September – Accessibility Month
What do we mean by accessibility?
Accessibility can be understood as minimising barriers to accessing, navigating and participating in an environment, whether physical or digital, a social environment, an educational environment, or a socioeconomic environment. To cover all bases, we can understand accessibility as removing barriers to enable all groups to enjoy the same experiences and opportunities as their peers.
Accessibility month aims to raise awareness of events, information and support related to accessibility.
Learn
- If you are a member of staff, you can enrol in the Disability Awareness and Inclusive Practice online training module. This course provides an introduction to disability types and the impact they have on students. It will explore how we can better support our students, anticipate need, and ultimately be more inclusive. This course takes 60-90 minutes to complete.
- Both staff and students can enrol in the Digital Accessibility Basics course. This introductory course explains the importance of digital accessibility and what we can do to make our digital resources more accessible.
- Investigate ways you can make your communication clearer. There are a range of external resources (for example, Government Guidance on Accessible communication formats) and internal resources (for example, the Digital Standards – Accessibility webpages, or the Inclusive Interactions webpage).
Do
- Join a network: If you are a student or staff member with a disability, you can access peer support through the Disabled Students’ Network or the Staff with Disabilities Network. To join the staff network, please email [email protected]. As well as providing a valued social space, networks make a valuable contribution to making St Andrews “a beacon of inclusivity”, by helping inform development of EDI policies and strategies, and raising awareness of key concerns and issues.
- Apply for support: If you are a member of staff with a physical or mental health condition or disability, you may be eligible to apply for support through the Government’s Access to Work scheme. If you believe you are eligible and have any questions about the process, please contact the EDI team. The physical disability and access webpage also signposts to information on Disability Students’ Allowance (DSA).
- Think about accessibility needs when organising and hosting meetings and events: The University’s AccessAble page provides information about different university buildings including information relating to parking, entrances, lifts, toilets, and changing areas. While also allowing you to plan an appropriate venue for a meeting, you may also wish to provide participants with a link to this information so that they can best plan their visit. If you have any further questions about the accessibility of a space, you can contact the Estates team for further information. When thinking about accessibility, you may also wish to consider timing of activities, for example, where you know you have a number of staff in your team with young children, you should try not to schedule a team meeting during school pickup times.
- Celebrate St Andrews Disability Pride: Disability Pride is an annual global event that celebrates disability as an identity and culture. It also opens conversations about disability and mental health conditions to both challenge and raise awareness of discrimination that people with disabilities face. This year, the Disabled Students Network will be running Disability Pride Week from 21 – 27 April 2025 – save the date!
- Participate in Staff Disability Action Plan consultations undertaken as part of our Diverse strategy: Recognising that accessibility goes beyond basic access requirements, the EDI Team, as part of work being undertaken through our Diverse Action Plan, are designing a Staff Disability Action Plan, giving us a structure to assess and improve our work to increase accessibility in everything we do. A roundtable will be held in Semester One which aims to gather insight from those with lived, academic and professional expertise around disability at the University. Participants’ thoughts and views will help us create strategic actions. If you would like to participate, please contact the EDI Team.
Relevant university resources and policies
Alongside the information signposted to in the Learn and Do sections above, there is also a wealth of University resources which can be used to support us in creating a more accessible work and study environment.
- The Disability Information and Advice webpage for students highlights key contacts and essential information for entrants.
- Developing your study skills webpage highlights ways in which technology can be used to support both productivity and study skills.
- Digital Communication Team blogs on accessibility provide relevant information on making communications and resources more accessible.
- The University Library – Accessibility webpage has assessed academic-related systems and webpages for accessibility and provided some feedback on their limitations. This allows staff and students to determine to what extent specific systems and pages like Adlib and Libguides may, for example, work for e-readers.
- AI in Higher Education Moodle module provides an overview of the types of things we can do in learning and teaching with AI, and signposts to programmes which can help make presentations more accessible.
- Flexiquette guidance for staff provides further information on how to make meetings more inclusive, including the potential adoption of a buddy system for those who may find it difficult to interject in meetings.
Events
Who: Anthropology Seminar Series: Dr Bridget Bradley
Where: University of St Andrews
Dr Bradley will be hosting a seminar which introduces and reflects on her paper: Growing with BFRB U & I: Collaboration, charity and the struggle for care.
In this paper she describes ongoing collaborations with her research community and their recent work developing a charitable organisation. These efforts emerge from ten years of ethnographic research among those living with compulsive hair pulling (trichotillomania), skin picking (dermatillomania) and other body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) in Britain and the United States. Embracing a vulnerable autoethnographic approach, Bridget maps her personal journey of navigating compulsive hair pulling since childhood; to forming bonds of relatedness with her interlocuters; and her subsequent commitment to advocacy through leading the charity. She considers the charities efforts to be a kind of ‘biosolidarity economy paradox’, suggesting this as a useful way to conceptualise the way disabled and neurodivergent activists often find themselves caught in a struggle for care due to the inherent ableism of biomedicine and neoliberalism.
Further information can be found here.
Community Reflections
Accessibility: a state of doing, not a state of being.
EDI requires us to look beyond binary conceptions of identity, to challenge stereotypes, and foster an understanding of identity that allows everyone to participate and be their best self. These perspectives can be a useful starting point to consider questions around accessibility; what these mean at St Andrews, and the part we all play in fostering an accessible campus.
The University are required to understand accessibility through various legal lenses. Digital Accessibility Regulations aim to ensure websites and documents can be accessed easily by meeting certain standards. Building regulations require accessibility criteria to be met when planning changes to the built environment. While these frameworks are useful in normalising inclusion, they can risk a false sense of security around a ‘fully accessible space’: if we tick the boxes, we are accessible; if we do not, then we are not. The reality is more complex and nuanced: one size does not fit all.
Adjustments such as developing new estate with a range of facilities, providing alternative entry routes into degree programmes and offering a range of scholarships to assist with costs can remove barriers to accessing study, which is often only the starting point for accessibility. Barriers can occur, grow, or change across the staff or student journey, and can look different for each of us based on aspects of our identity such as disability, income, language, dependants, and individuality in general. Retention, attainment and wellbeing are as important to accessibility as access itself and require us to continually re-evaluate where we can improve to meet the needs of all, at all points in our time at St Andrews.
Thinking of accessibility in binary terms can lead to feelings of complacency or hopelessness, and perpetuate stereotypes of institutional exclusivity, and around disabled people’s ability to participate in some environments. The reality is that accessibility is a state of doing, not a state of being. We want our whole campus community to feel an equal sense of belonging, where we can perform our best, and be ourselves, happily. In such an environment, we hope a world class experience is accessible to all of our staff, students and stakeholders.
Employment and ME
Employment and ME* goes hand in hand with living with ME. There are peak and troughs, highs and lows, good days, and bad days. However, like a good support network, having a supportive employer can make the world of difference to someone living with a chronic health condition.
My work experience has been varied, and finding a secure career has been made more challenging by the barriers placed on me by society as a disabled person wanting to access the workplace.
One of my main recommendations for both potential managers and job seekers is to get comfortable with the Equality Act 2010 and understand what the legislation prescribes and what that means in practice for people living with disabilities, including the implementation of reasonable adjustments by employers and a route for enforcement when employers do not meet their legal duties.
Disclosing disability and asking for reasonable adjustments can be very nerve-wracking for job seekers and new starts. Being mindful of that context, what may seem like business as usual from a recruiting managers’ perspective may cause an unintentional stressful situation for potential job seekers/new starts.
Keeping an open mind and ‘can do’ approach to workplace adjustments is the ‘litmus test’ as to whether an organisation really values and equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) as part of its organisational culture. The focus should be solutions driven, rather than problems based and understand that people are disabled by the barriers that society places on them.
Unfortunately, change is inevitable. I have found that using a Health Adjustment Passport is a huge support in navigating periods of change (for example, when moving to a new line manager), and facilitates conversations around the support that you might need to succeed in the role.
Allyship from senior staff can have a visible and tangible impact on improving the experience of staff working with disabilities to be supported and thrive in the workplace. This may come in the form of recognising the intrinsic value of lived experience and emotional labour involved for those sharing those experiences, as well as using their platform to amplify that shared experience and remove barriers for disabled staff to move into underrepresented senior roles.
Since I first started navigating the world of work with ME, I’ve seen a lot of positive changes and barriers removed, however, we still have a long way to go as a society in truly achieving an environment where people living with disability can see a workplace that barrier is free. Just because you haven’t seen or experienced something, doesn’t mean that’s the same for others. EDI isn’t a nice to have or tick box exercise, it’s a never ending and evolving process in making a fairer society for all. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure that we are moving forward, educating ourselves, actively listening and taking meaningful action.
*ME – Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)
Project Highlights
What is the project all about?
Digital Inclusion WikiConnect aims to foster collaboration between staff and students at the University of St Andrews and promote inclusive practices and digital inclusion through the creation and editing of Wikipedia articles relevant to digital poverty and/or your area of expertise. By engaging participants in this event, we seek to increase student engagement, raise awareness about the importance of digital inclusion, particularly for marginalised communities, and celebrate good intergenerational practices within our university. It is supported by the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Fund, School of Computer Science, CS EDI Committee, and SACHI, and led by the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility in Open Knowledge Network (IDEA Network for short!)The IDEA Network will combine the learning from this and other projects to create guidance on how to run Wiki-related events.
Get involved
Did you know that you can edit Wikipedia and her sister projects? Would you like to learn how to contribute your expertise to the world’s largest encyclopedia? Would you like lots of support along the way, as you plug knowledge gaps and tackle digital poverty? If so, join us as one of the first Digital Inclusion WikiConnect participants.
The project will kick off with an onsite launch event on Wednesday 11 September, followed by online editing sessions supported by our EDI Engagement Facilitators at times convenient to the group. There will also be asynchronous resources available throughout to support your editing. The project will culminate in an onsite event on Wednesday 27 November to celebrate your achievements.
Only 32 spaces are available (16 students and 16 staff) for this pilot phase and they will be first come, first served. We will also have a waiting list in case spaces become available. To find out more about the benefits of taking part and to sign up, please complete our sign up form and we will be in touch ASAP if you have been awarded a space and/or are on our waiting list.
If you would like to hear more about this project, or get involved, please contact Dr Abd Alsattar Ardati or Dr Kirsty Ross.
The Kaleidoscope Alumni Network podcast brings together alumni and friends to explore and celebrate our rich ethnic and cultural diversity from a multitude of perspectives.
In this episode, Paul Gardner discusses how to think about inclusion and opportunity, and the importance of transforming lives through education.
You can access a transcript of this episode using the following link: https://tinyurl.com/5n6krrmd
Listen now: 15 minutes with Paul Gardner
If you are interested in finding out more about widening access at St Andrews, see our website.
Opportunities
Disability Inclusion Partnerships, from Going Global Partnerships, support international higher education collaborations with a focus on enhancing the inclusion of people with disabilities in research environments.
Grants are open to higher education institutions and not-for-profit research institutions in the UK, with a view to partnering with institutions in Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan or Uzbekistan.
Overall call objectives
Disability Inclusion Partnerships aim to:
- generate new knowledge on the barriers and facilitators relating to the participation of people with disabilities in higher education research environments
- establish new or strengthen existing partnerships around disability inclusion
- develop policy recommendations for enabling disability inclusion in higher education
- propose mechanisms for strengthening capacity in teaching and learning in inclusive settings
- propose models for inclusive classroom/lab/fieldwork designs and research in higher education.
Our colleagues at Universitas Malang, Indonesia, with whom we have an MOU, are interested in building a proposal with their research group in regards to disability and inclusion in education with this funding opportunity in view:
https://opportunities-insight.britishcouncil.org/news/opportunities/disability-inclusion-partnerships?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=immediate&utm_content=news%3A%20Opportunities%20
The deadline for submission is 31 October 2024. Please write to Lesley Thirkell, [email protected], with any queries.
Student Champion for women and minoritised gendered STEM students
Deadline for applications: 27 September 2024 (5pm)
Working in partnership with the Equate Student Network, the University of St Andrews is recruiting a Student Champion to develop opportunities for women and minoritised gendered students studying science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) in our University to connect with each other, with women and non-binary STEM professionals, and with potential employers.
As a Student Champion, you will be working primarily with the University’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Faculty Leads (Sciences & Medicine and Arts & Humanities) and an Equality and Diversity Awards Adviser from the EDI Team, but also part of a wider team of Student Champions at colleges and universities around Scotland. The Equate Student Network will offer support and resources for your role, as well as training to develop your skills and knowledge and create opportunities for you to develop regional activities with other Champions.
Main duties and responsibilities:
- Work with staff to facilitate at least two opportunities for St Andrews students to come together at the university during the academic year
- Seek out student opinion on the development of activities as required
- Use social media to connect with students and promote activities
- Provide feedback to and supporting the institution’s gender equality efforts
- Support the development of, or collaborate with, related student groups and societies
- Participate in online discussions on the development of the Equate Student Network
- Actively participate in the Equate Student Champion development day (15th October, Glasgow) and one further Equate Student event (dates to be announced)
- Assist with organising the annual Equate Student Network Conference & Awards
It is anticipated that these activities will take on average 2 hours per week during term time, but this will vary throughout the year particularly in the run up to events.
Location:
Student Champions will work with staff on campus (in person and/or online) but also be expected to travel to an in person Equate Student Network development event in Scotland.
Renumeration:
The Student Champion will receive a taxable payment of up to £375 for the role (paid in two instalments), and travel costs to attend an Equate Student Network development day will be met by the University. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.
How to apply:
If you have any questions or are interested in applying, please email Kevin Lala (EDI Faculty Lead) at [email protected] for further information (by 25 September at the latest)
Have your say
Please contact [email protected] if you would you like to share your own reflections on the theme of accessibility or have any feedback on the Diversity Calendar webpages.
The theme for October is Race Equality. If you would like to tell us about any helpful resources, materials or activities related to this theme, or would like to write a think piece, please also contact [email protected].