Accessibility in teaching
(By Dr. Philipp Schmerheim, Institute for German Studies)
In the 21st Social Survey of the Deutsches Studentenwerk e.V. (DSW), 11% of students stated that they had a health impairment that made studying difficult. This should be taken into account in the design of teaching.
It is certainly not easy to proactively identify all possible barriers that may make it difficult for students to successfully complete their studies. However, it often helps to explicitly point out at the beginning of a course that one is aware of possible barriers to studying. It is also advisable to refer to counseling centers and offers of help such as compensation for disadvantages in the seminar schedule and in the introduction - and of course to offer assistance in an uncomplicated manner.
As far as possible, learning content should address different sensory channels. For example, hearing-impaired and deaf students can use podcasts only if there are accompanying scripts. Poor quality scans of basic texts that are not machine-readable are problematic for students with visual impairments who rely on the use of readers. For this reason, it is also advisable to use the eBook/ePub variants of scientific articles and monographs - and just not the 20-year-old scan from your personal records.
A handout on accessible teaching is provided by the "Office for the Concerns of Students with Disabilities or Chronic Illnesses" ( Büro für die Belange von Studierenden mit Behinderungen oder chronischen Krankheiten).
Instructions for creating accessible documents as well as templates can be found here:
- To the KUS Portal website on accessibility (in german) >
- To the Aktion Mensch website on accessible PDF documents (external link, in german) >
Compensation for disadvantages: In certain cases, students can apply for support in the form of hardship compensation (more time for writing exams, extended deadlines, alternative forms of examination, etc.). Further information on studying with disabilities can be found here:
Note on accessibility
The new UHH website “Digital Accessibility” (in german) now bundles all information on this topic. There you will find the legal basis, instructions for accessible documents, videos or websites and contact points for digital accessibility in studying and teaching as well as in administration. You can also register for a newsletter on this topic.
In the following list of links you will find handouts and websites that provide information on designing accessible materials:
- Practical guide to creating text-based alternatives for graphics from the “agnes@work” project (in german) (PDF file in german to download).
- Website on alternative texts for informative graphics (in german)
- Quick-Guide on Accessible PowerPoint slides from the project “agnes@work” (in german) (PDF file in german to download)
- Website of the project “Lehre:Inklusiv” (in german) with various explanatory videos and texts on different topics of digital accessibility
- Website of the SHUFFLE project (external link) - University Initiative for Digital Accessibility for All
The University of Hamburg endeavours to make the website www.uni-hamburg.de accessible without barriers. The legal basis is the Hamburg Act on Equal Opportunities for People with Disabilities (HmbBGG) and the Barrier-Free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0); both can be found below in our list of links together with further information on accessibility:
- UHH Accessibility Statement
- Overview of materials for creating accessible content at UHH (in german) – of particular interest:
- Hamburg Act on Equality for People with Disabilities (HmbBGG) (external link, in german)
- Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0) (external link. in german)
- Bundesfachstelle Barrierefreiheit (external link, in german): FAQ on the implementation of the EU Directive on Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Authorities