Framework analysis was used to analyse the findings.
Findings
Four major themes were identified: health and social care information needs, sources of health and social care information, possible improvements, and “intervening variables”.
Practical implications
In this study only a small proportion of the health and social care information needs of visually impaired people were currently being met. There was minimal co‐ordination of information between the different information providers. Visually impaired people were dependent on acquiring and seeking out additional information from a wide variety of sources.
Originality/value
This paper provides new insights into the health and social care information needs of visually impaired people and their sources of information, and starts to fill gaps identified in an earlier systematic review. The paper reinforces the view that visually impaired people are a heterogeneous group, with different needs according to their visual impairments.
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Zhang Wei, Song Lirong and Li Chunming
Disabled people are often disadvantaged groups with varying special needs. Therefore, acquiring knowledge, improving information literacy, and participating in social activities…
Abstract
Purpose
Disabled people are often disadvantaged groups with varying special needs. Therefore, acquiring knowledge, improving information literacy, and participating in social activities becomes a survival and development problem for many disabled people. As an information dissemination centre, libraries should assume the responsibilities and obligations of providing knowledge aids for the disabled. This paper aims to introduce the China Digital Library for Visual Impairment website, which provides knowledge services for people with visual impairment, and to describe and discuss its background, its construction, initial achievements, and future prospects.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a case study analysis method, which takes the website of China Digital Library for Visual Impairment (CDLVI) as an example, introducing its resources development, service manners, developing mechanism.
Findings
Based on the experiences of China Digital Library for Visual Impairment (CDLVI), the NLC will construct a perfect reading service system and knowledge network for the disabled, which provides personalized and convenient services, and creates good learning conditions for the whole special group of people with disabilities.
Originality/value
The paper provides an introduction to the CDLVI website, which provides services for people with visual impairment.
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Stacy M. Kelly and Christine Clark-Bischke
Defined functionally, having low vision can mean the inability to read newsprint even with best correction (when wearing conventional eyeglasses or contact lenses) (Maino, 1993)…
Abstract
Defined functionally, having low vision can mean the inability to read newsprint even with best correction (when wearing conventional eyeglasses or contact lenses) (Maino, 1993). Other functional definitions of low vision refer to a loss of vision that may be severe enough to hinder an individual's ability to complete daily activities such as reading, cooking, or walking outside safely, while still retaining some degree of useable vision. Low vision is decreased visual performance that prevents performance to full capacity compared with a typically sighted person of the same age and gender. It may be a consequence of reduced acuity, abnormal visual field, reduced contrast sensitivity, or other ocular dysfunction (Faye, 1984). This definition includes people who are legally blind and those who have a more significant amount of remaining vision.
Students who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) need information and advice specific to their needs when they are in the process of making the…
Abstract
Students who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) need information and advice specific to their needs when they are in the process of making the transition from the school years to their adult lives. This chapter outlines disability-specific needs, instructional strategies, school professionals involved in teaching children who are visually impaired, and recommended resources for this population of students who are visually impaired with and without additional disabilities. Instructional supports for learners who are visually impaired during the transition years and many years in advance of the transition years are explicitly explored. The heterogeneous nature of the population of students with visual impairments and the long-standing, high unemployment rate are additional discussion points presented within this chapter for specific consideration.
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This chapter outlines the progression in the development of educational settings and services for students with visual impairments over the past several hundred years. Information…
Abstract
This chapter outlines the progression in the development of educational settings and services for students with visual impairments over the past several hundred years. Information is provided that explains how the education systems have advanced to the present state for students who are blind or have low vision. An explanation of the professionals who support the unique disability-specific needs of students with visual impairments in inclusive settings is also presented. This chapter concludes with a discussion of current issues related to the inclusion of students with visual impairments including personnel shortages, technological developments, and unemployment rates.
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Technology is present in classrooms today in many ways that it never has been before. Technology, and more specifically assistive technology, can be used to provide students with…
Abstract
Technology is present in classrooms today in many ways that it never has been before. Technology, and more specifically assistive technology, can be used to provide students with visual impairments with equal access and engagement in learning. Best practices for using technology to enhance learning for students with visual impairments includes, but is not limited to, collaboration among all stakeholders involved, individualized instruction, and specialized training on behalf of students with visual impairments and their teachers. The heterogeneity of the population of learners with visual impairments must be explicitly addressed by educational teams taking into account the high prevalence of additional disabilities among students with visual impairments and other unique characteristics of this population. Stakeholders (i.e., students, families, caregivers, educators, administrators, and policymakers) need to work together and continue working together as education evolves to make this access and engagement a reality for all learners including those who are blind or have low vision.
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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the functionality of the particular epistemological schools with regard to the issues of users with visual impairment, to offer a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the functionality of the particular epistemological schools with regard to the issues of users with visual impairment, to offer a theoretical answer to the question why these issues are not in the center of the interest of information science, and to try to find an epistemological approach that has ambitions to create the theoretical basis for the analysis of the relationship between information and visually impaired users.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological basis of the paper is determined by the selection of the epistemological approach. In order to think about the concept of information and to put it in relation to issues associated with users with visual impairment, a conceptual analysis is applied.
Findings
Most of information science theories are based on empiricism and rationalism; this is the reason for their low interest in the questions of visually impaired users. Users with visual disabilities are out of the interest of rationalistic epistemology because it underestimates sensory perception; empiricism is not interested in them paradoxically because it overestimates sensory perception. Realism which fairly reflects such issues is an approach which allows the providing of information to persons with visual disabilities to be dealt with properly.
Research limitations/implications
The paper has a speculative character. Its findings should be supported by empirical research in the future.
Practical implications
Theoretical questions solved in the paper come from the practice of providing information to visually impaired users. Because practice has an influence on theory and vice versa, the author hopes that the findings included in the paper can serve to improve practice in the field.
Social implications
The paper provides theoretical anchoring of the issues which are related to the inclusion of people with disabilities into society and its findings have a potential to support such efforts.
Originality/value
This is first study linking questions of users with visual disabilities to highly abstract issues connected to the concept of information.
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