work package 4 deliverable 4

SALEIE

Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information

Engineering in European Higher Education Institutions

Work package 4

Widening participation and student support

Deliverable 4.2

Best practice exemplars in supporting students with

specific needs

Version No. 1.0 (release version)

5th

May 2015

This work was supported under the EU Lifelong Learning Programme "SALEIE", Project

Reference No. 527877-LLP-1-2012-1-UK-ERASMUS-ENW

SALEIE: Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in

European Higher Education Institutions



i

Executive summary This deliverable will comprise a collation of examples of best practice in supporting

learners with specific needs. The output will be in the form of a series of case studies,

which illustrate examples of best practice. In seeking out examples of best practice

consideration will be given to the differing needs laboratory based, practical activities,

work experience and placements within the EIE discipline areas.

The work activities of work package 4 are aimed to be an input to a wide range of

activities that are currently undertaken (and in the future, planned to be undertaken)

in supporting access to higher education. The activities of work package 4 are focused

on the aspects of supporting students with disabilities in the electrical and information

engineering disciplines, although many of the work package outcomes are relevant to

the wider education field. The ethos of the work package activities can be summarised

in the word collage shown below.



ii

Disclaimer

The information provided in this document is provided based on the available

information on the date of writing this report. Higher education and student support is

an on-going activity and as such, details relating to specific institutions and countries

may have changed at a date later than this report.



iii

SALEIE project partners

Partner countries

Austria

Germany

Portugal

Belgium

Greece

Romania

Bulgaria

Ireland

Russia

Croatia

Italy

Slovakia

Czech Republic

Latvia

Slovenia

Denmark

Lithuania

Spain

Estonia

Malta

Sweden

Finland

Norway

Turkey

France

Poland

United Kingdom

Associate partner countries

Brazil

Hungary

Poland

France

Malaysia

Ukraine

Greece

Norway

United Kingdom



iv

Partners

1 University of York, England, United Kingdom 24 Technical University of Denmark, DTU, Denmark

2 University of Porto, Portugal 25 Riga Technical University, Latvia

3 University of Sofia, Bulgaria 26 Noema - Competency Management International,

Finland

4 Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble, France 27 Swedish Telepedagogic Knowledge Centre AB,

Sweden

5 Ruse University, Bulgaria 28 University of Zaragoza, Spain

6 IST Lisbon, Portugal 29 University of Bordeaux 1, France

7 University of Craiova, Romania 30 University of Vigo, Spain

8 Czech Technical University Prague, Czech Republic 31 Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia

9 University of Rennes 1, France 32 Haute Ecole de la Province de Liege, Belgium

10 "Vasile Goldis" Western University of Arad, Romania 33 University of Bielsko-Biala, Poland

11 University of Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, France 34 University of Maribor, Slovenia

12 Gheorghe Asachi Techical University of Iasi, Romania 35 Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania

13 University of Naples Federico II, Italy 36 University of Malta, Malta

14 Slovak University of Technology, Slovakia 37 FH Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Austria

15 Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia 38 Ege University International Computer Institute,

Turkey

16 University of Burgundy, France 39 Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain

17 Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania 40 R&D Grid - German Workforce Distributed Learning,

Germany

18 Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Crete,

Greece

41 Telemark University College, Norway

19 University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France 42 Bergen University College, Norway

20 University of Oviedo, Spain 43 University of Split, Croatia

21 University of Limerick, Ireland 44 University of Applied Sciences Mainz, Germany

22 Politechnica University of Bucharest, Romania 45 St Petersburg State University, Russia

23 Cracow University of Technology, Poland

Associate partner institutions

1 University of Derby, England, United Kingdom 7 Private Higher Educational Establishment

“Bukovinian University”, Ukraine

2 Kavala Institute of Technology, Greece 8 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia

3 “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” National Technical

University of Ukraine, Ukraine

9 University Paris 13, France

4 Trondheim Inst. Of environmental issues and

water resources, Norway

10 Hellinic Open University, Greece

5 Institute of Basic Science and Technology,

Budapest, Hungary

11 State University of Sao Paulo (UNESP), Brazil

6 Norwegian University of Science and Technology

(NTNU), Norway

Associate partner associations and collaborators

1 European Association for Education in Electrical

and Information Engineering (EAEEIE)

3 Association of Students with Disabilities,

Politecknika Krakowska

2 PRAXIS Project 4 ERASMUS Congress and Exhibition 2014, 28 April

- 2 May, Nicosia, Cyprus



v

Table of contents

Section number Title Page no.

Executive summary i

Disclaimer ii

SALEIE project partners iii

Table of contents v

Acronyms ix

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Scope of the report 2

1.3 Structure of the report 3

2 Development of an on-line Student and Staff

Support Hub

5

2.1 Introduction 5

2.2 Purpose and structure 6

2.3 Standards 8

2.4 Design and implementation 9

3 Example European Union projects and information 11

3.1 Introduction 11

3.2 SALEIE - Strategic ALignment of Electrical and

Information Engineering in European Higher

Education Institutions

12

3.3 ENEVA project 14

3.4 ELDY 15

3.5 ICT4IAL 16

3.6 ASSISTID 17

3.7 Assistive technology projects at the University of

Southampton

18

3.8 European Access Network (EAN) 19

3.9 Access and Inclusion (ACCESS) 22

3.10 Association for Higher Education Access and

Disability (AHEAD)

21



vi

3.11 Academic Network of European Disability experts

(ANED)

22

3.12 European Commission: Persons with Disabilities 23

4 Example International projects and information 25

4.1 Introduction 25

4.2 Australia 26

4.3 Canada 27

4.4 India 28

4.5 New Zealand 29

4.6 The Philippines 30

4.7 The United States of America (USA) 31

4.8 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD)

32

4.9 United Nations (UN) 33

5 National level perspective: Ireland 35

5.1 Institution details 35

5.2 Introduction 35

5.3 Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) 36

5.4 Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) 37

5.5 AHEAD 38

5.6 University of Limerick: Student rights 39

5.7 Centre for Excellence in Universal Design 40

6 National level perspective: United Kingdom 41


6.2 Introduction 41

6.3 University of York: Disability Support Services 42

6.4 Internship guidelines for students with disabilities

for academic departments

43

6.5 Seminars on disability support for academics 45

7 National level perspective: Norway 47


7.2 Introduction 47

7.3 Universell 48

7.4 Equality and diversity 49

8 National level perspective: France 51




vii

8.2 Introduction 51

8.3 University of Bordeaux 1: University charter for

handicapped students (Charte Universite /

Handicap)

53

8.4 University of Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier: Disability

support service

60

8.5 Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble: Student

record document

66

9 National level perspective: Slovenia 71


9.2 Introduction 71

9.3 Personalised approach for students with disability 72

10 Access to Higher Education 75

10.1 Introduction 75

10.2 Support services by institution 76

11 Student projects in assistive technology 89

11.1 Introduction 89

11.2 Project ideas 91

12 Recommendations 101

13 Conclusions 103

14 References 105

Version control 111



viii



ix

Acronyms

ADD Attention Deficit Disorder

ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

AHEAD Association for Higher Education Access & Disability

ANED Academic Network of European Disability Experts

BBC British Broadcasting Corporation

CAO Central Admissions Office

CE Computer Engineering

CEUD Centre for Excellence in Universal Design

CMS Content Management System

CPD Continuing Professional Development

CSS Cascaded Style Sheet

DARE Disability Access Route to Education

DCD Dyspraxia/Dysgraphia

DSA Disabled Students' Allowance

DSO Disability Support Office(r)

DSS Disability Support Service

EAEEIE European Association for Education in Electrical and Information

Engineering

EAIE European Association for International Education

EAN European Access Network

EC European Commission

EE Electrical Engineering / Electronic Engineering

EHEA European Higher Education Area

EIE Electrical and Information Engineering

ELSA Centre for supporting students with special needs

EPSEN Education for Persons with Special Education Needs Act 2004

ERASMUS European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility

of University Students



x

Erasmus+ The new EU programme for Education , Training , Youth , and Sport for

2014-2020.

EU European Union

FHS Functionally Hampered Students

HE Higher Education

HEA Higher Education Authority

HEFCE Higher Education Funding Council for England

HEAR Higher Education Access Route

HEI Higher education institution

IAU International Association of Universities

ICT Information and Communications Technology

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IoT Institute of technology

LLL Lifelong Learning

LLP Lifelong Learning Programme

LMS Learning Management System

NDA National Disability Authority

NGO Non-Government Organisation

NIMAS National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PDF Portable Document Format

QQI Quality and Qualifications Ireland

SALEIE Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in




xi

SAS Business Analytics Software

SEN Special Education Need

SLD Specific Learning Difficulty

SN Special Need

SPS Special Education Support

SPSS Software, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

SurveyMonkey Software, data analysis, sample selection, bias elimination, and

data representation tools

UCAS Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

UD Universal Design

UDL Universal Design for Learning / Universal Design in Learning

UDLL Universal Design for Learning – License to Learn

UN United Nations

UNCPRD UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

W3C World Wide Web Consortium

WAI (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative

WAI-ARIA WAI for accessible rich Internet applications

WAM Willing Able Mentoring

WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines



xii



1

1. Introduction

1.1. Introduction

Within the SALEIE project, work package 4 (Widening participation and Student

Support) is concerned with considering how access to higher education is achieved and

how students with special needs are supported within the higher education sector

across Europe. Access to educational services and support in order to achieve full

participation occurs at various stages during an individual’s education experience:

1. Before applying for a programme of study.

2. During the application process.

3. On arrival within the higher education institution.

4. During the programme of study.

5. On graduation from the programme.

6. After graduation and entering employment.

Given the wide range of individual needs at different stages in the education process,

along with national level requirements (legislation) and institutional level policies

which enact legislation, a range of support measures which ensure that the individual’s

rights are upheld need to be put in place and effectively operated. These supports

come from national level (governmental) and institution level policies, procedures and

initiatives. Non-governmental organisations provide additional support and can also

act as advocates for the individual, particularly where rights require support and

enforcement. In this report, consideration is given to different approaches to student

support and best practice exemplars are provided.



2

1.2. Scope of the report

The report forms one part of the deliverable for the SALEIE project work package 4

(Widening Participation and Student Support) deliverable 4.2 (Best practice exemplars

in supporting students with specific needs). The deliverable consists of two parts:

1 A collation of examples of best practice exemplars in supporting learners with

specific needs. The output will be in the form of a series of case studies, which

illustrate examples of best practice. Each case study will stand-alone document

on the Widening Participation Centre Website which is referred to as the

Student and Staff Support Hub.

2 This report which is publically available and accessible through the SALEIE

project website and the Student and Staff Support Hub.

The best practice exemplars identified in this report will be made available on the

Student and Staff Support Hub. The Hub development is an on-going process

throughout the SALEIE project and at the end of the SALEIE project, the Hub

development in the context of the SALEIE project will have completed. In the context

of this deliverable, specific support models have been identified, presented and

discussed. However, additional and suitable case studies may be identified after this

deliverable report has been written and so, additional support models identified after

this deliverable report will be added to the Student and Staff Support Hub.



3

1.3. Structure of the report

The report is formed of ten main sections considering different aspects of the Hub

design and development:

• Section 1 (this section) has provided an introduction to the deliverable and the

rationale for the work.

• Section 2 will provide an overview of the development of the Student and Staff

Support Hub as an information resource. This deliverable is described in more

detail in the report for deliverable 4.7 (Widening Participation Centre Website).

• Section 3 will identify and discuss a number of different European level projects

and information sources relevant to supporting students with disabilities.

• Section 4 will identify and discuss a number of different non-European level

(international) projects and information sources relevant to supporting

students with disabilities.

Sections 5 to 8 will provide case study exemplars from four SALEIE partner countries

and seven SALEIE partner institutions which can act as examples of best practice for

other institutions to refer to.

• Section 5 will discuss examples of student support from Ireland.

• Section 6 will discuss examples of student support from the United Kingdom.

• Section 7 will discuss examples of student support from Norway.

• Section 8 will discuss examples of student support from France.

• Section 9 will discuss examples of student support from Slovenia.

Finally, the following sections will complete the report:



4

• Section 10 will identify and elaborate on models of institutional level support.

• Section 11 will introduce and identify example student projects in assistive

technology proposed and undertaken by SALEIE partners. These are aimed to

act as examples for other institutions to develop their own student projects.

• Section 12 will provide a set of 10 recommendations which will consider how

the work on identifying and developing best practice exemplars can be

continued.

• Section 13 will provide conclusions to the report and the deliverable.

• Section 14 will provide a set of references for further information.



5

2. Development of an on-line

Student and Staff Support Hub

2.1. Introduction

This section outlines the Student and Staff Support Hub developed within the SALEIE

project as part of deliverable 4.7 (Widening Participation Centre Website). In the

deliverable report (available on the SALEIE project website [1] and on the Student and

Staff Support Hub [2]), the rationale for, along with the design and implementation of

a centre for excellence widening participation and support for learners with specific

needs is described and this is to be accessible from the main SALEIE project website.

The centre is referred to as the Student and Staff Support Hub. Visitors will be able to

view the case studies and models of good practice found within the project and view

them in a range of different languages. All resources will be created so they are

accessible and easy to use by interested individuals and higher education institutions.

At the time of writing this deliverable report, the prototype Hub has been developed

and will be refined by the SALEIE project partners as the project progresses.

The purpose of the website is to provide a Hub that is a focus for individuals who wish

to know more about access to and participating in higher education across Europe. It

aims to be a “one stop shop” for information on higher education access and

participation for individuals with disabilities. The focus is on inclusion in higher

education for individuals with disabilities within the electrical and information

engineering (EIE) disciplines. Hence, the work undertaken does not consider all forms

of special needs, but has a focus on disabilities in the EIE disciplines.



6

2.2. Purpose and structure

The manner in which the content is arranged in the Student and Staff Support Hub will

be important to allow the particular user to gain access to relevant information for

their particular needs in a fast and efficient manner. This means that the content

should be arranged and personalised to a particular target group. Based on discussions

within work package 4 and the results of the partner survey, the following target

groups for information were identified:

1. Students with disabilities.

a. The section, providing information for students, is aimed towards

those students with disabilities who would be looking to gain access

to higher education, to identify the supports that exist for their

education, or would like to find out more information on the

supports that exist.

2. Academic staff that would support students with disabilities.

a. The section, providing information for academic staff, is aimed

towards those academics that would be supporting students with

disabilities, or would like to find out more information on the

supports that exist.

3. Non-academic support staff, such as institutional disability support

officers that would support students with disabilities.

a. The section, providing information for non-academic support staff,

is aimed towards those support staff members that would be

supporting students with disabilities, or would like to find out more

information on the supports that exist.



7

With the design of the Hub structure, the idea was to enable the user to be provided

with information for their particular needs which has been personalised as far as

possible.

Finally, a link to the main SALEIE project and specific information and documentation

created within work package 4 is provided for additional information on the outcomes

of the SALEIE project.

The Hub has been set-up to provide two ways in which the user can view the web

pages depending on their preferences:

1. A text based approach which essentially allows the user to navigate the Hub by

viewing and clicking on text descriptions of the link. This minimises the number

of images used and would be suitable for an individual who prefers to read text

rather than view images.

2. An image based approach which has the same structure and content as the

text based approach pages, but allows the user to view images alongside text.

This uses more images than the first approach and would be suitable for an

individual who prefers to see images rather than simply text.

Whatever the chosen version of the Hub to use, the pages are made accessible in that

the window background colours and text colours can be changed.



8

2.3. Standards

Gaining access to relevant and useful information on website design and development

is important for website developers. Whilst each developer would create their website

for a particular set of requirements and target audience, using specific development

tools, they would follow certain approaches based on:

• General information on how to design and develop websites.

• Guidelines and standards for website design to incorporate accessibility as a

core design criterion.

Accessibility for websites means that the website is accessible by all potential users.

According to the BBC MyWeb my way “what is accessibility” [3], accessibility is defined

as:

“Accessibility is the word used to describe whether a product (for example,

a website, mobile site, digital TV interface or application) can be used by

people of all abilities and disabilities.” [3]

Accessibility can also be defined in different ways. Standards are also being developed

and deployed which aim to enable website developers to adhere to these standards to

ensure that the web pages that they have created are accessible. The two standards

for web accessibility considered here are the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) web

accessibility guidelines and standards [4, 5] and the British Broadcasting Corporation

(BBC) web accessibility guidelines and standards [3, 6].



9

2.4. Design and implementation

The way in which a website is set-up and the content (information) provided – the

structure of the website – is important to enable maximum benefit for the user. The

structure of the Student and Staff Support Hub was determined through discussions

between the work package 4 partners and identifies the following key considerations:

• The target audience (end user group) needed to be identified.

• The expected range of information that each end user group would want to see

(as initially identified by the work package 4 partners and to be reviewed once

an operational site was available).

• Taking into account webpage accessibility for different users.

• Using the available and developing standards in web accessibility.

• Content creation by the SALEIE partners (discussions and use of the partner

survey).

• Identifying and linking to existing sources of information from relevant and

reputable sources.

From discussions, the following three target end user groups were identified with a

range of information requirements:

1. Students with disabilities.

2. Academic staff that would support students with disabilities.

3. Non-academic support staff that would support students with disabilities.

To enable this, the Student and Staff Support Hub structure was developed as shown

in Fig. 2.1. This also includes a link to information on the overall SALEIE project.



10

Figure 2.1. Structure of the Hub, linking from the SALEIE project main website

SALEIE project main website

Hub style selection window:

text or image based

Text based user

experience main

webpage

Image based user

experience main

webpage

The user interface (experience) of these two versions of the Hub is

different, but the content is the same. This give the user he choice of how

they interact with the Hub. However, the four main components are:

Student

information

SALEIE project

information

Academic staff

information

Non-academic

support staff

information



11

3. Example European Union projects

and information

3.1. Introduction

With the move towards widening participation in university level education and the

need to enhance student support for all students, there is a need for higher education

institutions, governmental organisations and departments, and non-governmental

organisations to develop new and enhance existing approaches. To enable this, all

relevant stakeholders need to increase their understanding and develop new

approaches to facilitate widening participation and student support. Such actions

require suitable projects to be undertaken in targeted areas and an understanding of

sources of suitable information. In this section, with information provided by the work

package 4 sub-group partners, a review of relevant European Union driven projects

and sources of information relating to supporting education access and supporting

students with disabilities is presented. The following selected projects and activities

are identified and discussed in this section:

A. SALEIE - Strategic ALignment of Electrical and Information Engineering [1] in

European Higher Education Institutions (this project).

B. ENEVA project - European Web Place of Projects on Disabilities [7].

C. ELDY - Eldy Association ngo [8, 9].

D. ICT4IAL (ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning [10].

E. ASSISTID [11 - 13].

F. Assistive technology projects at the University of Southampton [14].

G. The European Access Network (EAN) [15].

H. Access and Inclusion (ACCESS) [16].

I. Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED) [40].



12

3.2. SALEIE - Strategic ALignment of Electrical and Information

Engineering in European Higher Education Institutions

The SALEIE Project is a 3-year duration project funded by the European Union Lifelong

Learning Programme (LLLP). The project involves 45 partners, with 41 partners from

within the European Union (EU), 2 partners from Norway, 1 partner from Turkey and 1

partner from Russia. The project sets out to firstly explore and then provide models for

ways in which Higher Education Institutions of Europe in the Electrical and Information

Engineering disciplines can respond to current challenges. The main challenges

addressed by this project are:

• Ensuring graduates are prepared to enable Europe to respond to the current

global technical challenges in the Green Energy, the Environment and

Sustainability, Communications and IT, Health, and Modern Manufacturing

Systems (including Robotics), that is, a “new skills for new jobs” approach. This

will embrace conventional education, lifelong learning and training for

entrepreneurship.

• Ensuring that programme and module governance is sufficiently well

understood that issues of mobility, progression and employment are

understandable by appropriate stakeholders including the accrediting bodies

for professional engineers.

• Ensuring all learners, irrespective of their background or personal challenges,

including: dyslexia and dyspraxia; visual and hearing impairments; Asperger’s,

autism, depression, anxiety; are given equal opportunity to education and are

appropriately supported.



13

The project main website, as shown in Fig 3.1, is located at:

http://www.saleie.co.uk

Figure 3.1. SALEIE project homepage (http://www.saleie.co.uk)

SALEIE - Strategic ALignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in


This work was supported under the EU Lifelong Learning Programme

"SALEIE", Project Reference No. 527877-LLP-1-2012-1-UK-ERASMUS-

ENW



14

3.3. ENEVA project - European Web Place of Projects on Disabilities

The ENEVA project [7] is a thematic action in the field of lifelong learning (LLL)

initiatives toward persons with disabilities.

“[The] Eneva portal is a full functional prototype for information repository

of EC co-funded project in the field of disability.”

[EC – European Commission]

ENEVA: ENhance Efficacy through VAlorisation - LIFELONG LEARNING

PROGRAMME 2007 - 2013 KA4 Multilateral Project.

This work was supported under the EC Project Grant 135774-LLP1-2007-

1-IT-KA4-KA4-MP

It provides a free to use repository of the results achieved in the framework of EU LLL

programmes (Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates) via the portal. This website provides a

search engine allowing the user to select results (as projects) on the basis of:

1. The programme the project belongs to.

2. Direct beneficiaries.

3. Indirect beneficiaries.

4. Geographical coverage (countries involved).

5. ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health of World

Health Organisation) frameworks concerning activity and participation of

individuals, along with environmental factors impeding their participation. [54]



15

3.4. ELDY - Eldy Association NGO

The Eldy Association [8, 9] is a non-profit organization which promotes social inclusion,

active ageing, health and intergenerational solidarity with people aged fifty years and

over through the use of technology. Its work focuses on a wide range of actions and

policy areas that impact on older, retired and impaired people with a combination of

easy to use and accessible technology, along with human support. It developed the

Eldy platform which is a free to use software package to help senior citizens to use the

computer and access the internet (available free at http://www.eldy.eu ). Eldy works

daily with Public administration (Ministry of Welfare, Regione Lombardia, Regione

Friuli Venezia Giulia, and several provinces in Italy) and world-wide with projects on

training, intergenerational projects, along with social on line and off line support. For

the Eldy Association, a number of identified important actions and outcomes are

identified by the association as (abbreviated from [8]):

• Disabilities projects: Blind and Deaf Projects: “Hearing in the internet with Eldy”

(“Sentiamoci in rete”) brings sight impaired to the internet.

• The ELDY Platform for the Blind: The new software (free to use) was made especially

for blind and sight impaired people. The new version consists of the Eldy software and

a voice synthesizer able to read the words on the screen.

• Volunteers: Associazione Eldy, with the sponsorship of the Province of Vicenza, has

organized free courses to train volunteers to enable them to assist blind people.

• Award: The project was indicated by the EU as Best Practice cases directed to the

reduction of the digital divide and won the Italian “Handimatica Award” for digital

inclusion.

• Outcome: For Associazione Eldy, it was important to make people understand the

significance of inclusion of people with disabilities so ensure that they have the right

and the ability to play an important role in the society.

• Signs2English International Project: Signs2English is an on-going project. Eldy is

training DEAF people using Eldy platform and e-learning Methodology.



16

3.5. ICT4IAL

ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning

The ICT4IAL project [10] is a multi-disciplinary network of European and International

partners that represent both learning and ICT communities. The aims of this network

are to raise awareness and increase the visibility of the issue of accessible information

provision and its relevance for equitable lifelong learning opportunities and to support

accessible information provision within organisations through the development,

trialling and evaluation of guidelines.

The network of European and International partners is co-funded by the European

Commission under the Lifelong Learning Transversal Programme, Key Activity 3:

Information and Communication Technologies.

The project (January 2013 to December 2015) builds on the results of the Accessible

Information Provision for Lifelong Learning project (http://www.european-

agency.org/agency-projects/i-access) with the aims to foster accessibility of

information in learning. The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive

Education acts as the project co-ordinator. The uropean Agency for Special Needs and

Inclusive Education works together with European Schoolnet (EUN), the International

Association of Universities (IAU), UNESCO, the DAISY Consortium and the Global

Initiative of Inclusive ICTs (G3ICT)



17

3.6. ASSISTID

ASSISTID (Assistive Technologies for people with Autism and Intellectual Disability)

[11–13] is an EU COFUND programme formally launched on 15th

May 2014. The

COFUND (Co-funding of Regional, National, and International Programmes) supports

Marie Curie Actions fellowships, enabling researcher mobility between European

countries. The ASSISTID programme is co-funded by the European Commission and the

charity RESPECT, and is coordinated by the DOCTRID Research Institute (DOCTRID

(Daughters of Charity-Technology Research into Disability) Research Institute (RI)).

The aim of this project is to undertake research into the development and application

of assistive technologies to enhance the quality of life of people with intellectual

disabilities and autism, their carers and families. ASSISTID is a structured research

programme and a significant investment into assistive technologies research.

“Assistive Technologies refers to practical tools that can support the

functional needs of people who experience difficulties associated with

disability or ageing.” [11]

ASSISTID will bring people with intellectual disabilities and autism and their carers

together with engineers, computer scientists, behavioural psychologists, occupational

therapists to develop practical solutions to improve the quality of life for the

individual.



18

3.7. Assistive technology projects at the University of Southampton

A number of higher education institutions throughout Europe undertake research

activities into supporting students with disabilities and assistive technology. Within the

University of Southampton (England, United Kingdom), for example, in the Department

of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), a number of current and previous projects

(see Tables 3.1 and 3.2) can be found [14]. Descriptions of this work, led by E.A.

Draffan, can be found at [14].

Table 3.1. Current Projects

Arabic Symbol Dictionary

ATBar Arabic

European Accessibility MOOC

LExDis - Disabled learners’ experiences of e-learning

REALISE : REfining And Learning from on-line tools for Internet Shared Enterprise

STEMreader

Student Centredness Projects

Web2Access

Table 3.2. Previous Projects

Accessibility Cloud

Accessible Resources Pilot Project

Adaptable and Learnable User Interface for Analysing Recordings (ALUIAR)

GO! Platform

InStep - part of the In-folio collection

JISC TechDis ToolBar

Metadata-enabled Tools for Assistive Living and Learning

MyDocStore

PicBoard

STEMReader

Synote Mobile

The Magnifier

Note that within the SALEIE project, E.A. Draffan provided a seminar to the SALEIE

partners on the work in Southampton and assistive technology. This seminar is

referred to in section 6.5 of this report.



19

3.8. The European Access Network (EAN)

The European Access Network (EAN) [15] is a European-wide, non-governmental

organisation for the promotion of widening participation in higher education for those

who are currently under-represented. The reasons for under-representation, which

need to be addressed, can be varied and include:

• Gender.

• Ethnic origin.

• Nationality.

• Age.

Disability.

• Family background.

• Vocational training.

• Geographic location.

• Earlier educational disadvantage.

To find out more information on the activities of the EAN, Table 3.3 identifies key on-

line resources created and maintained by the network.

Table 3.3. EAN references

Resource URL

EAN homepage http://www.ean-edu.org/

The Global Access to Post-Secondary (GAPS) Initiative http://www.gaps-education.org/

News http://www.ean-edu.org/news.html

24th EAN Annual Conference,

7th - 9th June 2015, Oslo, Norway

http://www.ean-edu.org/annual-

conference-2015.html

The EAN also runs conferences and seminars. The next conference is in June 2015

(Oslo, Norway), entitled:

Advocating for access, equity, inclusion and diversity in higher education:

Politics, Policies, Power and Persuasion

A previous seminar, held in Dublin (Ireland) in September 2014 was on the topic of:

Social Dimension of Europe 2020: Reflecting Diversity in Higher Education?



20

3.9. Access and Inclusion (ACCESS)

Access and Inclusion (ACCESS) [16], an initiative by the European Association for

International Education (EAIE), is concerned with achieving the equal participation of

students and staff with disabilities in all aspects of higher education. It has a focus on

international mobility for students and staff. These students and staff are

underrepresented in exchange programmes, with multiple barriers to entry such as

deep-rooted cultural attitudes to disability, lack of information about opportunities

and misconceptions about the range and nature of different disabilities and the

accommodations required.

The mission of ACCESS is to increase the participation and improve the experience of

students and staff with disabilities in international higher education. Its objectives

(from [16]) are:

• “To work with other groups active in the field – nationally and internationally – and

aim to consolidate, rather than replicate, actions, resources and projects.”

• “To build a practical, collaborative network of international education professionals

and disability professionals both within and between countries. This has the

potential to impact directly on the everyday interactions of students and staff with

disabilities at universities across Europe and to promote the equal sharing of

opportunities among the population.”

• “To engage with the administration of the Erasmus programme at the European

Commission, feeding in information about the practical delivery of the programme

at ground level and proposing measures to improve the experience of students and

staff with disabilities.”

• “To be a primary source of information on international higher education, disability

and diversity.”



21

3.10. Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD)

The Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) [24] is an

independent non-profit organisation promoting full access to and participation in

further and higher education for students with disabilities and to enhance their

employment prospects on graduation. The organisation is based in Ireland and

undertakes a number of activities.

AHEAD is described in more detail in section 5.5.



22

3.11. Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED)

The Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED) [40] was created in

December 2007 by the European Commission to support the objectives of European

disability policy.

ANED has established and maintains a pan-European academic network in the

disability field to support policy development in collaboration with the Commission's

Disability Unit [41].

“Its philosophy and aims support the objectives of European disability

policy towards the goal of full participation and equal opportunities for all

disabled people.” (Source: [40])

The Network is managed by Human European Consultancy (NL) [42] in partnership

with the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (UK) [43].



23

3.12. European Commission: Persons with Disabilities

The EU promotes the active inclusion and full participation of disabled people [45] in

society, in line with the EU human rights approach to disability issues. At the core of

the approach is the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

[20], to which the European Union (EU) is a signatory. Actions are pursued in eight

priority areas:

1. Accessibility.

2. Participation.

3. Equality.

4. Employment.

5. Education and training.

6. Social protection.

7. Health.

8. External action.

The European Commission has in-place a Disability Strategy for preventing, identifying

and eliminating obstacles and barriers to accessibility. Key areas of the strategy include

the built environment, transport and information and communication including

technologies and services:

1. European Commission’s previous Disability Strategy (2004-2010). [46]

2. European Commission’s current Disability Strategy (2010-2020). [47]



24



25

4. Example international projects

and information

4.1. Introduction

With the move towards widening participation in university level education and the

need to enhance student support for all students, there is a need for higher education

institutions, governmental organisations and non-governmental organisations to

develop new and enhance existing approaches. All relevant stakeholders need to

increase their understanding and develop new approaches to facilitate widening

participation and student support. Such transitions require suitable actions to be

undertaken in targeted areas and to provide access to sources of suitable information.

This section, with information provided by the work package 4 sub-group partners,

provides a review of relevant non-European Union (international) driven projects and

sources of information relating to supporting education access and supporting

students with disabilities is presented. The following selected countries and

organisation are identified and discussed in this section:

• Australia.

• Canada.

• India.

• New Zealand.

• The Philippines.

• The United States of America (USA).

• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

• The United Nations (UN).



26

4.2. Australia

Within Australia, there are a number of disability support projects, measures and

sources of information. The following table, see Table 4.1, provides information on a

selected number of activities within Australia.

Table 4.1. International projects and information: Australia

Australian Government – More Support for

Students with Disabilities. Dedicated

funding for disability support.

http://www.education.gov.au/more-support-students-

disabilities

Federation University Australia. Disability

Support. Disability Liaison Unit provides

services to students with disabilities within

the University’s equity framework and in

accordance with the Disability Standards for

Education.

http://federation.edu.au/students/assistance-support-

and-services/student-support-services/disability-

support

Open Universities Australia – Student

Support Services – Disability Support. The

Universities that provide courses through

OUA offer alternative format study

materials to support students with a

disability.

http://www.open.edu.au/student-admin-and-

support/student-support-services/disability-support/

University of Newcastle – Disability Support. http://www.newcastle.edu.au/current-

students/support/disability-support

University of Western Australia – UniAccess.

Provides free services and support to UWA

students who want to disclose a disability or

a medical condition and request assistance.

http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/life/health/uniaccess

Australian Government Attorney General’s

Department, Disability standards for access

to premises

http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRig

hts/DisabilityStandards/Pages/Disabilitystandardsforpre

mises.aspx

Australian Human Rights Commission,

Access: Guidelines and information

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/access-

guidelines-and-information



27

4.3. Canada

Within Canada, there are a number of disability support projects, measures and

sources of information. The following table, see Table 4.2, provides information a

selected number of activities within Canada.

Table 4.2. International projects and information: Canada

Government of Canada has a variety of

programs for education and training for

people with disabilities.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/audiences/disabili

ties/education.shtml

Government of Canada Project: Inclusive

Education for Children with Disabilities.

http://www.acdi-

cida.gc.ca/cidaweb/cpo.nsf/vWebCSAZEn/857B3DBCA6

E8393A852573FE003CC83E

Communication Disabilities Access Canada

(CDAC) is a national, non-profit, charitable

organization. It was founded in 2001 and

formerly known as Augmentative

Communication Community Partnerships

Canada.

http://www.cdacanada.com/

Government of Canada, Grant for Students

with Permanent Disabilities.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/goc/grant_disabili

ties.shtml

National Educational Association of

Disabled Students (NEADS). A consumer-

controlled, registered charitable

organization with a mandate to encourage

the self-empowerment of post-secondary

students and graduates with disabilities in

Canada.

http://disabilityawards.ca/about.php?lang=EN

Canadian-universities.net, Canada Disability

Studies University Programs.

http://www.canadian-

universities.net/Universities/Programs/Disability_Studi

es.html



28

4.4. India

Within India, there are a number of disability support projects, measures and sources

of information. The following table, see Table 4.3, provides information on a selected

number of activities within India.

Table 4.3. International projects and information: India

Savitribal Phule Pune University – Advance

Technology Blind Student Learning Center.

http://unipune.ac.in/dept/non_teaching/education_ext

/education_ext_webfiles/blind_std.htm

The Jagadguru Rambhadracharya

Handicapped University was established to

provide higher & professional education to

persons with disabilities.

http://www.jrhu.com/

University of Michigan, School of

Information, USA. U-M students create new

portal for disability resources in India.

https://www.si.umich.edu/cc



29

4.5. New Zealand

Within New Zealand, there are a number of disability support projects, measures and

sources of information. The following table, see Table 4.4, provides information on a

selected number of activities within New Zealand.

Table 4.4. International projects and information: New Zealand

New Zealand Disability Support Network –

NGO.

http://www.nzdsn.org.nz/

University of Otago – Student Services

Division – Disability Information & Support.

Work to promote an inclusive environment

that celebrates diversity, promotes

comprehensive academic support, and

empowers individuals with impairments to

achieve their full potential.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/studentservices/departments/

otago018273.html

Human Rights Commission, Disabled

Children’s Right to Education.

http://hrc.co.nz/your-rights/people-disabilities/our-

work/disabled-childrens-right-education/

Statistics New Zealand, Disability and

Education in New Zealand in 2006.

http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/health/disa

bilities/disability-and-education-in-nz-2006.aspx

The New Zealand Disability Strategy. http://www.odi.govt.nz/documents/publications/nz-

disability-strategy.pdf

Massey University, Support for students

registered with Disability Services.

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/student-

life/services-and-resources/disability-services/disability-

services_home.cfm

Disability Support Services in New Zealand,

The service user survey.

https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/p

ublications/dss-serviceusersurvey-largefont.pdf



30

4.6. The Philippines

Within The Philippines, there are a number of disability support projects, measures

and sources of information. The following table, see Table 4.5, provides information on

a selected number of activities within The Philipnnes.

Table 4.5. International projects and information: The Philippines

National Council on Disability Affairs – Sub-Committee on Education. Program on Accessibility.

http://www.ncda.gov.ph/category/sub-committees/education/

Leonard Cheshire Disability, Access to education for people with disabilities in the Philippines.

https://www.leonardcheshire.org/international/inclusive-education/philippines#.VNzgsUSvncs

Country Profile on Disability THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Japan International Cooperation Agency Planning and Evaluation Department, March 2002.

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Resources/Regions/East-Asia-Pacific/JICA_Philippine.pdf

Persons with Disabilities: Status in the Philippines, 1st International Conference of Public Librarians, March 19-21, 2014.

http://docz.io/doc/2527266/status-in-the-philippines-by-mr.-edgardo-f.-garcia

SALEIE: Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in European Higher Education Institutions

31

4.7. The United States of America (USA)

Within The United States of America, there are a number of disability support projects,

measures and sources of information. The following table, see Table 4.6, provides

information on a selected number of activities within The United States of America.

Table 4.6. International projects and information: The United States of America

National Center on Disability and Access to Education. Supported by Utah State University Center for Persons with Disabilities. GOALS Project (Going Online Accessible Learning through Self-Study). Helps postsecondary institutions improve the accessibility of their web content and services. With recognition that accessibility must be enterprise-wide, deliverables from the GOALS project focus on supporting those efforts.

http://www.ncdae.org/ http://www.cpdusu.org/ http://www.ncdae.org/goals/

San Diego State University. Disability and Diversity Project. Goal is to enhance the knowledge and skills of administrators, faculty, and staff through a universal model linking disability and diversity in postsecondary education.

http://interwork.sdsu.edu/main/phe

US Department of Education – Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities.

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/tpsid/index.html

University of Illinois – Project LEAD (Preparing Leaders in Special Education, Access, and Data-based Decision Making in High-Need Schools).

http://education.illinois.edu/sped/programs/projectlead

University of Washington – DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the success participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs such as those in science engineering, mathematics and technology.

http://www.washington.edu/doit/ http://www.washington.edu/doit/accesscareers-projects-increasing-career-success-people-disabilities

The State of Texas, Office of the Governor, Accessible Communications (including how to create accessible documents)

http://gov.texas.gov/disabilities/resources/accessible_communications


32

4.8.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

(OECD)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [17] is an

international economic organisation founded in 1961 with the aims to stimulate

economic progress and world trade.

“The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic

and social well-being of people around the world.” [17]

The OECD produces publications on subjects relating to its mission. In the areas of

“disabilities” and “education”, Table 4.7 identifies a number of these relevant

publications.

Table 4.7. OECD publications relating to disabilities and education

Early childhood and schools, Students with Disabilities, Learning Difficulties and Disadvantages: Statistics and Indicators.

http://www.oecd.org/education/school/studentswithdisabilitieslearningdifficultiesanddisadvantagesstatisticsandindicators.htm

Employment policies and data, Transforming Disability into Ability.

http://www.oecd.org/els/emp/transformingdisabilityintoability.htm

Early childhood and schools, Equity and Quality in Education - Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools.

http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/equityandqualityineducation-supportingdisadvantagedstudentsandschools.htm

Disability in higher education : a key factor for improving quality and achievement.

http://www.oecd.org/site/eduhe30/41887103.ppt

Innovation in education, Pathways for disabled students to tertiary education and employment.

http://www.oecd.org/edu/innovation-education/pathwaysfordisabledstudentstotertiaryeducationandemployment.htm


33

4.8.The United Nations (UN)

The United Nations (UN) [18] is an international organization founded in 1945 by 51

countries committed to:

• Maintaining international peace and security.

• Developing friendly relations among nations.

• Promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

Human rights and education are important aspects of the work of the UN.

Today, access to education is seen as a human right. The United Nations Universal

Declaration of Human Rights [19] (article 26) declares the right to education on merit.

This indicates that whether a person has a disability or not, they have a right to

participate in education. In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities (UNCPRD) [20] is specifically aimed at persons with

disabilities.

Other UN actions are identified in Table 4.8.

Table 4.8. Example United Nations activities in disability support

United Nations Enable (United Nations Enable is the official website of the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD).

http://www.un.org/disabilities/

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December 2015)

http://www.un.org/en/events/disabilitiesday/

International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December 2014)

http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1620

World Autism Awareness Day (2nd April 2015)

http://www.un.org/en/events/autismday/


34

The European Union (EU) has adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities. As identified in the Sixth Disability High Level Group Report

on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with

disabilities (September 2013). [44]

“On 30 March 2007, the day of opening for signature, the UN Convention

on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was signed by the

European Community and twenty two of its Member States. Seventeen of

those Member States also signed the Optional Protocol. As of March 2013

the UNCRPD has been signed by the European Community, now the

European Union, and all its Member States. The Optional Protocol has been

signed by 23 Member States.” (source: [44])


35

5. National level perspective: Ireland

5.1. Institution details

Institution name University of Limerick

Country Ireland

Institution homepage http://www.ul.ie

Information provided by Ian Grout

5.2. Introduction

Within the Republic of Ireland, the higher education institutions (HEIs) provide third

(3rd) level education (post-secondary school). Qualifications can be studied for within a

university, institute of technology (IoT) or college.

Access to higher education for individuals can be applied for using a number of

different routes. The traditional route would be for entry into higher education directly

on completion of secondary level education. However, widening access to higher

education via alternative entry routes and including those individuals who would in the

past not normally had access to education is becoming commonplace. Individuals with

disabilities, individuals returning to education who would be considered as mature

students and individuals from socio-economically challenged backgrounds now have

the right and ability to undertake further studies. In order to facilitate wider access to

and participation in education then national level legislation, national and institutional

level initiatives, and support services are made available.


36

5.3. Disability Access Route to Education (DARE)

“The Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) is a college and university

admissions scheme which offers places on a reduced points basis to school

leavers under 23 years old with disabilities who have completed an Irish

Leaving Certificate.” [21]

The DARE scheme was set-up to provide access for school leavers who would not meet

the entry requirements to enter higher education (based on points attained in the

second level leaving certificate examinations) due to the impact of their disability, but

who would have the ability to succeed in higher education. Currently, the institutions

that are part of DARE can be seen in [21]:

Access to information and support in understanding the DARE scheme and completing

applications for programmes of study is a key part of the activities and this is a form of

“marketing” for the programme. Therefore, a range of “marketing” activities are

undertaken and these would include:

1. A dedicated website which provides the necessary information on the scheme.

This is part of the Access College website [22].

2. An application Information leaflet which provides a summary key information

points.

3. Contact persons in the Colleges taking part in DARE. The contact persons within

the colleges would be within the institution’s Disability Support Services.

4. DARE application advice clinics at different locations around the country each

year.

5. Promotion of the scheme at local level and national level education events.


37

5.4. Higher Education Access Route (HEAR)

“The Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) is a college and university

admissions scheme which offers places on reduced points and extra college

support to school leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged

backgrounds.” [23]

The HEAR (Higher Education Access Route) scheme was set-up to provide access for

school leavers who would not meet the entry requirements to enter higher education

(based on points attained in the second level leaving certificate examinations) and

extra college support where the school leavers come from a socio-economically

disadvantaged background. Currently, a number of higher education institutions

within Ireland are part of HEAR and these can be seen in [23]. For the academic year

2015-2016 (Autumn 2015 entry), applicants must be under the age of 23 as of 1st

January 2015 and have completed an Irish Leaving Certificate. In order to be eligible

for HEAR, the applicant must meet a range of financial, social and cultural indicators to

be considered for a reduced points place and extra college support. The indicators

considered are:

1. Income.

2. Medical/GP visit card.

3. Means tested social welfare.

4. Socio-economic group.

5. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) school attendance.

6. Area profile.

For the indicators, indicator 1 (above) must be met and a correct combination of two

other indicators, as set down by HEAR, must also be met.


38

5.5. AHEAD

The Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD) [24] is an

independent non-profit organisation promoting full access to and participation in

further and higher education for students with disabilities and to enhance their

employment prospects on graduation. The organisation is based in Ireland and

undertakes a number of activities including:

• Providing information on disability issues in education to students and

graduates with disabilities, teachers, guidance counsellors and parents. It has

an extensive on-line set of resources for supporting students with disabilities.

• Working with graduates and employers through the GET AHEAD Graduate

Forum and the WAM (Willing Able Mentoring) Mentored Work Placement

Programme.

• Coordinating LINK, a worldwide network promoting the inclusion of students

and graduates with disabilities in Higher Education (LINK is also referred to in

this report in section 7.3).

• Running conferences, seminars, workshops and training events such as:

� “Does one size fit all? Assistive Tech in the Learning Environment & the

Workplace”, a one day training event held on the 10th February 2015

at Dell Ireland in Dublin, Ireland. The WAM Programme at AHEAD ran

a free training event hosted by WAM Employer Dell Ireland.

� An annual conference. In 2015, the conference 2015 “UDL: A License

to Learn” is held on the 19th and 20th March in Dublin, Ireland.


39

5.6. University of Limerick: Student rights

To ensure student rights are clearly identified and supported, the University of

Limerick has the following student charters as identified in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1. University of Limerick student charters

Undergraduate student charter

http://www2.ul.ie/pdf/636642268.doc

Postgraduate academic Charter http://www.ul.ie/graduateschool/sites/default/files/docs/Postgraduate%20Academic%20Charter_0.pdf

Erasmus student charter

http://www.ul.ie/international/uploads/Student_Charter.pdf

For students with disabilities, the Disability Support Services offer a range of services

to students with disabilities. The University’s rules and regulations are identified in the

Handbook of Academic Regulations and Procedures. This is the document would be

the primary reference document for academic activities.

In addition, the University is required to be compliant with the Acts of the Houses of

the Oireachtas which identify the requirements on education providers. For the

University undergraduate and postgraduate charters, the University has a formal

complaints procedure developed [25, 26]. Additional support for students with

disabilities comes under the Disability Act (2005), the Employment Equality Act (1998,

2008) and the Equal Status Act (2000, 2004). The Disability Act, 2005 includes a

number of positive action measures designed to advance and underpin participation

by people with disabilities in everyday life. In particular, Part 3 of the Act contains a

number of obligations specifically related to public bodies. The Access Officer helps

individuals with queries relating to accessibility to buildings, information and services

provided by the University of Limerick. The Inquiry Officer is to undertake an

investigation into any complaints about the University’s non-compliance with Sections

25-29 of the Act [26].


40

5.7. Centre for Excellence in Universal Design

The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) [27] is an organisation dedicated

to enabling the design of environments that can be accessed, understood and used

regardless of age, size and ability. It promotes universal design. The universal design

approach is defined as:

"Building for Everyone: A Universal Design Approach" provides comprehensive best practice guidance on how to design, build and manage buildings and spaces so that they can be readily accessed and used by everyone, regardless of age, size ability or disability. (source: definition taken from [28])

A set of guidelines have been produced for reference. These guidelines are set-

up as a series of ten documents on:

1. External environment.

2. Entrances and Horizontal Circulation.

3. Vertical Circulation.

4. Internal Environment and Services.

5. Sanitary Facilities.

6. Facilities.

7. Building Types.

8. Building Management.

9. Planning.

10. Index and Terminology.

Accompanying the universal design approach is the shared space information site [16,

29] which is described as:

"Shared Space, Shared Surfaces and Home Zones from a Universal Design Approach for the

Urban Environment in Ireland" explores contemporary national and international practices and thinking on Shared Spaces, Shared Surfaces and Home Zones and to investigate these concepts from a Universal Design approach in the Irish urban environment. This report sets out key evidence based findings and provides key recommendations in relation to the implementation of Shared Spaces, Shared Surfaces and Home Zones in Ireland.

(source: definition taken from [29])


41

6. National level perspective: United Kingdom


Institution name University of York

Country England, United Kingdom

Institution homepage http://www.york.ac.uk/

Information provided by Penn Snowden

Tony Ward

6.2. Introduction

The University of York, a member of the esteemed Russell Group, is one of the leading

institutions for research within the UK. Founded on principles of excellence, equality

and opportunity for all, it first opened in 1963 with just 230 students. With now over

30 academic departments and research centres the student body has grown to almost

16,000. The University’s values in supporting academic freedom, creativity and

innovation have carved out a reputation as an academic powerhouse where a clear

focus on excellence has secured national and international recognition.


42

6.3. Disability Support Services

The University of York has a dedicated Disability Support Service [30] for students and

can provide advice and guidance in specific areas of disability. The Disability Advisers

stress that advice is not restricted to students with an evidenced disability, it is open to

all. Supports available include:

• Advice regarding the support options available during the period of study.

• Examination arrangements.

• Library support, including extended library loans.

• Liaison with the academic department.

• Advice on the process of applying for on-campus accommodation if required.

• Signposting the student to appropriate support.

• Arranging for learning materials to be produced in alternative formats.

The Disability Support section of the University website is one of the main sources of

information for prospective and current student. The website informs the reader of

how they can access the support, as well as their entitlement to different facilities and

funding that may be available to suit specific needs. The website is designed so that

students can easily navigate through the different pages. It shows that support from

the Disability Services could aid their academic progress and make their stay at the

University of York as enjoyable as possible. Student information sessions include:

• Drop in sessions in each college are arranged at the start of each term so that

student can talk to disability advisers. These sessions are advertised.

• Spectrum is a fortnightly project that is collaboration between the Disability

Services and the Open Door Team. It is open to all students who consider

themselves on the autistic spectrum.


43

6.4. Internship guidelines for students with disabilities for academic

departments

Within many educational programmes, placements form either a required (mandatory)

or optional part of the student learning experience. Such placements can be within

another higher education institution (HEI) or industrial based, and can be either within

the student home country or abroad (such as through the Erasmus+ programme for

education, training, youth and sport). Such placements have many benefits to the

student, both for learning within their discipline area and at a personal development

level. In addition, the HEIs benefit with increased external (national and international)

links and when students have positive placement experiences, their learning

experience is enhanced.

Whilst placements for non-disabled students are commonplace and managed at a

“routine” administrative and academic level, students with disabilities can face many

additional challenges which may, unfortunately, prevent them from undertaking

placements and receiving the benefits that placements can provide. Therefore, there

needs to be support in place within the HEIs in order to overcome this barrier and

enable all students to undertake placements no matter whether they have a disability

or not, and where the student does have a disability then the type of disability should

not be a barrier to full participation in education.

Guidance on how academic departments can and should support students with

disabilities forms one key foundation pillar for such support.

The Disability Services at the University of York (UK) have developed an advice and

guidance document (available at [1]) in collaboration with the academic departments


44

that identifies practical, workable and legal requirements on the HEI in order to

support students and is underpinned by national legislation.

The key sections of the document identify how, when and why academic departments

can provide the necessary support to students with disabilities. In this way, the

potential barriers that students with disabilities can face when applying to undertake a

placement, whilst undertaking a placement and post-placement can be understood by

the department and dealt with in a sensitive manner and with the necessary empathy

The advice and guidance document, whilst aimed for use within the University of York,

does provide a template which would have relevance to other HEIs who would need to

develop such advice and guidance. As such, it potentially can be used as a reference

for “best practice” in the support for students with disabilities.

Table 6.1. EAEEIE 2014 conference publication

Paper title

Advice and Guidance for departments on placements for disabled students: A perspective from the University of York

Author(s) Snowden, P. and Grout, I.

Publication EAEEIE (EAEEIE), 2014 25th Annual Conference

Publication Year 2014

Paper Abstract

Education programmes developed within higher education institutions (HEIs) follow a sequence of student activities from first to final year of study and provide the students with a range of appropriate experiences. The structure of the programme is carefully created to provide the students with a suitable education experience in their chosen domain of expertise. The programmes developed need to have workplace relevance and in many programmes then student placements form an integral part of the programme. These can take a number of forms but are invaluable to providing the student with experience outside their home university department. These placements are challenging to all students, but can be more challenging for students with disabilities. As such, there is a necessity for the students' home university department to be aware of the needs of the individual student and to provide the necessary support. This paper discusses the development of an Advice and Guidance document for departments who would need to support students with disabilities undertaking placements

Available on IEEExplore? Yes

DOI 10.1109/EAEEIE.2014.6879395


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6.5.SALEIE seminar on assistive technology

Whilst providing the students with the right information, in the right format and at the

right time is a key part of student support, staff information and training is also

required to ensure that all staff involved in student support have the necessary skills

and information available to provide the student with the necessary support, and to

treat the student with the necessary dignity and respect at all times. Staff training can

be focused on different aspects of student support such as:

1. Legislation.

2. Institutional procedures.

3. Pastoral care of students.

4. Dealing with diversity in the classroom.

5. Developing accessible teaching and learning material.

6. Assistive technology.

7. Web accessibility.

8. Effective teaching and learning techniques for inclusive education.

9. Universal design.

However, ensuring that staff members are suitably trained requires information

sessions and seminars to be developed and provided in a suitable manner. Where this

is also linked to continuing professional development (CPD), this can enhance the

relevance and staff training. Within the SALEIE project, the Disability Services within

the University of York set-up and ran a seminar on the areas of assistive technology

and accessibility which was provided by E.A. Drafffan, an expert in these areas working

within the University of Southampton (England, United Kingdom) [31]. This seminar

was provided to the SALEIE project partners within the SALEIE meeting held at the

University of York in September 2014. This seminar enabled the project partners to

have exposure to new ideas in assistive technology and accessibility.


46


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7. National level perspective: Norway


Institution name Telemark University College

Country Norway

Institution homepage http://www.hit.no/eng

Information provided by Saba Mylvaganam

Institution name Bergen University College

Country Norway

Institution homepage http://www.hib.no/english/

Information provided by Carsten Helgesen

7.2. Introduction

Telemark University College, also known as TUC, (Høgskolen i Telemark or HiT in

Norwegian) has approximately 5500 students, and is the 4th largest, out of 24 state-

owned, university colleges in Norway. TUC has campuses in Bø, Notodden, Porsgrunn,

at Rauland and in Drammen, and offers one of the broadest spectrum of academic

opportunities in the country. Bergen University College is a state higher education

institution with about 7000 students and 700 staff and faculty. It is organised in 3

faculties; Faculty of Education, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty of Health and Social

Sciences, each offering a broad range of Bachelor and Master programmes.

For Norway, the following two aspects of student support are identified and discussed:

Universell and equality and diversity.


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7.3. Universell

Universell [32, 33] in Norway is the National Coordinator of Accessibility of Higher

Education. Universell supports students with disabilities by contributing to an

improved accessibility to higher education by:

• Offering information and knowledge about universal design as an academic

and strategic term in higher education.

• Implementing universal design as a theme in appropriate curriculums.

• Supporting the Learning Environment Committees at the higher education

institutions in Norway.

The National Coordinator of Accessibility of Higher Education (now Universell) was

founded by the Norwegian Ministry of Education in 2003. Universell is organisationally

associated with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Since 2007, Universell has had a special responsibility for providing information on

universal design in higher education. Since 2009, Universell was given the

responsibility to coordinate the learning environment committees at higher education

institutions.

As an example of the activities of Universell, an international conference was held

organised in Stockholm (13th – 15th May 2014) entitled “Building Bridges- between

yesterday and tomorrow” [34]. The conference was organized by Universell, Stockholm

University and Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the European network LINK

[35] with a theme of including learning environments in higher education.


49

7.4. Equality and diversity

Within the Norwegian higher education system [48] there are 7 accredited universities,

9 accredited specialised university institutions, 22 accredited university colleges, 2

accredited national colleges of the arts and several private institutions of higher

education with either institutional or programme accreditation [49]. A university

college mainly provides vocationally oriented studies whereas a university offers

education in the more classic academic disciplines. Higher education institutions and

their study programmes are accredited by the Norwegian Agency for Quality

Assurance in Education (NOKUT) [50] and with the exception of some private

university colleges, all higher education institutions are state-run.

Tuition in Norway would normally be in the Norwegian language and there are three

official written languages with various spoken dialects. The two official written

Norwegian languages are Bokmål and Nynorsk, and the majority of people in Norway

use Bokmål. In addition, the indigenous Sámi people have their own official written

language. However, a number of accredited study programs are offered by higher

education institutions where the main language of instruction is English.

Equality and diversity are important considerations within Norway and the higher

education system. Within Norwegian legislation:

"Institutions should strive as much as possible, the studying environment

and conditions are tuned to match the needs of students with special

needs. Any adaptation/adjustment made to satisfy the needs of some

special Groups of students should not lead to any form of reduction of

quality of study in each discipline" [translated from the main document

on the laws governing universities and university colleges in [51]]


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Norway actively promotes the concepts and practice of universal design for increased

accessibility in society. This is particularly important for individuals with disabilities

who face mobility obstacles in everyday life due to poor design. In the field of

Universal Design, Universell [52] in Norway is the National Coordinator of Accessibility

of Higher Education. Universell supports students with disabilities by contributing to an

improved accessibility to higher education through a number of initiatives.

Additionally, the Norwegian government is aiming for Norway to be universally

designed by 2025 [53].


51

8. National level perspective: France


Institution name University of Bordeaux 1 (Bordeaux)

Country France

Institution homepage http://www.u-bordeaux.fr/

Information provided by Helene Fremont

Institution name University of Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier (Toulouse)

Country France

Institution homepage http://www.univ-tlse3.fr/

Information provided by Georges Zissis

Institution name Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble (Grenoble)

Country France

Institution homepage https://www.ujf-grenoble.fr/

Information provided by Jean-Marc Thiriet

8.2. Introduction

In this section, three French universities are considered and an aspect of student

support within each university is identified and presented. Within the French

universities, each institution would provide a range of different supports in order to

support students with disabilities. Hence, it would be possible to present a number of

different support measures adopted by the French universities and compare how each


52

university implements the required supports. However, here, just one exemplar from

each university is considered.

The following three exemplars of best practice are identified:

1. University of Bordeaux 1 (Bordeaux) [36]

i. University charter for handicapped students (Charte Universite /

Handicap).

2. University of Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier (Toulouse) [37]

i. Service dedicated to disabled students.

3. Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble (Grenoble) [38]

i. Student record document for Students with medical constraints

(Etudiants à contraintes médicales).


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8.3. University of Bordeaux 1: University charter for handicapped

students (Charte Universite / Handicap)

The University of Bordeaux 1 is situated in the Bordeaux suburb of Talence. Its focus is

on sciences and technologies. These include biological sciences, chemistry, computer

sciences, earth sciences, mathematics, physics and sea sciences.

As part of the university’s support measures for students with disabilities

(handicapped students), the University has a charter for handicapped students (Charte

Universite / Handicap). The charter has its basis in the law of 11th February 2005 on

“equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of people with

disabilities” which defines the obligations of universities in supporting disabled

individuals. Article 20 of the charter provides that:

"higher education institutions enrol students with disabilities or of

incapacitating health disorder, under the provisions regulating access in the

same way as other students and train them in implementing the

arrangements for their position in the organization, conduct and support

their education”.

The Charter has the following objectives:

• To improve the coherence and understanding in the reception of disabled

students and the political, technical and financial resources of each partner.

• Encourage the involvement of university policy makers in the hosting of

students with disabilities; in particular the flow of information, the creation of

dedicated services and the appointment of a responsible host.


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• Facilitate a matching contribution of the individual or collective resources

necessary for the implementation of the objectives of the Act of 11th February

2005.

• To restore equality of opportunity between disabled students and non-disabled

through the empowerment of the above.

The Charter is shown on the next five pages.


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56


57


58


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8.4. University of Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier: Disability support service

Students with disabilities

Disability and higher education, it is possible

The University Paul Sabatier has a service dedicated to disabled students (étudiants en

situation de handicap: ESH). The Mission Handicap (MH) is a one stop shop for EH

(étudiants de handicap). Students have available from MH:

• The MH provides advice on compensations for deficiencies related to the

student’s disability in the development of their studies.

• The MH provides support to access various university services (e.g., medical,

social, education, housing and accessibility), and with the university’s external

partners.

• The MH provides technical assistance and (or) human assistance to students

access to education.

• The MH provides transport on campus with two vehicles adapted for

transporting disabled people, and supports such as aid to administrative

procedures, document copying, and library support.

• The MH implements regulations relative to the conduct of examinations and

competitions and access to information.

The following shows an information document (in French) on disability support which

is provided by the university to students. The document is structured as follows:

• Responsible persons: contact details.

• Welcome message.


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• Study information.

• Examinations.

• Technical assistance and training materials.

• Internship search and employability

• Sports.

• Accommodation and Transport

Étudiants en situation de handicap

Handicap et études supérieures, c’est possible L’Université Paul Sabatier possède au forum Louis Lareng, un service dédié aux étudiants en situation de handicap (ESH) : La Mission Handicap, guichet unique pour les E.H. Vous avez des besoins spécifiques, la M.H est à votre écoute : - La M.H. vous conseille pour la compensation des déficiences liées à votre handicap, dans l’aménagement de vos études, - La M.H. vous aide dans vos démarches avec les différents services de l’université (dossier médical, social, scolarité, logement, accessibilité…), ainsi qu’avec nos partenaires extérieurs, - La M.H. met à votre disposition des aides techniques et(ou) des aides humaines pour vous permettre l’accès à l’enseignement, - La M.H. assure les déplacements sur le campus avec deux véhicules adaptés pour le transport des personnes à mobilité réduite, des aides aux démarches administratives, travaux de photocopie, soutien en bibliothèque, etc… - La M.H. met en œuvre la réglementation par rapport au déroulement des examens et concours (temps supplémentaire, secrétariat, transcription des sujets ...) et l’accessibilité aux savoirs. Vous pourrez ainsi poursuivre vos études dans les meilleures conditions et en toute sérénité.

MISSION HANDICAP – Forum Louis Lareng


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La responsable de la Mission Docteur Laurence Cadieux Tél. 05 61 55 73 51 ou 78 82 sur RDV Accueil - secrétariat Nicole Perez - Tél. 05 61 55 78 82- Fax 05 61 55 78 80 – [email protected] Suivi des étudiants en situation de handicap Françoise Riggio – Tél. 05 61 55 82 13 – [email protected] Accueil – Accompagnements des étudiants en situation de handicap – Logistique Christophe Cazes - William Legendre – Tél. 05 61 55 78 81

Accueil

Dès votre inscription, vous devez vous mettre en relation avec la Mission handicap de l’université et prendre rendez-vous avec le médecin désigné par la CDAPH (Commission des Droits et de l’autonomie des Personnes Handicapée) de la MDPH31 (Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées) qui, après consultation et examen de votre dossier, proposera au président de l’université les différentes mesures nécessaires à la réussite de vos études. La Mission Handicap a mis en place un accueil personnalisé des étudiants en situation de handicap, vous guide, à votre demande, pour la visite des locaux afin d’ évaluer les difficultés d’accès et agir éventuellement sur le planning des salles, tient à votre disposition des informations pratiques concernant la législation, l’orientation, les associations, les loisirs, le sport à l’université.

Études Vous pouvez solliciter, un aménagement du régime d’études (ex : une année effectuée en deux ans). À votre demande, la Mission Handicap peut : - provoquer des rencontres avec l’équipe pédagogique de votre formation pour évoquer les aspects spécifiques de votre scolarité et envisager des solutions aux problèmes éventuels. - organiser un tutorat, un soutien pédagogique, sur avis de l’équipe pédagogique, - mettre en place des mesures d’accompagnement (recherche de documents, prise de notes, photocopies...).


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En liaison avec les centres spécialisés de Ramonville, la Mission Handicap propose des transcriptions en braille aux étudiants non-voyants (documents de cours et sujets d’examens). Des interprètes en langue des signes (LSF) et des codeurs (LPC) peuvent intervenir (cours - TD - TP).

Examens et partiels

La circulaire n° 2011-220 du 27-12-2011 du Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche) prévoit l’aménagement des examens (temps supplémentaire, salle particulière, ordinateurs, etc…). http://www.education.gouv.fr/pid25535/bulletin_officiel.html?cid_bo=58803

Aides techniques et supports pédagogiques

- Un photocopieur en libre-service est à la disposition des EH à la Mission Handicap. - La Mission Handicap peut intervenir en matière de matériels et fournitures adaptés pour l’accès au savoir (sièges - tables - loupes - magnétophones – micro HF, tableau interactif. - Deux postes, sont à disposition avec du matériel spécifique pour les étudiants handicapés visuels (synthèse vocale, plage braille - imprimante braille) dans les locaux de la bibliothèque universitaire.

Recherche de stages et insertion professionnelle

La Mission Handicap entretient des contacts avec le SCUIO et le BAIP de l’université, pour vous proposer des stages, vous aider à la rédaction de votre C.V. et pour vous guider dans votre recherche d’emploi. Une convention a été conclue entre les grandes entreprises du Sud Ouest, le Rectorat, le PRES, l’ONISEP et le Ministère du travail (DIRECCTE), afin de favoriser la poursuite d’études et l’insertion professionnelle.

Sports

Le Service commun universitaire des activités physiques et sportives (Scuaps) propose des activités aux étudiants handicapés et développe la pratique de sports adaptés ou non à l’université. La Mission Handicap peut vous mettre en relation avec le comité Handisport Midi-Pyrénées.

Logement et transports


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Les étudiants handicapés, bénéficiaires d’un logement en cité universitaire, sont prioritaires pour l’obtention de chambres accessibles, adaptées, en cité universitaire. Il existe des logements adaptés, domotisés, à la résidence Clément Ader (SAHEHD - GAHMU) pour les ESH nécessitant un SAVS. Il faut en faire la demande au CROUS (Centre Régional des Oeuvres Universitaires et Scolaires) 58 rue du Taur - 31070 Toulouse cedex Tél. 05 61 12 54 70 SAHEHD : Tél. 05 61 00 10 03 - Courriel [email protected]

Associations : - A.P.F. (Association des paralysés de France) : 60 chemin Commandant-Joël-Le-Goff - 31100 Toulouse Tél. 05 34 50 85 55 Délégation régionale : Tél. 05 34 50 85 50 - Fax 05 34 50 85 52 http://www.apf.asso.fr/ - A.F.M. (Association française contre les myopathies) : Voie 2 Innopole - Buroparc 3 - BP 51 - 31675 Labège cedex Tél. 05 61 39 95 60 - Fax 05 61 39 88 48 http://www.afm-telethon.fr/ - A.P.I.H.M.S. (Association pour la promotion des intellectuels handicapés moteurs et sensoriels) : 7 impasse de la Tuillerie - 31320 Castanet Tolosan Tél. 05 61 27 58 95 http://www.apihms.org/ - Association Droit au savoir Eric Chenut – [email protected] www.droitausavoir.asso.fr - G.I.H.P. Midi-Pyrénées (Groupement pour l’Insertion des personnes Handicapées Physiques) : 10 rue Jean-Gilles - 31100 Toulouse Tél. 05 61 44 88 33 / 05 62 26 12 12 http://www.gihpnational.org/

- G.I.S.H. (Groupement Interassociatif Scolarisation et Handicap) http://nondiscrimination.toulouse.fr/


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- IRIS (langue des signes) 10 av. Georges-Guynemer Bât. D 01 - 31770 Colomiers Tél. 05 34 55 93 78 - Fax 05 61 18 82 65 http://www.asp-iris.fr/ - C.E.S.D.V.- I.J.A. (Centre d’Education Spécialisé pour Déficients Visuels – Institut des Jeunes Aveugles) 37 rue Montplaisir - 31400 Toulouse Tél. : 05 61 14 82 22 http://www.ijatoulouse.org/

Quelques adresses utiles : Handi U vous informe : aides diverses, adresses, contacts utiles, textes officiels. http://www.handi-u.fr/ C.N.S.A. (Caisse Nationale de Solidarité pour l’Autonomie) http://www.cnsa.fr/ M.D.P.H 31 (Maison Départementale des Personnes Handicapées de la Haute-Garonne) http://www.mdph31.fr/


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8.5. Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble: Student record document

Université Joseph Fourier – Grenoble 1 (UJF) was founded in its present form in 1971,

but the history of Grenoble’s university dates back to 1339. A research-intensive

university offering programmes in science, technology and medicine, Université Joseph

Fourier currently comprises over 17 000 full-time students of which 20% are in

graduate studies. 4500 academics, researchers, administrative and technical staff

collaborate in over 100 research laboratories the majority of which are associated

directly with national and international research organisations present in Grenoble.

Foreign students represent 12% of the university’s total student population, but

almost 30% in PhD programmes with some 100 nationalities represented on campus.

As part of the university’s support measures for students with disabilities, the

university utilises as student record document for Students with medical constraints

(Etudiants à contraintes médicales). The student is given the opportunity to provide

information on their needs in order to allow the teaching staff to better assess the

individual’s development needs. However, the student has the right not to answer

certain questions. Specifically, the document is completed to identify information on:

• General student information (name and contact details).

• The amenities that the student has received in previous education.

• Identify the student’s particular situation (physical disability, visual impairment,

hearing disability, troubles " DYS " (Dyslexia, dysphasia, dyscalculia , dyspraxia,

dysgraphia , attention deficit disorder).

• Official documentation relating to their disability.

• Information relating to their studies in the university and departmental contact

information.

On completion, this form is then signed. This form is shown on the next four pages.


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9. National level perspective: Slovenia


Institution name University of Maribor – Faculty of Electrical

Engineering and Computer Science

Country Slovenia

Institution homepage http://www.um.si/ http://www.feri.uni-mb.si/

Information provided by Tatjana Welzer

9.2. Introduction

UM-FERI (University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer

Science) [39] is one of 17 faculties of the University of Maribor. With around 2500

students and 270 members of staff (around 50% of staff are researchers), some are full

time researcher, and the rest are part time researchers and work basically as teachers

and assistants. Lectures are given on 20 study programs at three levels of academic

education and one level of professionally oriented program. Programs cover the

following study areas: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Informatics, Media

Communications, Telecommunications, Mechatronics and Industrial Engineering.

Within the Slovenian universities, each institution would provide a range of different

supports in order to support students with disabilities. In this section, one particular

institutional level initiative in providing a personalised approach to supporting for

students with disability is identified and discussed.


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9.3. Personalised approach for students with disability

This case study presents an intensive personalized approach for a student with a

disability who “over the night” became ill and was not able to follow his study as

before. Always when we have to deal with students with disability we have to talk

about the personalised approach. Some general rules and adaptions can be used by all

students with similar disability or all students independent on disability, while the rest

have to be done according the disability itself and students’ possibilities. Rules and

adaptions considered are:

• The tutor of the student with disability is named: the person who is

representing the student when in the contact with teachers and assistants if

student cannot do it by himself.

• List of student’s possibilities/limitations according to the study program is

prepared and delivered to all student teachers and assistants (with student’s

permission).

• Specific arrangements are allowed according to the University statute as well as

regulations and these are distributed.

• Meetings for those involved are organized.

• Technical support is organized in cooperation with the student.

• A connection to students with similar needs is established.

• A connection to students from the same study group is established virtual

connection.

The above is a summary of the activity. Further information on this work can be

obtained from Vladka Kožuh Ledinek, (e,ail: [email protected] ).


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10. Access to higher education

10.1. Introduction

Widening participation and student support can only be undertaken effectively if there

are the necessary resources provided by the institution. This requires access to the

necessary sources of funding to introduce and maintain appropriate student support

services within the institution.

In this section, a review of SALEIE partner institutions was undertaken and information

on the following aspects of student support provided is presented:

1. Support offices and services (such as disability support) are identified and

where possible, the on-line access to information is provided.

Based on the information was obtained from both the partner survey (work package

4.1 - Pan-European Widening Participation and Diversity Survey), discussions from

within the work package 4 sub-group and follow-up questions with the SALEIE

partners, this information is presented in tabular form for the different institutions.


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10.2. Support services by institution

The support services offered within the SALEIE partner institutions are summarised in

the following tables.

Institution University of York

Country England, United Kingdom

1 Disability Support The disability support pages offer comprehensive information about what is a disability, how we help, advice on funding, facilities, policies and much more.

https://www.york.ac.uk/students/support/disability/

2 Support, welfare and health This part of the University website contains all the information about how students are supported.

https://www.york.ac.uk/students/support/

3 Equality and Diversity Office University policy and advice and guidance on equality and diversity.

http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/eo/

4 International and EU students Incorporates Global Programmes and cover Erasmus

http://www.york.ac.uk/study/international/

Additional information

We have a mature students association. We have an Access Scheme but the access office such as it is part of widening participation.

Institution University of Sofia

Country Bulgaria


No specific person or office responsible for disabled students.


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Institution Joseph Fourier University of Grenoble

Country France

1 Accompagnement des personnes en situation de handicap

Support for people with disabilities.

https://www.ujf-grenoble.fr/actualites/2014-07-22/accompagnement-personnes-en-situation-handicap-1?language=fr

2 International training Courses offered for an international audience.

https://www.ujf-grenoble.fr/studying/international?language=en

3 International Courses and studying.

https://www.ujf-grenoble.fr/international-en?language=en

Institution Ruse University

Country Bulgaria

1 Disability support services (Undergraduate and Graduate office)

No specific person or office responsible for disabled students. Undergraduate and Graduate office provide information on all university-related questions, for example on offsetting possible disadvantages in conditions of study and examination regulations and on easy access to university buildings.

http://www.uni-ruse.bg/university/faculties

2 Admission office The Admission Office provides information on all university-related questions regarding entry exams for disability students.

http://www.uni-ruse.bg/admission

3 Continuing Education Office The subject of activity of CE office is improvement of the qualifications of University or higher school diploma holders through a variety of continuing education courses for acquiring new knowledge, skills and competencies; organisation and preparation of training, additional study and consulting services.

http://www.uni-ruse.bg/en/education/CO

4 University ERASMUS Office (UEO)

Incoming and outgoing international and European students.

http://www.uni-ruse.bg/en/international/mobility


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Institution University of Craiova

Country Romania



Institution University of Naples Federico II

Country Italy

1 Centro di Ateneo SInAPSi: SInAPSi

This is the University Centre for all students who feel excluded from university life because of disability. It promotes and conducts researches and studies to improve the inclusion of students.

http://www.sinapsi.unina.it/home_sinapsi


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Institution Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

Country Slovakia

1 Disability support services To promote and facilitate entry to and participation in the academic programmes and the student life of the University by people with disabilities. It exists on the University and Faculty levels only. Support Center for students with disabitlities

and specific needs.

Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia Brrierless Center of Technical University Košice, SK

http://www.fei.stuba.sk/sk/aktuality-a-informacie/studenti-so-specifickymi-potrebami.html?page_id=4177 www:cezap.sk web.tuke.sk/AC/indexbbc.html

2 Access office It does exist on the University and Faculty level

http://www.fei.stuba.sk/sk/aktuality-a-informacie/studenti-so-specifickymi-potrebami.html?page_id=4177

3 Mature Students Office Only on the university or faculty level (Only in Slovak language)

http://www.fei.stuba.sk/sk/aktuality-a-informacie/studenti-so-specifickymi-potrebami.html?page_id=4177

4 International Education Division (includes Erasmus).

"Slovak Institute for information and prognoses

in education" (oriented especially for international cooperation and students mobilities)

http://www.uips.sk/

Institution University of Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier

Country France

1 Étudiants en situation de handicap

Universities and Grandes Ecoles of Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées information for students with disabilities.

http://www.univ-toulouse.fr/vie-etudiante/vie-pratique/etudiants-en-situation-de-handicap

2 International Projects Training and research

http://www.univ-tlse3.fr/20749482/1/fiche___pagelibre/&RH=1317911324134&RF=1297955124157

3 Exchanges and Mobility

http://www.univ-tlse3.fr/10724286/1/fiche___pagelibre/&RH=HOME


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Institution Tallinn University of Technology

Country Estonia

1 Study centre Students with special needs have an access to peer support, provided by the Study Centre. The university has also a special counsellor for such students, who can provide counselling on following topics:

• Entry requirements and study possibilities

• Special needs (adjustment of the study environment)

• Study system

• Special accommodation

• Leisure activities

• Financial support and scholarships

2 Open University Provides support for any learner who wants to continue their education.

http://www.ttu.ee/studying/continuing-education/

3 Erasmus Student Mobility for Studies

Erasmus mobility

http://www.tlu.ee/en/studies/Studies-Abroad/Erasmus-student-mobility-for-studies

3 International Relations Office: International Mobility

Deals with:

• Outgoing exchange (teacher and staff mobility, international placements)

• Incoming exchange and outgoing exchange studies

• Cooperation networks/organisations and bilateral agreements

http://www.ttu.ee/international-cooperation/international-relations-office-contact/

4 International Relations Office: Networks Centre and International Study Center

Deals with:

• International recruitment

• Admission

• Student services

http://www.ttu.ee/international-cooperation/international-relations-office-contact/


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Institution Technical University of Cluj-Napoca

Country Romania

1 Disability support No specific person or office responsible for disabled students.

2 Continuing Education and distance education department (DEPARTAMENTUL PENTRU EDUCATIE CONTINUA, INVATAMANT LA DISTANTA SI CU FRECVENTA REDUSA)

Continuing Education and distance education.

http://decidfr.utcluj.ro/

3 International Relations Office (BIROUL DE RELATII INTERNATIONALE):

International Relations Office (IRO) represents an organizational structure of the university and its purposes are:

• Developing international cooperation relations and scientific research, at academic level, with partner universities, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, centers of research and also international companies and foundations.

• Ensuring the efficient exchange between universities at institutional level for teaching staff and students.

• Increasing the high reputation of the engineering school in Cluj by informing the public as regards its excellent results along the years.

• Attracting a large number of foreign students in the training programs organized by the university.

http://bri.utcluj.ro/RI2_en/index.php

4 The Office for European Programs

The Office for European Programs within the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca has as main goals the management and implementation of the educational and vocational programs supported by the European Commission (SOCRATES/ERASMUS, LEONARDO DA VINCI and Europass).

http://bri.utcluj.ro/llp_erasmus_plus.php


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Institution University Claude Bernard Lyon 1

Country France

1 Santé et handicap Support service for disabled students.

• Search of writer for course support

• Photocopies and braille transcription or adaptation in large print.

• Search for interpreters, coders and interfaces of communication.

• Additional courses in case of great difficulties.

• Support for the participation in the ordinary physical and sports activities, with an individual support (adapted physical activities and health).

• Small room of welcome(reception), work and relaxation, equipped with two posts adapted and connected to Internet.

• Loan of material.

http://etu.univ-lyon1.fr/sante-et-handicap/

Institution University of Limerick

Country Ireland

1 Disability support services To promote and facilitate entry to and participation in the academic programmes and the student life of the University by people with disabilities.

http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/Services/Student_Affairs/Student_Specialised_Supports/Disability_Support_Services

2 Access office To promote and support the participation of students from groups who have been under-represented in the University sector

http://www2.ul.ie/web/WWW/Services/Student_Affairs/Student_Specialised_Supports/Access_Office

3 Mature Students Office Support office for mature students undertaking an undergraduate degree course, including those taking the pre-degree Access Course.

http://www3.ul.ie/courses/maturestudents.shtml

4 International Education Division Incoming and outgoing international and European students. Includes Erasmus+.

http://www.ul.ie/international/


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Institution Cracow University of Technology

Country Poland

1 Office for Persons with Disabilities and ZSN: Association of Disabled Students

Support for students with disabilities

http://www.zsn.pk.edu.pl/index.php/tematy/uprawnienia/ 2 Erasmus Erasmus mobility

http://www.erasmus.pk.edu.pl/incoming.php

3 International Relations Office International students

http://nus.edu.sg/IRO/sep/partners/pu/poland/cut.html

Institution Technical University of Denmark

Country Denmark

1 Office for Students with special needs (Disability support services)

To promote and facilitate entry to and participation in the academic programmes and the student life of the University by people with disabilities.

http://www.dtu.dk/english/Education/International-Student-Guide/Studying-at-DTU/Special_needs

2 Access office Support and guidance on how to seek admission to DTU. (text in Danish only)

http://www.dtu.dk/Uddannelse/Ansoegning-og-optagelse

3 Office of International Affairs (includes Erasmus)

To provide student support and facilitate incoming guest students.

http://www.dtu.dk/english/Education/International-Student-Guide/Academic-life-at-DTU/International-Affairs

4

Student mobilty

http://www.dtu.dk/Uddannelse/Studieliv/Udlandsophold

5

Study counseling

http://www.dtu.dk/Uddannelse/Studieliv/Faa_en_god_studiestart/Studievejledningen_paa_DTU

http://www.dtu.dk/Uddannelse/Studieliv/Faa_en_god_studiestart/Studiestart-for-bachelor--og-diplomingenioerstuderende


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Institution Riga Technical University

Country Latvia



Institution University of Zaragoza

Country Spain

1 Oficina Universitaria de Atención a la Diversidad (University Office of Attention to Diversity)

To promote and facilitate entry to and participation in the academic programmes and the student life of the University by people with disabilities.

http://ouad.unizar.es/

2 Access office/Student office Help all kind of incoming students in their access into the University/ Promote the participation of students in all management boards of Faculties and University

http://wzar.unizar.es/servicios/unizaridiom.html https://eina.unizar.es/estructura-estudiantes/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=168&id=1120

3 Realización por INTERNET de trámites relacionados con el inicio o la continuación de estudios en la Universidad de Zaragoza

Support office for mature students undertaking an undergraduate degree course

http://www.unizar.es/acceso/

4 International Education Division (includes Erasmus+).

Incoming and outgoing international and European students

http://wzar.unizar.es/servicios/inter/ProgrInterc-NEW2.htm


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Institution University of Bordeaux 1

Country France

1 Handi-U Higher education and research accessible to people with disabilities

http://www.handi-u.fr/

2 International Study Programmes

Study programs, summer schools and programs abroad.

http://www.u-bordeaux.com/Studying/Exchange-Programs

3 Erasmus+ Erasmus+ mobility

http://www.u-bordeaux.com/Studying/Exchange-Programs/ERASMUS

Institution University of Vigo Country Spain

1 Disability support services To promote and facilitate entry to and participation in the academic programmes and the student life of the University by people with disabilities.

http://extension.uvigo.es/extension_en/diversidade/index.html

2 Access office To promote and support the participation of students from groups who have been under-represented in the University sector

http://extension.uvigo.es/extension_en/diversidade/index.html

3 Mature Students Office Support office for mature students undertaking an undergraduate degree course, including those taking the pre-degree Access Course.

https://seix.uvigo.es/uv/web/maiores/page

4 International Education Division (includes Erasmus).

Incoming and outgoing international and European students.

http://www.uvigo.es/uvigo_en/administracion/ori/index.html


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Institution University of Malta

Country Malta

1 ACCESS – Disability Support Unit

The University of Malta has a dedicated disability support unit. This is in response to a growing public awareness of the need to pay attention to the requirements of persons with a disability by setting up user-friendly environments with specifically designed facilities.

http://www.um.edu.mt/about/services/support/access

2 International and EU Office Office for international students and European Union students, including Erasmus+

https://www.um.edu.mt/int-eu

3 Erasmus+ Mobility under the Erasmus+ programme

http://www.um.edu.mt/int-eu/erasmus


University of Malta Erasmus Charter: http://www.um.edu.mt/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/211941/ECHE.pdf

Institution Bergen University College

Country Norway

1 Disability office No specific person or office responsible for disabled students.

2 Student Centre In conjunction with students with disability and related problems, practical adjustments/amendments in the schedule and form of exams are made

http://www.hib.no/for-studenter/studenttorget/tilrettelegging/

3 International International study and research

http://www.uib.no/en/international

4 Erasmus Erasmus programme

http://www.uib.no/en/education/49483/erasmus


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Institution University of Split

Country Croatia

1 Disabilities No specific person or office responsible for disabled students.

2 International Relations Office

Incoming and outgoing international and European students. Includes Erasmus+.

http://eng.unist.hr/InternationalRelations/InternationalRelationsOffice/tabid/415/Default.aspx

Institution St Petersburg State University

Country Russia

1 Study Information on faculties, for applicants, for students, for doctoral programs, for degree & exchange students and the university campus.

http://www.eng.spbu.ru/study/

2 International Affairs: Science & Research

http://ifea.spbu.ru/en/study-in-spsu

4 International Affairs: Information for our partner universities

Joint activities and to the further deepening of bilateral cooperation with worldwide partners.

http://ifea.spbu.ru/en/international-cooperation-and-partnership


Usually educational offices include several different functions.


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87


88


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11. Student projects in assistive technology

11.1. Introduction

The following is a list of projects put forward by the SALEIE partner institutions. These

project ideas are aimed to provide information on example projects that can be

undertaken by students in higher education institutions who are interested in

undertaking projects relating to assistive technology. Therefore, the ideas are to

stimulate academics to develop student projects in assistive technology and involve

students in the projects. Hence, students can undertake projects which relate to needs

in society and which can benefit the community.

The project descriptions are provided on the Student and Staff Support Hub and also

the contact details of the project proposer for more information or to discuss potential

collaboration. These project descriptions are provided as ideas for other institutions to

develop projects in assistive technology.

Anyone who wishes to refer to these project ideas, we would ask that you

acknowledge the SALEIE project as follows:

"This project idea was developed as one of the project proposals provided

under the EU Lifelong Learning Programme "SALEIE" (Strategic ALignment

of Electrical and Information Engineering in European Higher Education

Institutions). Project Reference No. 527877-LLP-1-2012-1-UK-ERASMUS-

ENW Project funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme"


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In addition and within the SALEIE project, the following publications to-date have been

presented, see Table 11.1, which discusses student project work in SALEIE partner

institutions in more detail.

Table 11.1: SALEIE project publications to-date on student project work

Paper title Student Projects in Assistive Technologies

Author(s) L. Lhotska and O. Stepankovax

Publication ITHET 2014


Paper Abstract

The paper presents briefly our educational activities in the area of assistive technologies. We have developed a special course on assistive technologies that uses in practical part project-based approach. We have established a specialized facility where the students can work on their projects. The facility simulates real environment of a smart home and a hospital room. The students can select a topic for a project from our proposals or they can come with their own ideas. In the paper we present results of several student projects that can be in the future used as practical applications for people with special needs. Some of them can be additionally used as games both for children and adults.

Available on IEEExplore?

No

Paper available from the conference website: http://www.york.ac.uk/conferences/ithet2014/index.html

DOI n/a

Paper title Examples of undergraduate students projects in the area of Assistive Technologies

Author(s) L. Grindei, D. Mandru, M. Munteanu, V. Topa and T. Ward

Publication ITHET 2014


Paper Abstract Within the SALEIE project LLP Programme 527877-LLP-1-2012–“Strategic Alignment of Electrical and Information Engineering in European Higher Education Institutions”, work package 4 is concerned with Widening Participation & Student Support. As an integral part of this work package, consideration is to be given to how students with disabilities can be supported throughout their studies within the electrical and information engineering (EIE) disciplines. An important result of this project will be the on-line Student Support Centre, which is planned to include a technical resource area on undergraduate student projects in the field of designing and using assistive technologies. The purpose of this paper is to present several examples of projects at undergraduate level, undertaken in the area of assistive technologies by students from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Available on IEEExplore?

No

Paper available from the conference website: http://www.york.ac.uk/conferences/ithet2014/index.html

DOI n/a


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11.2. Project ideas

Fifteen project ideas are presented below identified SALEIE partner institutions:

1. Hand gesture detection using the ADXL346 accelerometer for assistive

technologies to support students with disabilities.

2. Contactless PC interface using Hall Effect sensors and the Arduino UNO

microcontroller system.*

3. Voice control of Electronic Test Equipment.

4. Talking Electronic Component Identifier.

5. Soldering aid for students with only one hand.

6. Emergency Alerting Bracelet.

7. Contactless PC interface using Hall Effect sensors and the Arduino UNO

microcontroller system.*

8. Creating a guidance system as Smartphone APP using indoor navigation in real

time.

9. Creating a Smartphone APP using speech recognition for real time character

composition in lectures.

10. Braille Tactile Display - Display for learning Braille language.

11. Development of a “smart” blind stick.

12. Human-Computer Interface based on Electrooculogram signals.

13. Wheelchair control through head movements.

14. Flash animation based tutorial on Braille.

15. Flash animation based tutorial on disability signs.

* - These two projects are based on the same proposal, but to be undertaken by

students in different higher education institutions. This would enable joint projects and

student collaboration to be undertaken as well as potentially developing different

ways in which the same system functionality could be achieved.


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Project 1

Project Supervisor: Dr Ian Grout SALEIE partner University of Limerick

Project Title: Hand gesture detection using the ADXL346 accelerometer for assistive technologies to support students with disabilities.

Project duration: 2 semesters Project level Final year (year 4) undergraduate project

Course Suitability: Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic and Computer Engineering

Project Description:

In this project, the ADXL346 3-axis accelerometer will be used to interface to an Arduino UNO microcontroller system and personal computer (PC) in order for hand gestures to be read by the PC when the accelerometer is attached to a human hand. In this arrangement, the sensor will be worn by a student who will control the operation of the PC using hand gestures and the system would be worn by a student with physical disability which would limit their ability to use a keyboard and mouse arrangement. Hence, by using limited hand gestures, the hand will replace the role of the keyboard and mouse in specific applications. The system to design will be a hardware-software co-design and will demonstrate the ability to control a suitable PC application using the accelerometers.

Project 2


Project Title: Contactless PC interface using Hall Effect sensors and the Arduino UNO microcontroller system

Project duration: 2 semesters Project level Final year (year 4) undergraduate project

Course Suitability: Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic and Computer Engineering


In this project, a 5x5 array of Hall Effect sensors will be used to interface to an Arduino UNO microcontroller system and personal computer (PC) in order for hand movements to be read by the PC when a magnet attached to a human hand passes over the sensors. In this arrangement, the magnet will be worn by a student who will control the operation of the PC using hand movements and the system would be worn by a student with physical disability which would limit their ability to use a keyboard and mouse arrangement. Hence, by using limited hand motions, the hand will replace the role of the keyboard and mouse in specific applications. The system to design will be a hardware-software co-design and will demonstrate the ability to control a suitable PC application using the magnetic sensors.


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Project 3

Project Supervisor: Tony Ward SALEIE partner University of York

Project Title: Voice control of Electronic Test Equipment

Project duration: Project level Final year (year 3 or 4) undergraduate project

Course Suitability: Bachelor (or Integrated) Masters in Electronic Engineering


In this project, voice activation of items of electronic laboratory test equipment will be explored. The project is primarily aimed at items of test equipment that can be controlled by USB, Network or IEEE control bus instructions. The instruction command will be generated by a voice recognition system instead of the more conventional typed command. The project is primarily a software project and can be written as either a stand alone programme or as a web based tool. The chosen instrument(s) and range of commands should cover those normally used in undergraduate electronic experiments.

Project 4


Project Title: Talking Electronic Component Identifier




Imagine you have extremely poor eye-sight and cannot read the markings of the small electronic components we see in electronics these days. This is the underlying problem this project aims to solve. Initially aimed at two legged components, the device will tell you, by talking to you, what the component you are holding is and what its key characteristics are, in particular its value. The project involves the circuitry to detect the component, identify its type and then measure its value. It is expected that the components that can be identified will be resistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes in the first instance.


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Project 5


Project Title: Soldering aid for students with only one hand




The objective of this project is to investigate methods by which a student with only one usable hand – either as a result of a permanent disability, loss of a limb or temporary incapacitation resulting from a fracture. The problem is that two hands are needed in the soldering process, one to hold the soldering iron, the other to hold and dispense the solder. This project will explore and trial methods of achieving a good quality soldered joint using only one hand. Possibly using other body parts such as the foot to activate something.

Project 6


Project Title: Emergency Alerting Bracelet




The project is aimed at students who cannot hear, and in particular cannot hear the sound of an emergency alarm. The objective of the project is to design an alerting bracelet that vibrates when an alarm is sounding. The circuitry can be sophisticated in that it can be ‘tuned’ to listen for specific alarm sounds as opposed to just noise above a threshold sound level.


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Project 7


Project Title: Contactless PC interface using Hall Effect sensors and the Arduino UNO microcontroller system




In this project, a 5x5 array of Hall Effect sensors will be used to interface to an Arduino UNO microcontroller system and personal computer (PC) in order for hand movements to be read by the PC when a magnet attached to a human hand passes over the sensors. In this arrangement, the magnet will be worn by a student who will control the operation of the PC using hand movements and the system would be worn by a student with physical disability which would limit their ability to use a keyboard and mouse arrangement. Hence, by using limited hand motions, the hand will replace the role of the keyboard and mouse in specific applications. The system to design will be a hardware-software co-design and will demonstrate the ability to control a suitable PC application using the magnetic sensors.

Project 8

Project Supervisor: Prof. Böhm SALEIE partner UOAS Mainz

Project Title: Creating a guidance system as Smartphone APP using indoor navigation in real time

Project duration: 1 semester Project level Final year (year 3) undergraduate project

Course Suitability: Bachelor of Geoinformatics and Surveying


In this project, a system will be designed and developed which aims at real time navigation support for students with disabilities. The target platforms are tablet PC and/or Smartphone. The focus of the application is to support navigation within and in between campus buildings – in most cases complex architectures. The application takes special demands and restriction regarding accessibility into consideration. Within the course of the this project, state of the art analysis will be performed and existing software will selected, appropriate sensor frameworks will be selected and an application prototype will be developed. The project utilized modern state of the art senor technology and its main tasks are software development. The expected result is a prototype of an iOS or Android app and a sensor infrastructure.


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Project 9

Project Supervisor: Prof. Böhm SALEIE partner UOAS Mainz

Project Title: Creating a Smartphone APP using speech recognition for real time character composition in lectures

Project duration: 1 semester Project level Final year (year 3) undergraduate project

Course Suitability: Bachelor of Geoinformatics and Surveying


This project aims to support students with hearing disabilities during classroom lectures. In this project, a system will be designed and developed with the ability to create a text document in real time using tablet PC or Smartphone. The audio input form the lecturer will be analyzed and transformed into documents. Within the course of this project, state of the art analysis will be performed and existing software will be selected, the vocabulary trained and an application developed. The project utilized modern state of the art speech recognition technology and its main tasks are software development. The expected result is a prototype of an iOS or Android app.

Project 10

Project Supervisor: Prof. Dan Mandru

SALEIE partner: Technical University of Cluj-Napoca

Project Title: Braille Tactile Display - Display for learning Braille language

Project duration: 3 years Project level: PhD project

ECTS credits (if applicable):

Prerequisite

requirements:

Completion of Bachelor and Master programme

Course Suitability: Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering/Biomedical Engineering


This project aims to design a Braille Learning System for visually impaired or blind students under the direct supervision of a teacher through a software interface. The teacher will type characters in the interface which include virtual Braille representation and a microcontroller will receive and interpret the character type while generating commands to actuators based on paraffin thermal structure of an electromechanical module; The electromechanical module will include an active cell of Braille points, represented by linear thermal actuators based on Paraffin, with dimensions suitable for standard size Braille matrix, that will produce melting the wax and forming the Braille embossed points.


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Project 11



Project Title: Development of a “smart” blind stick

Project duration: 2 semesters Project level: Final year (year 4) undergraduate project


12 (2, 6 credit modules) Prerequisite

requirements:

Completion of year 3 of study programme



One of the improvements which can be brought to classical white canes used by the visually impaired persons, especially by the blind people, in gathering information from the environment through the other valid senses (tactile and hearing senses) is to equip them with proximity sensors and systems which can be used to transmit information shaped like acoustic and tactile signals. This project aims to design an “smart” stick equipped with an ultrasonic sensor that takes information about the environment for visually impaired or blind people. This information is processed and is delivered to the handle stick and thus can be interpreted by the users. The new “smart” blind stick would ensure an alternative channel for the sensorial perception (e.g. tactile sense and hearing, instead of seeing). It will be made of a pipe and inside it will contain ultrasonic sensors, the circuitry and the buzzer.

Project 12

Project Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Mihai MUNTEANU


Project Title: Human-Computer Interface based on Electrooculogram signals



12 (2, 6 credit modules) Prerequisite

requirements:




The purpose of the study is to design and implement a human-machine interface based on electrooculogram signals (EOG). The main feature of the interface is to improve the communication between people with disabilities and those around them. A series of experiments have to be performed using two measurement systems: Vernier LabPro® and KL-72001 BIOMEDICAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM in conjunction with the electrooculogram module KL-75003 ELECTROOCULOGRAM EOG MODULE. The signals have to be processed and analized in LabVIEW. The same software will be used for designing the interface controlled by the acquired signals.


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Project 13



Project Title: Wheelchair control through head movements


ECTS credits (if applicable): 12 (2, 6 credit modules) Prerequisite

requirements:




This project aims to design a new control system of a mobility aid (e.g. wheelchair) for people with lower limb disabilities or those who have difficulties in long lasting displacements. The operating principle is based on the flexion - extension and abduction-adduction movements of the head, which are transmitted forward to the electrical actuators of the wheelchair. A set of four unidirectional resistive sensors are positioned strategically above the collar level of a garment, each in one of the main moving directions (forward, backward, right and left). An Arduino Mega 2560 data acquisition board reads the sensors data and sends commands for the adaptation circuitry. The operating principle is experimentally tested on a remotely controlled car.

Project 14


Project Title: Flash animation based tutorial on Braille

Project duration: 1 semester Project level 3rd

or 4th

year undergraduate

Course Suitability: Any computer engineering or computer science/IT programme.


The aim of this project is to develop an on-line tutorial which introduces an individual to the structure and uses of the Braille language. Each identified braille symbol will be shown along with a short description of its meaning. Where possible, photographs of the braille signs in operation will be included. At the end of the presentation, there will be an interactive page which will show a suitably designed on-screen keyboard where the characters can be selected using the mouse. The converted characters in braille will then be displayed on the screen.


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Project 15


Project Title: Flash animation based tutorial on disability signs

Project duration: 1 semester Project level 3rd

or 4th

year undergraduate

Course Suitability: Any computer engineering or computer science/IT programme.


The aim of this project is to develop an on-line tutorial which introduces an individual to the different signs commonly used in everyday life which are aimed at supporting individuals with disabilities. An introduction to disability signs, sign formats and their meanings will be provided. Each identified sign will be shown along with a short description of its use. Where possible, photographs of the signs in operation will be included. At the end of the presentation, there will be a multiple choice quiz consisting of 10 random signs. The scores at the end of the quiz will then be shown and the correct/incorrect answers can be viewed.


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12. Recommendations

Based on the responses to the questionnaire and follow-up actions, this section will

provide a set of recommendations to be considered by higher education institutions to

improve their support for students with disabilities. Whilst the focus of the SALEIE

project and hence these recommendations have been focused on students within the

electrical and information engineering (EIE) disciplines, these recommendations can be

considered in a wider context and hence potentially applicable to students studying

other disciplines in higher education.

The following recommendations relate to deliverable 4.3 (Supporting Students with

Specific Needs Models).

Recommendation

number

Recommendation

1

Incorporate academic and non-academic staff training programmes within each academic institution. These training programmes should be a normal part of the staff continuing professional development (CPD) and compulsory rather than voluntary.

2

Involve students in developing assistive technology for individuals with disabilities. Students should have the opportunity and encouragement to engage with disability support and in the EIE disciplines, should be able to become involved in developing assistive technology.

3

Raise awareness within the academic community to issues that individuals with disabilities have accessing and participating in education.


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4

All academic institutions should have dedicated disability support offices with identified roles and responsibilities.

5

Encourage and enable academics to get involved with their disability support offices. There should be greater interactions between the academic departments and the disability support offices.

6

Each academic department should have a nominated academic contact for disability support. The roles and responsibilities of the individuals should be clear and unambiguous, and the necessary staff training to be made available.

7

Become more aware of national level, European level and international projects and initiatives that are aimed to support individuals with disabilities.

8

Teaching and learning material should be made available in accessible formats. This would require the necessary supports and training programmes to be established within the individual institutions.

9

There should be a greater collaboration at a European level in the EIE disciplines to share experiences and supports.

10

Information on disability support across Europe should be made available as a single on-line resource. The Student and Staff

Support Hub developed in the SALEIE project should be continued and developed with suitable support made available.


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13. Conclusions

This report has discussed deliverable 4.2 within the SALEIE project. Specifically, the

best practice exemplars in student support have been identified and discussed. This

report forms one part of the deliverable for the SALEIE project work package 4

(Widening Participation and Student Support) deliverable 4.2 (Best practice exemplars

in supporting students with specific needs). The deliverable consists of two parts:

1 A collation of examples of best practice exemplars in supporting learners with

specific needs. The output will be in the form of a series of case studies, which

illustrate examples of best practice. Each case study will stand-alone document

on the Widening Participation Centre Website which is referred to as the

Student and Staff Support Hub.

2 This report which is publically available and accessible through the SALEIE

project website and the Student and Staff Support Hub.

The best practice exemplars identified in this report will be made available on the

Student and Staff Support Hub. The Hub development is an on-going process

throughout the SALEIE project and at the end of the SALEIE project, the Hub

development in the context of the SALEIE project will have completed. In the context

of this deliverable, specific support models have been identified, presented and

discussed. However, more suitable case studies may be identified after this deliverable

report has been written and so, additional support models identified after this

deliverable report will be added to the Student and Staff Support Hub.


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105

14. References

[1]

SALEIE project home page [Online]. Available: http://www.saleie.co.uk

[2]

SALEIE project Student and Staff Support Hub, Hub Style selection page [Online]. Available: http://www.saleie.co.uk/SSSH/index.htm

[3]

BBC web accessibility, My web my way [Online]. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/

[4]

W3C web accessibility initiative [Online]. Available: http://www.w3.org/WAI/

[5]

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), WAI Guidelines and Techniques [Online]. Available: http://www.w3.org/WAI/guid-tech.html

[6]

BBC, My web my way, BBC accessibility standards and guidelines [Online]. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/best_practice/standards.shtml

[7]

ENEVA project, European Portal of EU projects on disabled people [Online]. Available: http://www.enevaproject.eu/

[8]

ELDY [Online]. Available: http://www.eldy.eu/

[9]

ELDY, Disability projects [Online]. Available: http://www.eldy.eu/progetti/disabilities-projects/

[10]

ICT4IAL. [Online] Available: http://www.ict4ial.eu

[11]

ASSISTID homepage [Online]. Available: http://www.assistid.eu/

[12] DOCTRID [Online]. Available: http://www.doctrid.ie/

[13]

European Commission Co-funding of Regional, National, and International Programmes (COFUND) [Online]. Available: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/funded-projects/how-to-manage/cofund/index_en.htm

[14]

E.A. Draffan, University of Southampton, Research Interests and Publications [Online]. Available: http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/people/ead/research


106

[15]

European Access Network (EAN) [Online]. Available: http://www.ean-edu.org/

[16]

Access and Inclusion (ACCESS) [Online]. Available: http://www.eaie.org/home/about-EAIE/expert-communities/overview/access.html

[17]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [Online]. Available: http://www.oecd.org/

[18]

The United Nations (UN) [Online]. Available: http://www.un.org/en/

[19]

UN, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights [Online]. Available: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

[20]

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN Enable [Online]. Available: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=15&pid=150

[21]

Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) [Online]. Available: http://accesscollege.ie/dare/

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no.

Date Details

1.0 5th May 2015

First release version


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- 2 -

SALEIE project information sources The main project website is located at:

http://www.saleie.co.uk

The Student and Staff Support Hub is located on the SALEIE website at:

http://www.saleie.co.uk/SSSH/index.htm

work package 4 deliverable 4

Documents