Purpose

Assistive technology (AT) is like the eyes of visually impaired users (VIUs) and plays a vital role in making them independent in accessing a wide range of library resources and services. It is a revolutionary way to improve the academic performance of VIUs and amalgamate them into mainstream library services. This paper aims to explore the familiarity and understanding of AT among VIUs in accessing library resources and services of three special institutes of Haryana state, India.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a survey method, and data were collected using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of closed-ended questions focused on participants’ familiarity, understanding and key barriers VIUs face in accessing existing AT facilities. Scope of the study is to include three special institutions’ libraries serving to VIUs in Haryana (India). Purposive sampling technique was adopted for data collection. The data are tabulated and analyzed with descriptive statistics methods using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0, and the results are presented in tables, diagrams and graphs.

Findings

The study found that most of the VIUs are highly familiar and reported an expert understanding of Daisy player and digital voice recorder, whereas refreshable Braille display, Braille printer/embosser and scanning and reading devices are least familiar with and reported poor understanding. In the software category, it is noted that VIUs are more familiar with screen reading and speech synthesizer software than other software, and participants confirmed a good understanding of the said software.

Practical implications

The literature review revealed that the majority of library staff in the institutions being investigated had limited knowledge about the availability of the most suitable AT tools. So, the study will be beneficial for them to select the most popular AT tools for their libraries to amalgamate VIUs. The study also highlights some barriers VIUs face in using the existing AT facility of their respective libraries that may be helpful for librarians to understand the root cause of low utilization of available AT tools and how to address this problem effectively. The study can also help policymakers in formulating AT policies for academic libraries. Findings will also help to develop a cost-effective AT workstation suiting the needs of VIUs.

Originality/value

This study will provide an idea to library professionals about which AT hardware and software are more popular among VIUs and useful for developing/improving cutting-edge AT facilities in their libraries to amalgamate VIUs in the mainstream of the library.

中文翻译：

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印度哈里亚纳邦特殊机构图书馆视障用户对辅助技术的熟悉程度和理解情况

目的

辅助技术 (AT) 就像视障用户 (VIU) 的眼睛，在使他们独立访问各种图书馆资源和服务方面发挥着至关重要的作用。这是提高 VIU 学术表现并将其融入主流图书馆服务的革命性方式。本文旨在探讨 VIU 在获取印度哈里亚纳邦三个专门机构的图书馆资源和服务时对 AT 的熟悉程度和理解程度。

设计/方法论/途径

该研究采用调查方法，通过在线问卷收集数据。调查问卷由封闭式问题组成，重点关注参与者的熟悉程度、理解程度以及 VIU 在使用现有 AT 设施时面临的主要障碍。研究范围包括为哈里亚纳邦（印度）的 VIU 提供服务的三个特殊机构的图书馆。采用有目的的抽样技术来收集数据。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）20.0版软件采用描述性统计方法对数据进行制表和分析，结果以表格、图表和图表的形式呈现。

发现

研究发现，大多数 VIU 非常熟悉并报告对 Daisy 播放器和数字录音机有专业的了解，而可刷新盲文显示器、盲文打印机/浮雕以及扫描和阅读设备则最不熟悉，并且报告了解程度很低。在软件类别中，我们注意到，VIU比其他软件更熟悉屏幕阅读和语音合成器软件，参与者确认对上述软件有很好的了解。

实际影响

文献综述显示，被调查机构的大多数图书馆工作人员对于最合适的 AT 工具的可用性知之甚少。因此，这项研究将有利于他们为他们的图书馆选择最流行的 AT 工具来合并 VIU。该研究还强调了 VIU 在使用各自图书馆现有 AT 设施时面临的一些障碍，这可能有助于图书馆员了解现有 AT 工具利用率低的根本原因以及如何有效解决这一问题。该研究还可以帮助政策制定者制定学术图书馆的 AT 政策。研究结果还将有助于开发适合 VIU 需求的经济高效的 AT 工作站。

原创性/价值

这项研究将为图书馆专业人员提供一个想法，了解哪些 AT 硬件和软件在 VIU 中更受欢迎，并且有助于开发/改进图书馆中的尖端 AT 设施，以将 VIU 合并到图书馆的主流中。