Information system for visually impaired in Indian universities: a user’s perspectives

What is it about?

The study aims to comprehend the visually impaired users’ perceptions in information system development in Indian universities. Consequently, visually impaired users’ information requirements can be fulfilled by higher educational institutions in India. A structured questionnaire was used for a survey of visually impaired users in Indian universities. The questionnaire had 33 open-ended questions which were distributed among 603 users and 316 responses were received from visually impaired users. The response rate was 52.4 percent. The received responses were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and presented in tables and figures. The majority of respondents revealed that lack of contents availability in vernacular language, poor information resources access mechanism, less number of course contents and poor maintenance of assistive software (s) and devices and unstandardized e-resources compatible with assistive software(s) are some of major inhibits faced by them. The majority of respondents revealed that they prefer scribes in the examination because the use of assistive technology is time-consuming. Lack of training and confidence in using assistive technology is another reason for using scribes in the examination. Subsequently, based on survey results the information system for the visually impaired (ISVI) was designed and developed so that visually impaired users can work independently. The study will help the Indian universities to know the problems faced by visually impaired users. The findings of the study shall help the faculty members, decision-makers to understand the perspective of the visually impaired. Besides this, the study will also help the government agencies in formulating policies. The findings will help in developing robust information resources suiting to the needs of the visually impaired.

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