Abstract:
The present research focused on the social contribution of university libraries in informational
accessibility. The main objective is to analyze how university libraries are prepared in the
physical and digital informational accessibility to meet the needs of visually impaired students.
The choice of the theme is justified by the importance of reflecting on the social contribution of
university libraries as means of access to information, promoting equal opportunities and
allowing the inclusion of visually impaired students, as well as the promotion of their skills as it
is done with their so-called normal colleagues, in order to envisage their success. A qualitative
methodology of multiple case study with descriptive and explanatory focus was used, where
semi-structured interviews were applied to visually impaired students, library managers, namely
those from the Central Library of the Eduardo Mondlane University and the Central Library of
the Polytechnic University. The research was developed from the theoretical referential on
accessibility, visual impairment, assistive technologies, university libraries and current
legislation pertinent to the theme. The results revealed that the respondents identified as barriers
to the accessibility of physical and digital information, the difficulty in accessing documentation
and information in different supports, the absence and insufficiency of equipment for assistive
technologies, the absence of adapted services and products and the inaccessibility to places due
to the existence of architectural barriers. It was found that good practices are already
implemented in one of the libraries that indicate the path towards an inclusive library; however,
there is a lack of exchange among libraries regarding resources, products and services related to
visually impaired students.Therefore, we recommend the need to create a support service for
visually impaired students in the university libraries studied that meets their specific demands, as
well as suggest future work in this area.
