We don't want special treatment. We just want equal access.' This plea framed a focus group organised by Vision Without Barriers (VWB) in Lahore, where visually impaired students, educators and advocates mapped both obstacles and opportunities for inclusion across Pakistan's universities.

The first challenge identified is the digital divide in classrooms. Accessing course content has been viewed as a struggle. Reading materials are still shared as scanned PDFs or printed handouts — formats that screen readers often cannot interpret.

Math-heavy texts, untagged documents and PDF readers often crash or misread content. Some faculty still prohibit lecture recordings, depriving blind students of the opportunity to revisit complex ideas. "If only PDFs were made accessible, and if we were allowed to officially record lectures, half our problems would be solved," said one participant.

The participants said that the technology exists, but training does not. The gap is not always technological — it's educational. Tools like JAWS, NVDA and OCR software are available, but they are poorly understood by the teachers and students alike. "Technology training is more important than the technology itself," argued a student.

Dr Afaf Mansoor urged system-wide capacity-building, recalling her shift from segregated schooling to inclusive, peer-learning models: "We realised that segregated models failed our students once they entered mainstream........

© The Express Tribune