Moving through university buildings is not a given for everyone
Imagine, you have your first day of work or an exam in a building of Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 (UU) unknown to you. How would you prepare for that? You will probably look up the address on Google Maps or on the building page on uu.nl. Once inside the building, you will find the right room by following the signs. Sounds simple enough. But for some people, it remains to be seen whether they can actually get to the entrance of the building. Or how do you find the classroom where the exam is being held if you have only 2 % of your vision and cannot read the directional signs?
To Viola Bex-Reimert, Associate Professor of Law, Economics and Governance (LEG) and Twan Kruis, third-year law student at the same faculty, accessibility is not always a given. They deal with all kinds of literal and figurative barriers in the UU buildings daily. Although, by now, they have become very good at finding their way and pointing out these issues.
We are experts by experience, and therefore best placed to advise on how to do things better when it comes to the physical accessibility of the UU buildings. Not a planning company with a notepad and a pen.
Access is not a given
As an associate professor, Viola regularly has to figure out how to get inside a building where she has to teach.
She has a physical disability and uses a wheelchair because of it. The problems already start there: with finding a parking space near the building where she is supposed to teach. There are also often dangerous situations in classrooms, with thick power cords that she cannot roll over, or corridors that are too narrow for a wheelchair. Or sometimes, she cannot use the computer in the classroom properly because the desk is not set at the right height for a wheelchair user.
Twan does not have it easy either: his visual impairment means that he can only see 2 %. He does not live in Utrecht, so getting to the university is also quite a challenge for him, with public transport and crowded urban traffic coming into play. Although he has managed to find his way around it quite well. 鈥淲hen I have to go somewhere for the first time, I determine my route by following the fastest route on Google Maps first. Then I 鈥榠nternalise鈥 the route by choosing the roads with the fewest obstacles on the sidewalks.鈥 It takes a lot of preparation, but it goes well once he gets there, and with the help of the study advisor. 鈥淭his is because I indicate very well what I need.鈥
Monumental buildings
The buildings Twan and Viola often have to go to are in the inner city and often have poor accessibility for people with disabilities because of all the steep stairs, heavy doors and maze-like corridors. This can be stressful for both of them, especially when they have to move from one classroom to another. Viola says: 鈥淭hese things can really keep me awake at night, especially because I don't know what I'm up against or what I'm going to face.鈥 This is why both of them work and study mostly in one building, and in the same rooms as much as possible. Because they know everything well there and know what to expect.
In Viola's case, she often worked from home for six months because she could not park her car near the Johanna Hudig building. This meant that she regularly had to leave her wheelchair at home and walk with a cane, which the doctor does not recommend: 鈥淚 still went to the office regularly, otherwise I would be so isolated from my colleagues, so that's a price I was willing to pay.鈥 But there is good news: since July of this year, the city of Utrecht has issued her a parking space for people with disabilities.
Twan tells about a situation in which he had to do an exam in a building in Utrecht Science Park. He normally has classes in the inner city, so this new location was unfamiliar to him and ultimately caused him a lot of stress. "The immediate question for me is then: 鈥楬ow do I get there?鈥 I was told to take public transport or that someone would drop me off there and pick me up later. But, of course, the bus does not stop in the building in front of the door to the right classroom. The exam was scheduled for 7 pm, a time when Utrecht Science Park is deserted. This makes it very unlikely that I can ask anyone for help. You don鈥檛 want that kind of stress before an exam.鈥 This is why he has since arranged with his study advisor that he can always take his exams at the same location.
Low-hanging fruit
The situations described above may give the impression that the inner-city university buildings are completely inaccessible. For some buildings, this is true. But according to Twan and Viola, there is a lot to gain with a few simple adjustments. For this reason, Viola set up a network of staff and students with various kinds of disabilities across the entire organisation: from physical to visual and auditive. They regularly meet on Teams to share experiences with each other. This is how they find support from each other, but also come up with suggestions and ideas for improving accessibility.
Various people within the Campus & Facilities Office are also working on this. Recently, Viola started having regular meetings with Marlies Sigmond (an advisor on construction engineering, accessibility and sustainability) and Machiel van der Grift. They work on the policy and implementation of accessibility in buildings.
Their big wish is that people pay more attention to their problems and suggestions for solutions. Twan says: 鈥淲e are the experience experts who are best suited to advise on how it can be done better when it comes to physical accessibility of the UU buildings. Not a planning company with a notepad and a pen.鈥 There should also be better possibilities to direct questions to a central point that can actually do something about their problems. Viola says: 鈥淭his sometimes goes wrong with TopDesk and then I often don't hear from them again. Students don't even have access to TopDesk to make a report, so it lands on a study advisor's desk. But they can't always help you either.鈥
Short lines
Viola regularly communicates which issues there are and which adjustments, small AND big, are needed to improve accessibility. Marlies is responsible for the accessibility policy, Machiel for maintenance and management. From his position, he can improve things ad hoc. Various improvements have already been made in collaboration with Studying without Limitations. Viola says: 鈥淚 like slowly but surely finding out who is responsible for what, which means I know better where to go with my questions and problems.鈥
Viola would like to see accessibility included as a standard in construction and renovation projects. 鈥淧eople with disabilities can study and work normally too, but the limited accessibility of buildings doesn't always make this easy.鈥 Marlies says that all new construction and renovation projects take accessibility into account. This is included in the standard requirements. This includes, among other things, the requirements from the Integral Accessibility Standard.
But this is no guarantee that the problems in existing buildings will be solved. That is why Viola and her network meet regularly with Machiel to address these issues. Machiel explains that in the end it will always be a custom work. And there is not one solution that will solve everyone's problems. So they look at each case individually, and they look at the scale of the impact of a solution. And that often comes down to small things.
Equal environment
And what about the plans for the future, what more is going to happen in terms of accessibility? Machiel says there are plans to create working environments that are accessible to everyone, including in the Trans Complex - a building notorious for its many narrow and inaccessible corridors: with stair lifts, coffee machines, printers and most importantly, places where people with disabilities can sit with their colleagues. Machiel says: 鈥淎 lot can be done, but sometimes things =take a long time. For instance, a construction project at the university takes an average of seven years. But changes come from the top down AND from the bottom up. You need both perspectives to get to a result that helps everyone. Viola and Twan's experiences and wishes are important to us, as there will always be blind spots when it comes to accessibility. So make yourself heard. This way, we can work together on a more accessible university.鈥
Do you have a disability, and would you like to think along and advise on accessibility in Viola's network? If you do, please email Viola.
