Information Service Delivery to the Visually Impaired: A Case Study of Hope for the  Blind Foundation Wusasa, Zaria (Nigeria)

Lucky, Abdulsalami T.; Achebe, Nwando

doi:10.19026/rjit.5.5783

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is also found that the main challenge of the nonavailability of AT was the lack of awareness and effective training among library staff and users (Khetarpal, 2014; Nazim, 2021). It was also noticed that the major problems in using AT were inadequately trained staff and a lack of awareness among DAPs (Imam, 2013; Lucky and Achebe, 2013). Kiana et al (2021) found that the most prominent reason for the minimum use of AT in academic libraries was the lack of knowledge among librarians and unawareness among students.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Familiarity and understanding of assistive technology among visually impaired users of libraries of special institutes of Haryana, India

Singh,

Gupta

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Assistive technology (AT) is like the eyes of visually impaired users (VIUs) and plays a vital role in making them independent in accessing a wide range of library resources and services. It is a revolutionary way to improve the academic performance of VIUs and amalgamate them into mainstream library services. This paper aims to explore the familiarity and understanding of AT among VIUs in accessing library resources and services of three special institutes of Haryana state, India. Design/methodology/approach The study used a survey method, and data were collected using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of closed-ended questions focused on participants’ familiarity, understanding and key barriers VIUs face in accessing existing AT facilities. Scope of the study is to include three special institutions’ libraries serving to VIUs in Haryana (India). Purposive sampling technique was adopted for data collection. The data are tabulated and analyzed with descriptive statistics methods using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0, and the results are presented in tables, diagrams and graphs. Findings The study found that most of the VIUs are highly familiar and reported an expert understanding of Daisy player and digital voice recorder, whereas refreshable Braille display, Braille printer/embosser and scanning and reading devices are least familiar with and reported poor understanding. In the software category, it is noted that VIUs are more familiar with screen reading and speech synthesizer software than other software, and participants confirmed a good understanding of the said software. Practical implications The literature review revealed that the majority of library staff in the institutions being investigated had limited knowledge about the availability of the most suitable AT tools. So, the study will be beneficial for them to select the most popular AT tools for their libraries to amalgamate VIUs. The study also highlights some barriers VIUs face in using the existing AT facility of their respective libraries that may be helpful for librarians to understand the root cause of low utilization of available AT tools and how to address this problem effectively. The study can also help policymakers in formulating AT policies for academic libraries. Findings will also help to develop a cost-effective AT workstation suiting the needs of VIUs. Originality/value This study will provide an idea to library professionals about which AT hardware and software are more popular among VIUs and useful for developing/improving cutting-edge AT facilities in their libraries to amalgamate VIUs in the mainstream of the library.

show abstract

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Familiarity and understanding of assistive technology among visually impaired users of libraries of special institutes of Haryana, India

Singh,

Gupta

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lack of visual ability can hinder people with vision problems from coding precise vital information more specifically the print document that need a lot of navigation to access or read [6]. With the informed society more people with disability are not left behind they also join institution of higher learning to equip themselves with knowledge in this case it's the obligation of the library management to provide the same range of information to the users with challenges regardless of its format, this implies that access to information should be equal for all categories of users [3], to increase the probability for the visually and blind to obtain jobs and propel in obtaining there degrees in institution of higher learning libraries and information centers should equip themselves with relevant/ wider resources that can be either non-fiction and references materials in wider format that suits the access.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing Information Seeking Behavior on Access to Digital Resources by Students with Visual Impairment: A Case Study of Nairobi University Library Services, Kenya

Priscah

Shem

Maina

2021

JESBS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Information is power, very important and valuable commodity in everyday human activity as evidenced with the current digital divide that equal access to information is essential to the development of information society which also applies to people with disability. The aim of the study was to establish the information seeking behavior of visually impaired (VI) students at University of Nairobi library services. The total population of the study comprised of two units of analysis which were 32 visually impaired students and 6 librarians in charge of the visually impaired students. The study carried out a survey by means of questionnaires. The study employed Wilson’s (1999) theory of information behavior model which provided a framework in mapping the student’s information patterns. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel 2016 were used to analyze the data. The response rate was 78.95% from all the units of analysis. The findings indicated that majority of the respondents 72% were female. The findings further revealed that most Visually impaired students were getting assistance from a sighted person or by use of computers, speech synthesizers, screen readers, brail prints, and audio books. A smaller number of the respondents (2.44%) used mobile app called tap tap. The study indicated that majority 68.3% of the Visually impaired students relied on aiding tools.

show abstract

Utilization of Assistive Technologies Among Visually Impaired Students in University Libraries in Uganda: Users’ Experiences

Agabirwe

Kiyingi

2020

Sustainable Digital Communities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Information Service Delivery to the Visually Impaired: A Case Study of Hope for the Blind Foundation Wusasa, Zaria (Nigeria)

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

Familiarity and understanding of assistive technology among visually impaired users of libraries of special institutes of Haryana, India

Familiarity and understanding of assistive technology among visually impaired users of libraries of special institutes of Haryana, India

Establishing Information Seeking Behavior on Access to Digital Resources by Students with Visual Impairment: A Case Study of Nairobi University Library Services, Kenya

Utilization of Assistive Technologies Among Visually Impaired Students in University Libraries in Uganda: Users’ Experiences

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About