Confronting Barriers to Inclusion for Students With Visual Impairment in Tanzania’s Distance Learning University

This study explored how institutional and technological factors shape the inclusion of students with visual impairments in Tanzania’s distance learning higher education, using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems framework. Using a qualitative case study design, data were collected through in-depth interviews, task-based demonstrations and document reviews involving students, lecturers, disability support staff and ICT personnel. Findings show barriers across ecological levels, including weak coordination among units, inaccessible learning management system features, procurement practices that ignore inclusion and inconsistent assistive technology maintenance. At the policy level, a gap exists between inclusive rhetoric and enforceable mechanisms, leading to symbolic rather than real inclusion. Chronosystem analysis shows that licensing and platform update delays create growing disadvantage over time. The study concludes that meaningful inclusion needs ongoing institutional commitment, integrated governance and proactive inclusion planning within digital strategies. These insights add context-specific evidence to discussions on inclusive higher education in sub-Saharan Africa.