Skip to main content

Experiences of Visually Impaired South African Government Employees with E-Government Services

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Implications of Information and Digital Technologies for Development (ICT4D 2024)

Abstract

Most governments have integrated digital technologies into all facets of their operations to improve internal government operations and enhance effective and efficient service delivery to the citizenry. As a result, accessibility of e-government services is important for all citizens, especially for persons with disabilities. Government plays a crucial role in addressing accessibility challenges internally before services can be cascaded to all citizens. While several studies have evaluated the accessibility of e-government services to persons with disabilities, these studies have not explored the perspective of visually impaired government employees. With this gap in mind, the purpose of the study is to explore the experiences of visually impaired government employees with e-government services. The study is inductive and uses qualitative semi-structured interviews to collect data from ten visually impaired government workers. The findings identified six themes that shape employees’ experiences with e-government services. The findings contribute to the gap in literature on the accessibility of e-government services for persons with disabilities employed in the government sector. The study also underpins directions for management in government workplaces regarding the needs of persons with disabilities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hazineh, S.A., Eleyan, D., Alkhateeb, M.: E-government: limitations and challenges: a general framework for to consider in both developed and developing countries. Int. J. Sci. Technol. Res. 11, 1 (2022). www.ijstr.org

  2. Maluleka, S.M., Budree, A., Van Belle, J.P.: A systematic literature review on south african government to harness software as a service for enhanced e-government. In: Ninth International Conference on eDemocracy & eGovernment (ICEDEG), pp. 1–6 (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Enaifoghe, A., Dlamini, N.P., Jili, N., Mthethwa, R.: The role of e-government as enabler of good governance for socio-economic development in South Africa. Int. J. Soc. Sci. Res. Rev. 6(21), 493–508 (2023). https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v6i1.826

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lulaj, E., Zarin, I., Rahman, S.: A novel approach to improving e-government performance from budget challenges in complex financial systems. Complexity 1–16 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Wilson, C., Mergel, I.: Overcoming barriers to digital government: mapping the strategies of digital champions. Gov. Inf. Q. 39(2), 101681 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2022.101681

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Babalola, Y.T.: Nigeria’s information infrastructure policy: implications for e-government. Arab. J. Bus. Manag. 2(11), 8–15 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Choi, H., Jae, M., Jeung, J., Zo, H.: Rethinking the assessment of e-government implementation in developing countries from the perspective of the design reality gap: applications in the Indonesian e-procurement system. Telecommun. Policy 40(7), 644–660 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2016.03.002

  8. Rorissa, A., Demissie, D.: An analysis of African e-Government service websites. Gov. Inf. Q. J. 27(2), 161–169 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2009.12.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Jalali, M., Shahabi, S., Lankarani, K.B.: COVID-19 and disabled people: perspectives from Iran. Disabil. Soc. 35(5), 844–847 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1754165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cumbie, B.A., Kar, B.: Information Technology for Development A Study of Local Government Website Inclusiveness: The Gap Between E-government Concept and Practice, vol. 1102 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2014.906379

  11. Nakatumba-Nabende, J., Kanagwa, B., Kivunike, F., Tuape, M.: Evaluation of accessibility standards on Ugandan e-government websites. Electron. Gov. Int. J. 15(4), 355–371 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Verkijika, S.F., De Wet, L.: A usability assessment of e-government websites in Sub-Saharan Africa. Int. J. Inf. Manage. 39, 20–29 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ukwuoma, H.C., Cirman, N.E., Oye, P.O.: The role of e-Government in overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. J. Gov. Account. Stud. 2(1), 79–92 (2022). https://doi.org/10.35912/jgas.v2i1.1157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zeleke, Y.: Usability and accessibility model for e-government websites in Ethiopia. In: African Conference on Information Systems and Technology (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  15. WHO: Disability considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak (2020). www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Disability-2020-1. Accessed 22 Sept 2023

  16. Hostetter, H., Naser, M.Z.: Characterizing disability in fire: a progressive review. J. Build. Eng. 53, 104573 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2022.104573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. WHO (2023). www.who.int/news-room. Accessed 17 Sept 2023

  18. Hunt, X., et al.: Community support for persons with disabilities in low-and middle-income countries: a scoping review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19(10), 8269–8283 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Narayanan, S.: A study on challenges faced by disabled people at workplace in Malaysia. In: 5th Putrajaya International Conference on Children, Women, Elderly and People with Disabilities, pp. 185–197 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Akpan-Obong, P.I., Trinh, M.P., Ayo, C.K., Oni, A.: E-Governance as good governance? Evidence from 15 West African countries. Inf. Technol. Dev. 29(2–3), 256–275 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Paul, C., Adams, S.O.: The effect of e-government development indices (EGDI) on corruption perception index in sub-Sahara Africa: a panel data analysis. Afr. J. Sci. Technol. Innov. Dev. 16, 1–9 (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Agbozo, E., Spassov, K.B.: Evaluating metropolitan assembly web sites in ghana : accessibility, evaluating metropolitan assembly web sites in ghana : accessibility, compatibility and usability. Webology 15(1), 46–60 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ciesielska, M., Rizun, N., Chabik, J.: Assessment of E-government inclusion policies toward seniors: a framework and case study. Telecommun. Policy 46(7), 102316–102333 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Kulkarni, M.: Digital accessibility: challenges and opportunities. IIMB Manag. Rev. 31(1), 91–98 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Statistics South Africa: National Poverty Lines. https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications. Accessed 23 Aug 2023

  26. McKinney, E.L., Swartz, L.: Employment integration barriers: experiences of people with disabilities. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 32(10), 2298–2320 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1579749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lippens, L., Vermeiren, S., Baert, S.: The state of hiring discrimination: a meta-analysis of (almost) all recent correspondence experiments. Eur. Econ. Rev. 151, 104315 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Al Sayegh, A.J., Ahmad, S.Z., AlFaqeeh, K.M., Singh, S.K.: Factors affecting e-government adoption in the UAE public sector organisations: the knowledge management perspective. J. Knowl. Manag. 27(3), 717–737 (2023)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Rao, V.R.: Collaborative government to employee (G2E): issues and challenges to e-government. J. e-Gov. 34(4), 214–229 (2011). https://doi.org/10.3233/GOV-2011-0279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Antoni, D., et al.: Public services point network design for local government. In: Proceedings - 4th International Conference on Informatics, Multimedia, Cyber and Information System, ICIMCIS 2022, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 473–477 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIMCIS56303.2022.10017567

  31. Sagheb-Tehrani, M.: A model of successful factors towards e-government implementation. Electron. Gov. Int. J. 7(1), 60–74 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1504/EG.2010.029891

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Kariuki, P., Ofusori, L., Goyayi, M.: E-government and citizen experiences in South Africa: ethekwini metropolitan case study. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, pp. 478–480 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Olivier, B., Murenzi, P.: E-government challenges faced by selected district municipalities in South Africa and Rwanda. Adm. Publica 25(1), 141–172 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Thakur, S., Singh, S.: Study of some E-government activities in South Africa. Afr J Comput ICT 6(2), 41–54 (2013)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  35. Bourne, R., et al.: Trends in prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment over 30 years: an analysis for the global burden of disease study. Lancet Glob. Health 9(2), 130–143 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Arsh, A., Darain, H., Zeb, A., Ullah, S., Ullah, I., Ilyas, S.M.: Employment status of persons with disability in government departments in khyber pakhtunkhwa Pakistan Pakistan. Pak. J. Med. Sci. 35(5), 1392–1396 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Ramachandra, S.S., Murthy, G.S., Shamanna, B.R., Allagh, K.P., Pant, H.B., John, N.: Factors influencing employment and employability for persons with disability: insights from a City in South India. Indian J. Occup. Environ. Med. 21(1), 36–41 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Dečman, M.: Understanding technology acceptance of government information systems from employees’ perspective. Int. J. Electron. Gov. Res. 11(4), 69–88 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Ahn, M.J., Chen, Y.C.: Digital transformation toward AI-augmented public administration: the perception of government employees and the willingness to use AI in government. Gov. Inf. Q. 39(2), 101664 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Ali, O., Shrestha, A., Osmanaj, V., Muhammed, S.: Cloud computing technology adoption: an evaluation of key factors in local governments. Inf. Technol. People 34(2), 666–703 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Zhu, X., Law, K.S., Sun, C., Yang, D.: Thriving of employees with disabilities: the roles of job self-efficacy, inclusion, and team-learning climate. Hum. Resour. Manage. 58(1), 21–34 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Setiyanto, A.I., Wulandari, M.: The effect of instrumental social support and self-efficiency on performance of employees with disabilities. In: International Conference on Applied Economics and Social Science, pp. 8–11 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Chaudhry, I.S., Paquibut, R.Y., Tunio, M.N.: Do workforce diversity, inclusion practices, & organizational characteristics contribute to organizational innovation? Evidence from the U.A.E. Cogent Bus. Manag. 8(1), 1–24 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1947549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Jahan, N., Holloway, C.: Barriers to Access and Retain Formal Employment for Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh and Kenya Key Questions (2021). https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.17179.28966

  45. Rahmatika, R.A., Pratiwi, C.P., Basuki, C.: Does the provision of assistive technology increase disability employment? Indones. J. Disabil. Stud. 9(2), 179–199 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Wahidin, H., Waycott, J., Baker, S.: The challenges in adopting assistive technologies in the workplace for people with visual impairments. In: Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, pp. 432–442. Association for Computing Machinery (2018). https://doi.org/10.1145/3292147.3292175

  47. Jansen, J., van Ooijen, R., Koning, P.W.C., Boot, C.R.L., Brouwer, S.: The role of the employer in supporting work participation of workers with disabilities: a systematic literature review using an interdisciplinary approach. J. Occup. Rehabil. 31(4), 916–949 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-021-09978-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Patwa, N., Sivarajah, U., Seetharaman, A., Sarkar, S., Maiti, K., Hingorani, K.: Towards a circular economy: an emerging economies context. J. Bus. Res. 122, 725–735 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. WHO: Global Report on Assistive Technology. https://iris.who.int/bit-stream/handle/10665/354357/9789240049451-eng.pdf

  50. Opoku, M.P., Swabey, K., Pullen, D., Dowden, T.: Poverty alleviation among persons with disabilities via united nations’ sustainable development goals in ghana: voices of stakeholders with disabilities. Sustain. Dev. 27(1), 175–182 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Rozali, N., Abdullah, S., Ishak, S.I.D., Azmi, A.A., Akhmar, N.H.: Challenges faced by people with disability for getting jobs: entrepreneurship solution for unemployment. Int. J. Acad. Res. Bus. Soc. Sci. 7(3), 333–339 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Abanumy, A., Al-badi, A., Mayhew, P.: E-government website accessibility: in-depth evaluation of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Electron. J. E-Gov. 3(3), 99–106 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Agangiba, M.: Accessibility of E-government Services for Persons with Disabilities in Developing Countries-The Case of Ghana. University of Cape Town (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Boussarhan, I., Daoudi, N.: The accessibility of moroccan public websites: evaluation of three e-government websites. Electron. J. e-Gov. 12(1), 67–81 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Messaoudi, M.D., Menelas, B.A.J., Mcheick, H.: Review of navigation assistive tools and technologies for the visually impaired. Sensors 22(20), 7888 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/s22207888

  56. Potnis, D., Mallary, K.: Proposing an information value chain to improve information services to disabled library patrons using assistive technologies. J. Inf. Sci. 48(6), 825–837 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551520984719

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Hill, H.: Disability and accessibility in the library and information science literature: a content analysis. Libr. Inf. Sci. Res. 35(2), 137–142 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2012.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Sullivan, K.: The Prevalence of the Medical Model of Disability in Society

    Google Scholar 

  59. AHS Capstone Projects. Paper 13. http://digitalcommons.olin.edu/ahs_capstone_2011/13. Accessed 25 May 2023

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Millicent Agangiba .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Ethics declarations

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Ramadimetjar, J., Kabanda, S., Agangiba, M. (2024). Experiences of Visually Impaired South African Government Employees with E-Government Services. In: Chigona, W., Kabanda, S., Seymour, L.F. (eds) Implications of Information and Digital Technologies for Development. ICT4D 2024. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 708. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66982-8_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66982-8_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-66981-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-66982-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics