Locked out! Exploring university library websites’ accessibility by students with visual disabilities

Purpose Despite the availability of web accessibility guidelines, inaccessibility of library websites remains a challenge. This paper aims to explore students with visual disabilities’ experiences in accessing university library websites to access digital information resources. Design/methodology/approach This study followed an exploratory case study design and qualitative research approach. The social model of disability informed the study. Purposive sampling was used to select study sites, while snowball was used to select participants. Data was collected from Kyambogo and Makerere University libraries in Uganda. The authors interviewed 28 students with visual disabilities, and 12 observations and accessibility tests were carried out. The authors thematically analysed the data in Atlas ti v.7.5.7. Findings One of the library websites implemented some accessibility features such as descriptive link text, text labels, and auditory instructions. In both libraries, however, students with visual disabilities are excluded from accessing the websites to access digital information resources and library services. Inaccessibility was caused by navigation difficulties, incompatibility with access tools, and inadequate labelling of links, inadequate awareness of the library website’s existence and access skills. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study exploring the experiences of students with visual disabilities in accessing library websites in Uganda’s university libraries. The findings are valuable to designing inclusive library websites. They also demonstrate the need for university libraries to raise awareness of the availability and benefits of library websites to students with visual disabilities in Uganda and generally, Africa.