Overview
These recommendations are the outcome of an undergraduate final project in Design, carried out at the Federal University of Technology – Paraná (UTFPR), with a view to greater inclusion of people with visual impairments in higher education.
To ground the work theoretically, it is necessary to define what a person with a visual impairment is, and to explore the concept of accessibility in higher education and how it is implemented in educational equipment and materials.
People with visual impairments
Technical Note 01/2018 on the 2010 Demographic Census, carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), indicates that visual impairment was the most frequent disability in the Brazilian population, affecting 3.4% of it, with motor impairment second at 2.3%. The note re-reads the data from the 2010 Demographic Census so as to align it with international discussion on the conception of disability (IBGE, 2018, web).
Understanding what a person with a disability is requires an understanding of some initial concepts. The World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, published in 2008 by Brazil’s National Coordination Office for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (CORDE), proposes the following concept:
People with disabilities are those who have impairments of a physical, intellectual or sensory nature which, in interaction with various barriers, may obstruct their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.
Visual impairment can be divided into two categories, blindness and low vision, from a clinical point of view. Under Decreto nº 3.298, of 20 December 1999, visual impairment is defined as:
[...] blindness, in which visual acuity is equal to or less than 0.05 in the better eye, with the best optical correction; low vision, meaning visual acuity between 0.3 and 0.05 in the better eye, with the best optical correction; cases in which the sum of the visual field measurement in both eyes is equal to or less than 60°; or the simultaneous occurrence of any of the preceding conditions.
Visual impairment can occur at any stage of life, from birth, arising from genetic causes, through to adulthood, from accidental factors. A person who developed blindness or low vision during their life will have visual memories — that is, they will retain the memory of things seen before acquiring the impairment. A person born totally blind, by contrast, will not have the capacity to form visual images, but will develop strategies for structuring a mental representation of space (GIL, 2000).
From that perspective, for many years a person with a visual impairment who achieved satisfactory academic performance and a good level of knowledge astonished everyone. Because of prejudice, expectations of them were largely confined to their education, with nothing further expected in terms of independence. People with visual impairments were thus not encouraged to carry out everyday activities independently — moving about alone, caring for themselves, interacting socially, competing in the labour market or living a life ordinary to a person without a disability (GIL, 2000).
With a view to changing that situation, recent years have seen significant progress in research into, and development of, resources intended to improve the quality of life and independence of people with disabilities. The range of resources and services that help to provide or extend the functional abilities of people with visual impairments comprises what is known as Assistive Technology (AT) (BERSCH and TONOLLI, 2006). Some of those technologies are presented below.
| Assistive Technology | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Guide dogs | Animals that assist people with visual impairments in daily activities. They are trained with the individual’s safety in mind, so that they can detect obstacles, prevent accidents and advance the person’s autonomy, allowing them to live more independently (BRASIL, 2018, web). |
| Long cane | An orientation and mobility resource; it works as a tactile-kinaesthetic extension conveying to the person a range of information they would obtain if they walked with a hand on the ground (FELIPPE, 2001). |
| Braille writer | Braille is a tactile system of writing and reading, produced with a device similar to a typewriter, made up of seven keys that form different combinations of dots representing letters, numbers and other signs, allowing texts of all kinds to be written (BRASIL, 2022, web). |
| Screen magnifiers | Software that lets people with low vision enlarge the size of the fonts and images shown on a computer screen, and that offers options for adjusting high-contrast colour combinations between the text and the page background (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
| Screen readers | Programs that use speech synthesis to convey visual information displayed on a computer screen aloud, through loudspeakers. These tools allow users to edit texts, listen to digitised books being read, browse the internet and carry out practically every task available to any user (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
| Digital book readers | Devices that allow books to be read in a structured way through synthesised or natural voices, using a scanner with a program called Optical Character Recognition (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
Table description
Table 2, "Assistive technologies intended to improve the quality of life and independence of people with disabilities", presents a list of assistive technologies, relating each resource to its practical purpose. The table has two columns: the first identifies the "Assistive Technology" and the second gives the "Explanation" of its usefulness. The resources listed include: guide dogs, which assist with orientation and safety; the long cane, a tactile-kinaesthetic extension for mobility; the braille writer, a tactile system of writing and reading; screen magnifiers, for adjusting font size and digital contrast; screen readers, which convey visual information through speech synthesis; and digital book readers, devices that read books in a structured way with synthesised voices.
This equipment is intended to mitigate the physiological effects of visual impairment. From an educational perspective, it is necessary to consider the individual’s potential in relation to activities and their needs in the classroom. According to the National Curriculum Reference for Early Childhood Education (BRASIL, 1998, web), visual impairment in the educational context is understood as follows:
- Blindness: the total loss, or minimal residue, of vision that leads the individual to need the Braille method as a means of reading and writing, along with other teaching resources and special equipment for their education;
- Reduced vision: from an educational standpoint, a residue that allows the learner to read printed ink, provided teaching resources and special equipment are used (BRASIL, 1998, s.p, web).
In this context, the emphasis falls chiefly on including the student with a visual impairment in mainstream classes, which requires proactivity in identifying the barriers and obstacles they face in accessing quality education, as well as the removal of the challenges that lead to exclusion (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO, 2023, web).
Accessibility in higher education
Access to education for people with disabilities began to be discussed widely in the 1990s, above all after the World Conference on Education for All (UNESCO, 1990) and the World Conference on Special Needs Education (UNESCO, 1994), when a number of countries began to adapt their legislation. In Brazil, more than 50 policies aimed at the inclusion of this group have been created since 1994. The Inclusion Act for people with disabilities (Lei nº 13.146/2015) covers policies on accessibility in architectural, attitudinal, educational and technological matters. Lei nº 13.409/2016, in turn, provides for reserved places for people with disabilities on secondary-level technical and higher education programmes at federal institutions (SILVA, 2022).
According to Rocha and Miranda (2009), the principal national instruments guiding education towards a successive approximation of the assumptions and pedagogical practice of inclusive education include:
- The Federal Constitution, Title VIII, articles 208 and 227;
- Lei n. 7.853/89. Provides for support to people with disabilities and their social integration, ensuring the full exercise of their individual and social rights;
- Lei n. 10.098/00. Establishes general rules and basic criteria for promoting accessibility for people with disabilities or reduced mobility, and other measures;
- Lei 10.172/01, which approves the National Education Plan and sets objectives and targets for the education of people with special educational needs;
- Decreto n. 5.296/04. Regulates Lei nº 10.048/00, which gives priority of service to people with disabilities, and Lei nº 10.098/00, which establishes general rules and basic criteria for promoting accessibility for people with disabilities or reduced mobility, and other measures;
- Lei 9.394/96, which establishes the Guidelines and Bases of National Education;
- Decreto n. 3289/99, which regulates Lei nº 7.853/89, providing for the National Policy for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities, consolidating the rules of protection and other measures;
- MEC Ordinance n. 1.679/99. Provides for the accessibility requirements for people with disabilities in the processes of authorising and recognising programmes and accrediting institutions (ROCHA and MIRANDA, 2009).
Not every initiative in fact favours the inclusion of people with disabilities. Decreto nº 10.502/2020 promoted schooling in spaces exclusive to people with disabilities, rolling back the international outlook on inclusive education. On 6 August 2021 that decree was challenged by direct action of unconstitutionality nº 6.590 before the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and, more recently, on 1 January 2023, it was amended by the President of the Republic (SILVA, 2022; FOLHA, 2023, web).
The inclusion of students with disabilities, from early childhood education through to higher education, represents a challenge for public and private institutions alike. In Brazil, the studies and policies underpinned by the Education for All (1990) and Salamanca (1994) documents deal above all with inclusion in basic education. Attempts to include people with disabilities in higher education, by contrast, reveal a shortage of reflection, studies and statistics, as well as difficulty in formulating public policies with effective measures (DUARTE and FERREIRA, 2010).
Duarte and Ferreira (2010) point out that social systems which for centuries did not take account of the needs arising from human diversity must evolve. From that perspective, inclusion is a consequence of the social vision of a democratic world in which the rights and duties of everyone are to be respected, regardless of individual characteristics. In other words: an individual’s limitation cannot limit their rights. People with disabilities are citizens and are part of society. In this sense, education is a constitutional right in a society marked by exclusion, failure and abandonment at every level of teaching. That failure amounts to a serious impediment to the appropriation of systematised knowledge, to the construction of more sophisticated cognitive and psychological functions, to instruments for acting in the social environment, and to the transformation of the individual and their living conditions (DUARTE and FERREIRA, 2010).
There is a dichotomy between public policies for inclusive education and the persistence of an excluding daily reality in Brazilian schools, characterised by the incompleteness of the education system, of schools and of teachers in giving effect to the legislation. Teachers do not consider themselves prepared to work with students in inclusive education, because "they lack an understanding of the proposal, the corresponding conceptual training, mastery from the standpoint of didactics and methodology, and appropriate working conditions" (BEYER, 2003, p.1).
Inclusive education is therefore founded on human rights principles, which guarantee students with disabilities access to the same opportunities in the teaching and learning process. To achieve its aims it requires the collaboration of professionals and the development of tools suited to the specific needs of the individuals served. From that perspective, the role and contribution of design stand out: it must abandon standardised approaches in order to understand the many particularities of disability and to involve the user at every phase of developing educational solutions (GUIMARÃES, 2020).
Accessibility in educational equipment and materials
Human activities are mediated by countless implements and pieces of equipment aimed at efficiency and well-being. People with disabilities frequently turn to some assistive resource, whether Assistive Technology (AT) or Assistive Communication (AC), in order to carry out their daily tasks. These include the equipment and services that help to extend functional and communicative abilities, social life, autonomy, efficiency and well-being. Many of them, however, are not very accessible or functional (DISCHINGER et al., 2012).
AT is the technique, equipment, product, interface or service used to maintain or improve the functional capacities of a person with a disability, whether temporary or permanent. It enables those individuals to access, understand and take part in social activities, and can make inclusion effective (DISCHINGER et al., 2012). The equipment or products are manufactured either in series or to measure. The services or systems, in turn, directly help people with disabilities to select, purchase or use the other resources (SARTORETTO and BERSCH, 2019). AC, for its part, refers to modes of communication beyond speech, such as the use of gestures, sign language, facial expressions, alphabet boards, pictographic symbols, sophisticated computer systems with synthesised speech, and others (GLENNEM, 1997).
In education, AT and AC contribute to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Specialised support and specific resources benefit the student with a disability and provide the conditions needed to perform their learning tasks, guaranteeing the same access as other students. Through technology it is possible to help create alternatives that make writing, reading and mobility skills viable, supporting individual and collective development (FABRIN et al., 2016). In the case of visual impairment — determined by the absence or reduction of visual capacities — teaching methods and educational materials must extend the use of the other senses, especially hearing and haptics, or active touch (GUIMARÃES, 2020).
In pedagogical terms, in Brazilian state schools a student is considered blind when, even with some visual residue, they need instruction in Braille; and a student is considered to have low vision, or subnormal vision, when they read enlarged print or read with the aid of specific optical resources (MEC, 2000). The Brazilian government promotes access to optical resources through the State Health Department, which acquires them with funding from the Unified Health System (SUS) (BRUNO, 2006).
Elizabeth Sá, Myriam Silva and Valdirene Simão (2010) discuss the main approaches and tools intended for teaching individuals with visual impairments. Some of those technologies are presented below: the slate and stylus, the soroban, hand-held or desk and stand magnifiers, tactile games with texture and colour contrast, and printed materials with dual representation.
| Assistive Technology | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Slate and stylus | Braille is written using the slate together with the stylus. The slate consists of two metal or plastic plates held together with hinges, so that paper can be inserted; the stylus is an instrument whose function is to mark the paper through pressure on it (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
| Soroban | An instrument for calculation and mathematical operations, adapted for use by blind people from the point of literacy onwards. It allows numbers to be recorded quickly and precisely, which makes it easier to study the fundamental operations in full and to develop reasoning in calculation (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
| Hand-held, desk or stand magnifiers | Instruments used by people with low vision to enlarge font sizes for reading, and the dimensions of maps, charts, diagrams, figures and so on (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
| Tactile games | Teaching resources that help make learning situations more engaging. These games are designed to provide tactile and visual stimuli, making them accessible to students with visual impairments (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
| Printed materials with dual representation | Equipment modelled on universal design: it has two pages with the same content, one with printed typographic text and the other with tactile materials, braille or enlarged type (SÁ, CAMPOS and SILVA, 2007, web). |
Table description
Table 3, "Assistive technologies intended for teaching individuals with visual impairments", is set out in two columns, presenting the "Assistive Technology" and the "Explanation" of how each is applied in the educational context. The list comprises five main technologies: the slate and stylus, used for writing in Braille; the soroban, an instrument adapted for calculation and mathematical operations; hand-held, desk or stand magnifiers, for visual enlargement; tactile games, which provide visual and tactile stimuli to make learning more engaging; and, finally, printed materials with dual representation, which combine text printed in ink with Braille or enlarged type.
Today, the computer, the projector and presentation editors such as PowerPoint are among the main teaching resources used in higher education. Slides, being multimodal and multisemiotic, go beyond verbal language, drawing on graphic and pictorial components and on different arrangements of the text they carry (ROMÁRIO et al. 2021).
According to Salton, Agnol and Turcatti (2017), slide presentations created in software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, LibreOffice Impress and Google Slides can offer a good level of accessibility, provided certain precautions are taken when creating them. In the digital medium, making them usable for people with disabilities — among them people with visual impairments — depends on aspects of legibility, typography, colour, contrast, layout and others (BUENO et al. 2022).