This study was conducted within a pragmatism
paradigm. The intention was to address the problems
which people with visual im pairm ent and on
w heelchairs face in accessing inform ation in
Tanzanian higher education institutions by applying
various suitable approaches to data gathering. Both
quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The
study was conducted in three administrative regions:
Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Tanga. In these regions,
five universities were studied: University of Dar es
Salaam (UDSM), Open University o f Tanzania
(OUT), Dar es Salaam U niversity College of
Education (DUCE), Sebastian Kolowa Memorial
University (SEKOMU) and St. John's University of
Tanzania (SJUT). In addition, the Special Needs
Education Unit for Disabilities at the Ministry of
Education and Vocational Training was included in
the study. These five large Tanzanian universities
agreed to participate in the study. Data collection
took place from 30th September to 31 st December,
2012 which allowed the primary researcher to visit
all of the institutions.