Accessibility as a means to realising social justice in higher education: Interviews with user organisations and service-providers

Abstract

To date, media accessibility research has focused mostly on access services within the scope of cultural life at the expense of higher education, where people with sensory disabilities are still under-represented. In an attempt to assess accessibility needs and current barriers to accessibility in the context of higher education in Catalonia, this study adopted a user-centred approach to the provision of access at universities. This article therefore reports on the findings of semi-structured interviews with disabled people organisations and also with accessibility professionals. The thematic analysis of the interviews has revealed several areas of concern: a generalised need for accessibility literacy, both at a societal and at an individual level (especially on the part of university staff); the prevalence of invisible work among students and lecturers with disabilities who have to take additional steps to have their accessibility needs met; and the problematic working conditions of accessibility professionals who provide their services to higher education. The distribution of accessibility and inclusion resources, the matter of working and studying conditions and the application of user- and professional-centred methodologies are important concerns which this study identified as areas needing improvement at the intersection between social justice and media accessibility in the higher-education institutions of Catalonia.