Accessibility Services
© ZAB - Bielefeld University
Accessibility Services (ZAB)
Accessible University
Accessibility Services (ZAB)
The ZAB is the central point of contact for all issues relating to accessibility and the active participation of people with disabilities or chronic illnesses at Bielefeld University. The ZAB offers expertise
• on accessible and diversity-sensitive university development
• in digital accessibility
• for prospective students, students and lecturers on studying with disabilities or chronic illnesses
• for employees and managers on employment with disabilities or chronic illnesses
News
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An informative visit: Working Group 3 of the Faculty of Education at the ZAB
On 23 January 2023, the lecturers of Working Group 3 (AG3) of the Faculty of Education at Bielefeld University visited ZAB - Zentrale Anlaufstelle Barrierefrei to learn more about its tasks and goals and to get to know the ZAB's services for students and employees with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
The focus was on the workrooms for students on the ZAB corridor. Markus Paulußen, ZAB's accessibility officer, showed the group assistive technologies in the Louis Braille room, e.g. screen readers at the computer workstations, Braille displays and Braille printers, as well as the magnification device, which enables people with visual impairments to enlarge texts individually or to have them read aloud. Afterwards, we went to the Theresia Degener room, which is specially designed for people who need an environment that is as free of disturbances as possible in which to work. Students can take exams here, for example. With these rooms, the ZAB supports the self-study of students with disabilities or chronic illnesses who, due to their disabilities, require a particularly low-stimulus environment or assistive technologies....read more -
Welcome to the new year!
Welcome to the new year! We hope you all had a relaxing and fulfilling time during the holidays. ZAB is now moving forward at full speed, because we are also looking forward to many exciting projects in the New Year....read more
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SHUFFLE-Excursion to the Czech Republic
This week, the SHUFFLE team visited the Teiresias Centre at Masaryk University in Brno and the Pyramida Centre at the University of Ostrava. In various workshops and discussions, the participants exchanged ideas about the implementation of Universal Design at universities and the needs of students with disabilities or chronic illnesses. The various interesting insights gained will be of great benefit to the SHUFFLE project and the ZAB.
...read more
ZAB - Insights
Short questions – quick answers
How do I apply for disadvantage compensation?
You may apply for a Nachteilausgleich (“compensation for disadvantage”) if you have an existing disability or chronic illness that impairs your study. The purpose of the Nachteilausgleich is to create a comparable study and examination environment between students with and without a disability/ chronic illness.
More information on disadvantage compensation (in German)What do I have to consider - - before starting my studies if I have an impairment?
Information on applying, enrolling and admission to a degree programme, e.g. with disadvantage compensation or an application for hardship.
Prospective students (in German)Who can help me with - - questions or conflicts?
Depending on your concerns, we at the ZAB will put you in touch with the right person or provide you with advice.
Points of contact on the - - campus (in German)
Accessibility
What is accessibility?
"Building and other facilities, means of transport, technical items of daily use, information processing systems, acoustic and visual sources of information and communication facilities as well as other designed areas of life are considered accessible if they can be located, accessed and used by persons with disabilities in the usual way, without any particular difficulty and, in principle, without the assistance of others. In this context, the use of disability-related aids is permissible". (§4 Disability Equality Act - BGG).
A barrier is an obstacle. If accessibility is to achieved, then the obstacles in everyday life should be minimised so that everyone, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, can have the same opportunity to live their life independently and autonomously.
In particular, the barriers and prejudices that exist in people's minds must be dismantled by challenging attitudes and actions. After all, discrimination is also a barrier.
Why is accessibility important!
Accessibility is not just a concept for people with disabilities, but for people of all ages, with and without impairments. All people benefit from accessibility.
Accessibility is mandatory for 10% of people to actively participate in life. This applies in particular to blind, visually impaired or deaf people. But many other people are also highly dependent on it.
Accessibility is necessary for 30 to 40% of people to enable active participation on a sustained basis. This applies to all people with an impairment, disability or chronic illness. This could be a matter of ensuring high contrast in the digital or built environment, or providing different ways to perceive something according to the two-senses principle.
Accessibility is something that for 100%, i.e. all people provides convenience at the very least. Because there is one thing that all people have in common: they are ageing, for example, and their physical capacity or perceptive ability is decreasing. A lift, for example, is absolutely essential for people in wheelchairs, necessary for people with mobility impairments, and convenient for everyone else, whether they have luggage, a pram or are simply having trouble getting up the stairs.