Developing expertise and managing inaccessibility: a study of reading by listening practices among students with blindness or vision impairment

Abstract

Introduction. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the learning that reading by listening requires from readers with print disabilities. Method. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with university students with blindness or vision impairment in Australia. Analysis. A theoretical reading of the interview material was conducted, with a basis in sociocultural learning theory. Results. The responsibility for learning to use audio-based reading tools was often left to the participants themselves. The process of appropriating audio-based reading tools included two important aspects: digital literacy and learning to manage the sequentiality of audio text. This process was related to trajectories of participation in academic communities of practice, English-speaking communities of practice, and blindness and visual impairments communities of practice. It also included learning to participate in practices where vision and reading by seeing is the norm. Conclusion. Three conclusions are drawn: 1) reading by listening is not a passive and effortless activity, it requires specific expertise, 2) socio-economic and socio-political circumstances influence how reading by listening is practiced and the learning that this form of reading requires, and 3) reading by listening requires learning how to navigate and manage the effects of institutions and systems that are disabling.