Disability and accessibility in the library and information science literature: a content analysis

Authors

Heather Hill, Western UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2013

Volume

35

Issue

2

Journal

Library and Information Science Research

URL with Digital Object Identifier

137

Last Page

142

Abstract

The library profession is often a strong and vocal proponent of increased access for persons with disabilities. With the profession's long-standing interest in the subject of services to persons with disabilities come questions that get to how the profession perceives the phenomenon. How is library and information science (LIS), as a field, conceptualizing disability and accessibility? The space for examining this question is a content analysis of the LIS literature. The literature provides a fertile ground for study as it reflects the profession's approaches to, and perceptions of, a topic. This research identifies the major issues and trends in the research on accessibility and disability in the LIS literature over an 11 year period, 2000-2010. The strongest theme in the literature is accessibility as it relates to web, database, and software, while the prevailing disability of focus is visual disabilities. The overall environment is one of a focus on technology more so than on attitudinal aspects of disabilities. The research could benefit from increased direct participation of persons with disabilities.