Accessibility Service

When planning events such as congresses, symposia and conferences, Accessibility is particularly important and also required by law. The principles of accessibility, usability and experienceability of Design for All (DfA) can be used as a guideline for implementation. This pursues the goal of enabling all people to use services, infrastructures and products as comfortably as possible without individual adaptations or assistance.

In this sense, events at Universities should also reach all interested people without the organizers having to have a large number of special solutions ready as a preventive measure. Instead, they should take potential barriers into account and plan in advance so that barriers do not arise in the first place. This starts with the choice of the room or the online platform, continues with the media used and the placement of the consultant, and ends with the equipment for a get-together, break times and catering. It is important to sharpen your own perspective and offer flexible solutions:

While people who are hard of hearing may need subtitles for an online presentation, other listeners may be massively disturbed in their concentration by subtitles. The technical possibility of optionally switching on subtitles on one's own end device by means of appropriate software can provide an inexpensive remedy at this point.

A get-together that is exclusively equipped with the usual standing tables ignores the needs of people who are dependent on a seat. Round tables at seat height with partial seating plus space for wheelchairs think this barrier through from the start.

Infrequent and/or costly adaptations should be registered in advance by participants*. This applies, for example, to people who need a sign language interpreter during the event. This so-called "individual need" should already be requested during registration and must usually be met.