Business Spotlight 08.2019

64 TECHNOLOGY

Fotos: dusanpetkovic/iStock.com

Business Spotlight 6/2019

to record high anxiety levels on Wednes-

day afternoons, which have traditionally

been left free, so the university now offers

drop-in sessions on those days.

Universities are feeling the pressure

to improve accessibility after the UK

government reduced funds for Disabled

Student Allowances (DSA) in 2016–17.

The universities were given more money

to persuade them to “create a more inclu-

sive learning environment” overall, rath-

er than focusing on targeted support for

individuals.

Targeted support is important

Although disability campaigners have

broadly welcomed the change, they

point to some problems. Piers Wilkinson

is head of Ramping Up, a consultancy on

accessibility in higher education, and dis-

abled student officer-elect at the National

Union of Students. Wilkinson says that a

general, inclusive approach can be helpful

in determining that a particular style of

teaching or assessment does not work for

all students, not just their disabled peers.

But he argues that although that is impor-

tant, universities still need to provide tar-

geted support for disabled students.

Furthermore, analysis by Policy Con-

nect, a cross-party think tank, shows

that the number of students receiving

technology equipment through DSA has

dropped since the £200 charge for DSA-

issued laptops came in, despite a substan-

tial increase in the number being assessed

as needing support. It recommends re-

moving these upfront costs.

Rachel Hewett, fellow in the Vision

Impairment Centre for Teaching and Re-

search at the University of Birmingham,

adds that even when students receive lap-

tops, the fact that they are issued by the

DSA can make them unsuitable. “Once

they have put on all the different software

they need and are trying to run them in

conjunction with other laptops, they

aren’t powerful enough,” she says. Many

students struggle to use the equipment,

as they aren’t given any training.

Hewett would like to see the DSA

fund mainstream technology such as

iPads, which increasingly include func-

tions such as Braille-writing capability.

Getting used to mainstream technology

would also be more helpful to students in

the long term, she argues.

More promotion necessary

For Gemma Long, universities just need

to get better at promoting the support

that’s already there. She says that making

specialist software and training gener-

ally available, rather than limiting it to

disabled students, makes it more widely

known, as well as removing the stigma

associated with it. For someone like her,

who received her diagnoses late, it would

have been particularly helpful. That is

why she has founded an assistive tech-

nology network to represent staff who

support their disabled students with tech-

nology. The group held its first awards cer-

emony in August.

Universities are slowly tackling the

barriers for disabled students, helped

along by developments in technology.

There’s more yet to come: Wilkinson

is excited about the prospect of virtual

reality — particularly when it comes to

fieldwork. “It can be incredibly difficult

for a disabled student to get a wheelchair

on to a salt marsh,” he says. “But if the

learning aims are being immersed in an

environment, and making discoveries,

VR can achieve that.”

© Guardian News & Media 2019

Students at

De Montfort

University can

record their

moods via a traffic

light system

allowance(s)

[əˈlaʊəns(Iz)] UK

, Fördermittel

assess sth. [əˈses]

, etw. einschätzen

assessment [əˈsesmənt]

, Bewertung, Beurteilung

drop-in session

[)drɒp (ɪn )seʃ&n]

, offene Sitzung (zur

Klärung von Anliegen) für

Studierende mit Behin-

derungen/Erkrankungen

fellow [ˈfeləʊ] UK

, Fellow, Mitglied einer

akademischen Einrichtung

einer Universität

immerse sth. in sth.

[ɪˈmɜːs In]

, etw. in etw. eintauchen;

hier: einbetten, verankern

in conjunction with sth.

[)ɪn kənˈdʒʌŋkʃ&n )wɪð]

, im Verbund /

gemeinsam mit etw.

incredibly [ɪnˈkredəbli]

, unglaublich

issue sth. [ˈɪʃuː]

, etw. ausgeben, zuteilen

mainstream [ˈmeɪnstriːm]

, etabliert

National Union of

Students [)næʃ&nəl

)juːniən əv ˈstjuːd&nts]

UK , etwa: Nationale

Studierendenvertretung

ramping up

[)ræmpɪŋ (ʌp]

, Ausbau, Anlauf

salt marsh [(sɔːlt mɑːʃ]

, Salzsumpf, -wiese

student officer-elect

[)stjuːd&nt )ɒfIsər iˈlekt]

, etwa: gewählte(r)

Studentensprecher(in)

think tank

[(θɪŋk tæŋk]

, Denkfabrik

upfront [ˌʌpˈfrʌnt]

, im Voraus entstehend

VR (virtual reality)

[)viː (ɑː]

, virtuelle Realität

Brain in Hand app:

designed for people

with autism and

learning disabilities