NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED670434
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 141
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-4711-0906-3
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Texas A&M University System Website Analysis: Disability and Diversity
Jericha Hopson
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Union Institute and University
This study aimed to examine the website content and navigation of the Texas A&M University System to determine what it suggests about TAMUS institutional commitment to disability as diversity. This study sought to replicate and extend research by Gabel et al. (2016), who conducted a critical discourse study and content analysis on the California State University system websites to uncover the system's relationship between disability and diversity. This study focused on the TAMUS and their respective websites. This research utilized content analysis to examine the extent to which the websites' content reflected oppression, inequality, or imbalance of a message's coverage or treatment of issues resulting from cultural, political, and economic conditions (Neuendorf, 2017). Websites were chosen because they serve as a comprehensive clearinghouse of information that can provide unique expressions of modem culture and create a repository of potential data and information about contemporary ways of doing and thinking within large groups. (Pauwels, 2012). The TAMUS websites were chosen for a few reasons: (1.) my connection to and familiarity with the system allowed for feasibility, and (2) the large size of the TAMUS increased the amount of available, accessible material to be analyzed. Mole (2013) states that the effort to decentralize services for disabled students from the Disability Services (DS) office to accessibility as a university-wide responsibility is on the rise. This drastic shift in thinking means that all departments, not just DS, need to collaborate with the DS office to ensure accessibility (Mole, 2013). Data was collected in April 2021. The time for collection is rationalized by looking at the increased number of recruitment events and high school students being released for the summer. Data collection and analysis were loosely based on Pauwels' (2012) multimodal framework for analyzing websites as cultural expressions. Pauwels' framework observes latent and apparent aspects of websites. Additionally, Pauwels' framework addressed those aspects not limited to text, whether present or absent, including layout, construction, interactive links, images, and other design structures. The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program developed by Pennebaker Conglomerates, Inc. was used for data analysis. Most universities in the TAMUS do not appear to situate disability as a part of diversity. The universities that situate disability services in academic affairs tend to focus on legal compliance concerning supporting disabled students. The universities that situate disability services in student affairs tend to adhere to the social model of disability. The data support an overall trend toward the social model of disability for those units housed in student affairs and those housed in academic affairs. The results show that the medical models tend to be the least prevalent, although the results were not significant t(70) = 0.05, p=0.958). This was to be expected considering the growing rejection of the medical model as the most suitable model for determining accessibility needs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A