INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY AS FACTOR IN INFORMATION USE BY STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AT FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (SPECIAL) OYO, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined information accessibility as factor in information use by students with disabilities at Federal College of Education (FCE) Oyo, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was employed for the study while total enumeration method was used to select two hundred and twenty students with disabilities. Three research questions and one hypothesis were generated to guide the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected while the inferential statistics was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that information accessibility has a positive significant relationship with information use by students with disabilities, hence, information accessibility is a factor of information use. Assistive technological devices and personal computers emerged as the main formats for accessing information by the students with disabilities. Findings also revealed that the major barrier to information access and use by students with disabilities was the negative attitude exhibited by members of library staff. The study recommended the need to expose students with disabilities to ICT training to equip them with modern skills in accessing information for everyday use and the need to make institutional and public libraries accessible to individuals with disabilities through the provision of necessary accessible resources.