BACKING DIGITAL INDEPENDENCE OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS

SOUTH Africa has adopted significantly progressive legislation in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in particular articles 24 (education) and 27 (work and employment), to draft its national disability rights policy.

This is evidenced in the white papers 6 (policy on inclusive education) and 3 (policy on transformation of South African higher education).

Essentially, the country's policies speak towards enabling more inclusive and wider access to tertiary education, addressing systemic exclusionary barriers and improving the quality of holistic support services for graduates.

The 2020 Disability Online Research and Practice Indaba, themed “No Student Will Be Left Behind: Reimagining higher education disability services in response to Covid-19”, hosted in November by the Disability Support Unit (DSU) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), amid the emergence of Covid-19 and the transition towards online learning has exposed the disconnect between policy and the execution of appropriate strategies.

With increasing numbers of students with disabilities accessing higher education, it is key that disability services adopt strategies to develop and promote digital independence.

The largest cohort of these students are those with visual impairments. However, deficiencies in the basic education system has left them vulnerable amid Covid-19 and has seen many students left behind in the sudden transition to online learning.

Students challenges in accessing data, adequate network coverage and the requisite technology to aid in their academic pursuits, has been widely documented. As students entering the system have very limited exposure to technology and digital platforms in the basic education sector, a comprehensive level of disability services needs to be effected in institutes of higher learning to acclimatise students to the higher education environment.

Comprehensive disability support to students – scanning, converting and editing academic material into accessible formats for electronic and tactile access to information, and sighted assistance – may be seen as further disabling students.

The emergence of the virus and the rapid transition to online learning, has seen students being forced to gain a higher level of digital independence that will allow them to integrate into mainstream society and compete with their peers more equitably for positions worthy of their higher education qualifications. For far too long, South African visually impaired persons, even with postgraduate qualifications, have been side-lined because they had no maccess to specialised technologies.

Advances in the development of specialised assistive technologies has seen a wide array of options become available. Electronic Braille note-taking devices now incorporate screen-reading capabilities and compatibility with commercial digital platforms, offering users tactile access to information. Assistive software such as screen readers and magnifiers continue to advance progressively, offering users total access to the digital environment.

Commercial platforms now also embrace accessibility. The advances in modern smartphone technology have levelled the playing field and the most popular video-conferencing platforms are totally accessible to the visually impaired. There is really no electronic barrier to accessing information equitably in the modern era.

Students at UKZN who have embraced virtual digital platforms since the emergence of Covid-19, say they would not be where they are today, were it not for the sudden transition to online learning. They have attained a high level of digital independence and are participating on par with their peers. They now see the value of embracing technology and have a more positive outlook towards pursuing mainstream careers.

Dr Subbiah, who is blind, is the Information Access Officer for the Disability Support Unit at UKZN, managing the reformatting and the South African sign language service. He is also responsible for providing instruction to visually impaired students on the use of assistive technologies