Abstract:

In education, e-Accessibility means elimination of digital barriers and ensurance of digital accessibility for all students indiscriminately. Accessible electronic environment shall not exclude or discriminate students due to their impaired visual perception. Our contribution is aimed at defining the selected determinants in educating visually impaired students at universities and colleges in the Slovak Republic. We found out that the level of e-accessibility in 2015 was inadequate in as many as 85% of state universities and colleges. At the same time, we discovered that in terms of e-Accessibility status there are no statistically significant differences between the state and private higher education schools. Thus, the level of digital barriers for students with visual impairment is not determined by the particular type of school. According to our research, the major obstacles in educating visually impaired students include graphic elements without text alternatives, incorrectly identified form fields and impossibility to control the electronic environment without using the computer mouse. One of the key determinants in educating students with visual impairment was also the measure of quality of the provided support at individual universities and colleges.

Keywords:

E-Accessibility, digital barriers, inclusive education, visual impairment.