Accessible digital academic publications produced by libraries in the academic environment for blind and low-vision students

Abstract

It considers that a Higher Education Institution is inclusive and accessible for visually impaired students when it carries out multidisciplinary communication in favor of their academic, scientific and social development in society. Related disciplines such as Information Science, Education and Technologies, whether Information or Assistive, emerge in this context as analogous, and contribute to the emergence of a new information profile that meets contemporary pluralities in the academic environment. This ongoing research aims to investigate how the production and dissemination of accessible digital academic publications in university libraries can contribute to the access, permanence and academic training of blind and low-vision students studying at the Federal University of Bahia. The methodological procedure was a descriptive, qualitative case study. The techniques used to collect data were interviews, direct observation and bibliographical research. The research shows that the exchange service for accessible digital academic publications that university libraries have been carrying out emphasizes their social role in promoting and disseminating information in the academic environment, collaborating with the educational and professional process of visually impaired students, but needs to be widely disseminated to the community it serves.