Access to electronic and print information resources by people with visual impairments in university libraries

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.

Readiness of academic libraries in South Africa to research, teaching and learning support in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

“…), and the quality of the relationship with the entity that created the product or service (what expectations does it create for subsequent interactions? ).” Services to the differently abled (Cassner et al , 2011), would reflect how they are handled by the libraries – for example, on the library website, the lived experiences of the differently abled (Majinge and Mutula, 2018; Mutula and Majinge, 2016), which is quite vital for addressing inequality scored only 38%. Evidently, dealing with inequality in information access and services is a major ethical issue and a challenge to African libraries, now and in the future.How do the academic libraries respond to the changing environment?…”

Academic Research on the 2030 Agenda: Challenges of a Transdisciplinary Field of Study

“…To understand the capillarity of the research on the 2030 Agenda, a first step is to take a look to systematic reviews and bibliometric analyses in the topic. In our research, we have identified 27 reviews so far, where the authors focus on studies of the implementation and the achievement of the SDGs (Barrantes Briceño and Almada Santos, 2019; Guha and Chakrabarti, 2019; Gusmão Caiado et al, 2018; Hristov and Chirico, 2019; Khan et al, 2019; Maroyi, 2018; Merino‐Saum et al, 2018; Omer and Noguchi, 2020; Schiappacasse and Müller, 2018; Zhang et al, 2019), on specific topics and collectives within the Agenda (Baum et al, 2016; Del Pino et al, 2019; Giné‐Garriga et al, 2017; Hartmann et al, 2016; Majinge and Mutula, 2018; Mathez‐Stiefel et al, 2017; Matilla et al, 2018; Simcock and Wittich, 2019; Swamy et al, 2018), on traditional fields of knowledge, now reconsidered in the light of the 2030 Agenda (Elfert, 2019; Rodrigues and Franco, 2019; Storey et al, 2017), and even on contributions to the field of knowledge from researchers in specific regions or countries (Körfgen et al, 2018; Staszkiewicz, 2019).…”

Networked library access and services delivery for the blind and visually impaired university students: evidence from the UAE

“…The relevant literature identified several impediments that could make it difficult for students with visual impairments to access information in print and electronic resources. Majinge and Mutula, (2018) enumerated some impediments, such as: a lack of alternative document format that could be compatible with adaptive tools or assistive technology; inflexible copyright and licensing terms and conditions that require prior permissions of publishers and owners to transcribe content from textual to Braille format; design and layout of the library system features that are not user-friendly; and building designs that are not suitable for students with visual impairments. …”

“…Moreover, the overwhelming advent of the web-based applications into various educational settings has revolutionised the way of the course design and online delivery significantly and empowered academic libraries to make access to academic information quite easily to the students. Therefore, the academic networked libraries could help their users in using information in a knowledge base (Majinge and Mutula, 2018).…”