The Authors Nicholas Arthur-Baidoo Jnr, Elsie Edinam Avevor, and Francis Kwesku Essel are members of the Ashesi Accessibility Team. The team advances disability inclusion by providing disability inclusion training and sign language services across the university.
In Ghana’s Gen Z era, education happens as much online as it does in the classroom. Lecture notes are shared on WhatsApp, assignments are submitted through learning management systems, and university portals determine everything from course registration to graduation. Ghana’s universities have embraced digital transformation as a symbol of progress. Yet one critical question remains largely unanswered: Who is disconnected by design?
For many students with disabilities, digital transformation has created new barriers rather than new opportunities. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic accelerated the adoption of online learning across public and private universities, prompting institutions to move lectures, assessments, and administrative services online almost overnight. While this shift ensured continuity in learning, accessibility was often overlooked. Even after campuses reopened, many of these digital practices became permanent despite remaining inaccessible to students with disabilities.
Although more than 500,000 Ghanaians live with disabilities, digital accessibility remains a significant gap within higher education. Research by Agangiba (2020) and Mensah (2020) suggests that only a small proportion of university websites and portals meet basic accessibility standards. As universities continue to invest in digital learning, they must ensure these platforms expand access rather than reinforce exclusion.
Where Digital Exclusion Begins
Inaccessible Admission Systems
Exclusion often starts before a student even sets foot in a classroom. Many online admission portals use complex CAPTCHA or timed forms that do not work with assistive technology. Standard CAPTCHA asks users to identify distorted letters or click on all images containing “traffic lights.” For students who are blind or have low vision, these are impossible to solve without a high-quality audio alternative. If a brilliant student with a disability cannot even apply for a program because the portal is inaccessible, the university has failed its mission of inclusion before the semester begins.
Learning Management Systems That Leave Students Behind
Learning management systems (LMSs) such as Canvas, Moodle, Sakai, and institution-specific platforms have become central to teaching and learning. However, many LMSs were implemented without adequate accessibility testing. When buttons are not properly labeled, and navigation is not compatible with screen readers, students with visual impairments encounter unnecessary obstacles in completing basic academic tasks such as submitting assignments, taking quizzes, or accessing course materials.
Inaccessible Course Materials
Perhaps the most common accessibility barrier is the use of scanned PDF documents. When lecturers upload scanned textbook chapters as images rather than searchable text, students using screen readers cannot access the content. Without Optical Character Recognition (OCR), these documents become unreadable.
Images, charts, graphs, and diagrams present similar challenges. Without meaningful alternative text (alt text), students using assistive technologies miss essential information that their peers receive immediately.
Limited Access for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students
Digital accessibility extends beyond visual impairments. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing frequently encounter online lectures and virtual events without sign language interpretation, captions, or transcripts.
Even when interpreters are provided during live sessions, they are often not spotlighted on screen, making interpretation difficult to follow. As a result, many students rely on classmates to explain lecture content after class, requiring additional time and effort to access information that others receive in real time.
Videos Without Captions
Recorded lectures have become valuable learning resources, yet many remain inaccessible. Videos without captions or transcripts exclude students who are deaf or hard of hearing and present additional challenges for students who process information differently, speak English as an additional language, or struggle with unfamiliar accents.
Captions and transcripts do more than support accessibility. They improve comprehension, make content searchable, and enhance learning for all students.
The Human Cost of Digital Inaccessibility
Digital exclusion has consequences that extend far beyond technology. Students who must spend hours converting inaccessible documents into readable formats often experience chronic stress, frustration, and exhaustion before they even begin studying.
Over time, these barriers contribute to anxiety, burnout, and feelings of imposter syndrome, causing students to question whether they belong in higher education despite having the ability to succeed.
Digital exclusion also limits participation in university life. Student organizations, leadership opportunities, extracurricular activities, and campus events are increasingly organized online. When registration forms, promotional materials, or virtual meetings are inaccessible, students with disabilities are unintentionally excluded from experiences that contribute to personal growth, leadership development, and professional networking.
Academically, inaccessible systems create unnecessary delays. While one student can immediately access assigned readings, another may spend days waiting for an accessible version of the same material. In a fast-paced semester, these delays accumulate quickly, affecting coursework, grades, and graduation timelines.
Perhaps most significantly, inaccessible technology undermines independence. Rather than navigating university systems on their own, students are forced to rely on friends or classmates to complete tasks such as reading documents, filling out forms, or explaining recorded lectures. This dependence diminishes confidence and undermines one of higher education’s core objectives: preparing students for independent professional and personal lives.
