Accessibility to Become Essential Part of University Culture

How can we make sure that accessibility is considered in all UZH processes right from the beginning? How can all key documents and websites be made accessible to everyone? And how do we create an accessible environment that allows all people to work, study and research without barriers?

The third part of the university’s UZH Accessible project focuses on removing existing barriers at UZH and changing our everyday behavior towards people with disabilities. In December, Benjamin Börner from the Office for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI Office) hosted an online workshop for around 50 people from across UZH’s faculties, the University of Zurich Student Association (VSUZH), the university’s Event Management team and advisory offices as well as affected students and staff. The event gave them the opportunity to share their views and ideas.

The third sub-project aims to develop measures to make the university’s standard processes accessible and to raise awareness among UZH staff and students of the rights and needs of people with disabilities. “This is a university-wide topic that affects all areas of the university. We all have to take action together,” says Benjamin Börner, who manages the sub-project.

During the online workshop, participants made several suggestions on how conditions for people with disabilities could be improved. For example, one affected student would like teaching staff to provide accessible teaching materials in a timely manner. According to the student, this would save disabled students a lot of time. It was also suggested that existing policies be reviewed. One participant criticized the inconsistent application of expense regulations for people with disabilities, claiming that it is often a matter of negotiation whether costs for support persons or guide dogs are covered. 

There was clear support among workshop participants for university-wide accessibility training. However, there was no consensus on how these courses ought to be implement. Should accessibility training be mandatory? Or would it be better to make it voluntary – and risk reaching only those people who are already interested in accessibility issues? The idea of an annual Accessibility Awareness Day was also brought up, and participants discussed the collection of accessibility data at UZH. One student suggested that teaching staff should be evaluated on whether their courses are actually accessible.

Another idea shared in the workshop was the need for more contact points, i.e. specially trained people tasked with implementing accessibility tasks in their area of responsibility. Generally speaking, participants wanted UZH to better manage which support services are available to university staff and which things need to be organized by affected people themselves. Another idea was to create a dedicated office where people could report discrimination against people with disabilities.

The workshop produced a number of suggestions, ideas and requests. It is now up to Benjamin Börner and his team to consolidate them and develop binding measures for an accessible future. Börner pointed out that the call for a standardized approach to academic accommodations, which was also raised, will be addressed in a separate project that will review and streamline these processes. This is a further important step towards embedding accessibility for people with disabilities in the culture of UZH.