10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

Despite ongoing digital transformation in Nigerian higher education, visually impaired students continue to face significant barriers in accessing learning materials and participating effectively in academic activities. This study presents Unilorin-EVISVision, a human-centred assistive digital learning solution designed to advance inclusive digital learning for visually impaired students in Nigerian universities. The study draws on a mixed-methods market validation survey involving visually impaired students, lecturers, disability advocates, community leaders, university administrators, and policymakers across selected tertiary institutions in Nigeria.Findings reveal a persistent accessibility gap within university learning environments. Among surveyed stakeholders, 89.29% reported directly observing difficulties experienced by visually impaired students in accessing learning materials, while 78.57% indicated that these challenges occur daily. Additionally, 75% described the problem as “very common” in their institutions and communities. Major barriers identified include inaccessible learning materials (67.86%), high cost of assistive technologies (57.14%), inadequate disability support infrastructure (39.29%), poor internet and device access (35.71%), and social stigma (32.14%). The consequences of these barriers were rated highly severe, with respondents recording a mean severity score of 8.18 out of 10. Participants further identified poor academic performance, emotional stress, examination difficulties, delayed learning, and increased risk of dropout as major outcomes of continued exclusion. Furthermore, 85.71% confirmed reliance on existing assistive technologies, with an estimated average monthly expenditure of ₦296,565.22 on accessibility-related solutions.In response, Unilorin-EVISVision is conceptualised as a mobile and web-enabled assistive learning platform that integrates lecture recording, optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech conversion, accessible document reading, structured note generation, offline learning support, and compatibility with institutional learning systems. The study argues that locally responsive assistive technologies are essential for promoting educational equity, digital inclusion, and sustainable innovation within Nigeria’s evolving Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) educational landscape.