Accessibility History

Last night and this morning, I have been looking at how accessibility and attitudes towards disability have changed over time, and particularly over the last 150 years. I found these photos/posters on the Disability Museum website.

Poster from 1910

I chose this picture because it shows how far we have come since 1910 in at least three ways.

1. Wheelchair design - What even is that thing?!?! It's awful! Really awful! How can a man with a spinal injury be comfortable, sitting on it? Right now, I am more grateful than ever for my purpose-built, made to measure, comfy wheelchair.
2. Equality in the workplace - Why is he unable to earn money? He says it's because he is unable to walk. So what?!! He is not unable to think. He is not unable to make decisions. I bet there are many things he could do. Again, gratitude just wells up when I see this. I love my job! I can't image not going to work each day.
3. Social security - I hope it never comes to it but today, in this country, we have a system that provides for the sick, disabled people, anyone who can't work. I know our benefits system has been heavily criticised recently but at least we have one. This chap, in the picture, only had what was given to him through charity and our current debate is about people losing the right to a free brand-new car every three years.

From 1933

I would love to say that the attitude behind this picture has moved on now but in many ways, I think people still pity disabled people, especially those with visible disabilities. We don't tend to use this phrase anymore but I've heard other similar phrases:

• It's such a shame she's in a wheelchair.
• I can't believe what's happened to you. I'm so sorry.
• I can't imagine how awful it must be...

I'm really not being brave. I'm not in denial about what has happened. Sure, I have occasional bad days, days when nothing is easy and I get frustrated... but so do non-disabled people. I'm actually very happy. Not being brave, happy. I'm genuinely happy.

From 1990

1990 is in my lifetime. It's not that long ago really. So I would expect this to be more like now.

I think that in general, accessibility has improved immensely but we still have a long way to go. Our history is steeped in architecture that was built when accessibility was not on the agenda. It's really difficult to adapt some buildings and it's costly. We're in the process of adapting our home and it's unbelievably expensive. That's why I try to remain patient with businesses. I do think that accessibility should be top consideration though, when any renovations take place.

Do we now have equality in the workplace for disabled people? Not 100%, no, but it's much better than it was. One day, I hope we will have a perfect society but for now, we are still in a process of change... change for the better... and change isn't instant. It's a process. It takes time.

Students' Strategies

I have spent a long time watching a series of videos (captioned/subtitled) of disabled students talking about their experiences of being a disabled student. I found these two the most interesting and engaging because the students gave a very honest and revealing insight into their most personal struggles and that helped me from a professional standpoint but also from a personal one.

BBC Ouch diaries

From Where I Sit

I've begun to engage with the learning points in our tutor group forum but here, I want to think about my own experiences of being a disabled student and compare them to what I've just been watching. The most obvious difference is that I am engaged in an online programme with no face-to-face activity at all, whereas these students are all at 'brick unis'.

Time Pressure

Almost all the students talked about time issues. For some, it was about concentration; for others, it was about getting all their resources in time. For me, it's different again. I know that because my disability fluctuates and pain levels can vary, it is likely that I will lose a week or two during any one module. I solve this by starting the module early and building in a two-week buffer. In both my previous modules, I have needed to use that buffer and by the end of the course, I've met deadlines but been quite tight on time.

I find it extremely stressful if I have to study whilst feeling ill or in pain. I lost a couple of days this week because of that, though it really affected work more than study because I do most of my studying at the weekend. I know I can ask for extensions on assignments but I don't want to and Yvette (in one of the videos) summed up why. I want to be held to the same high academic standards as everyone else. I have very high standards for myself, both at work and in study. I would expect to be marked down on a late assignment, whether that would actually be the case or not. I feel like it is my responsibility to manage my disability so that it doesn't negatively impact on others or on my studies.

Yesterday, I ended up having a chat with my line manager at work, at the end of a very busy and chaotic fortnight. She encouraged me immensely by acknowledging how hard I work and that I am 'highly effective' at my job. What made this even more significant to me though, was that she holds me to the same high standards as everyone else in the organisation. She never expects less of me because of my disability and certainly doesn't make allowances when evaluating my work. That said, she is usually the first to support me in any requests for 'reasonable adjustments'.

I guess that what I hope for, is that our whole organisation treats all our learners in the same way that my boss treats me. I hope we have high expectations of what they can achieve, make judgements without lowering our academic standards but that we make sufficient adjustments to allow all our learners to achieve their full potential.

The Physical Environment

I'm not sure how well I'd cope at a brick uni. All the things Yvette was talking about rang true for me. Even at work, tutors often rearrange seating or tables and then I struggle to get around the room. Every day, something or other will remind me that I need more space or better access to participate fully. Sometimes that is quite minor and just a case of asking someone to move. Other times, it's like engaging in some kind of extreme sport to get past all the obstacles. I accept it. It's just life. People don't mean to cause difficulties but they don't always think about the needs of others.

This is why I love studying with the OU. I look forward to it. I get up on a Saturday morning and engage with all the learning materials before I even get dressed. I can do it all at my own pace. I can take breaks. I'm in control of my time and it feels like a perfect solution. I sometimes wonder why anyone would ever want to 'go' to brick uni.

Challenges for students with learning disabilities

This is my final post on challenges. I've left learning disabilities until last, partly because it is such a vast arena and it seems impossible to summarise challenges in this category. I started trying to list the challenges that people with learning disabilities might face but I stopped partway through the task because it was just too big! If somebody from a university was considering this category, I think it would be easier because certain types of learning disability would probably be automatically exempted because university demands a certain level of ability.

In further education/adult education, we start at the lowest levels of ability. We have learners who are studying maths and English at entry level 1. That means they are learning to count and calculate with numbers up to 10. I started thinking about the challenges that these lower level learners face, when studying with us and I actually ended up wondering how on earth they survive the process. Everything in life, including further education, demands a certain level of literacy and numeracy. Of course, we give our learners one-to-one attention, sit with them and complete all the forms for enrolment and try to explain in simple terms, what they are signing up for... but I know we have people signing learner agreements that they don't understand. And that's just one aspect.

I actually have a serious soft spot for what we call our LD learners. I make opportunities to go into their learning environments and meet them and chat with them and just see how they're doing. I love their honesty and the way they give frank and often blunt feedback, with no expectation of action or change, other than that I listen to them and acknowledge their communication. I love to see their progress, often not in academic terms but in the soft skills that could go unnoticed. I love to see their unbridled joy when I point out their successes and praise them. Embarrassment and modesty have no place in these moments. In this arena, pride is encouraged.

So yes, I fully acknowledge that there are too many challenges to list for our learners with learning disabilities, but I find it difficult to focus on their challenges and much easier to celebrate their successes. In the same way, they acknowledge that I am the manager... the boss... but when we sit down and chat it's easier for me to be just Nicki.

Of course, we also have higher ability learners with a range of learning disabilities and their challenges are different. I honestly don't think we do a good enough job at meeting their study needs. But it's a discussion I'm determined to open up and I hope, an area where we can make some progress.

Hearing challenges

So I've thought about the challenges that mobility and visual impairments bring to the world of post-16 education. Today, I'm thinking about people with a hearing impairment.

Common to all post-compulsory education

• Viewing videos or listening to radio
• Written exams
• Telephone calls
• Communicating with tutor or other staff

Specific to campus-based modules

• Finding sign language interpreters
• Not being able to hear alarms/bells
• Acceptance of hearing dogs
• Lip-reading and taking notes at the same time
• Background noise makes hearing lectures difficult

Specific to online learning

• Accessing audio content
• Incorrect subtitling

Last year, one of the tutors I line managed was a deaf man. He'd been deaf from birth. In order to communicate more effectively with him, I attended his BSL course. I had done some Makaton many years ago, when my youngest son was born deaf (though he can hear now) so I remembered some of that.

What I enjoyed most about the course was learning about deaf culture, something he was very proud of and loved telling us about. He was also a fantastic story-teller and had a wicked sense of humour. You could never tell, at the beginning of his stories, whether it would be a true story or a joke.

The most difficult thing I found, when working with him, was that he missed out on a lot of things that were 'said in passing'. This must have been so frustrating for him. Much as I always tried to ensure he had full access to whatever was going on, it was really difficult. I'd never thought about how much information we pick up by overhearing other people's conversations. This must also be difficult for disabled students who have a hearing impairment.

Another thing that was difficult was that everybody assumed that BSL is basically speaking English with your hands. My tutor explained, more than once, that BSL is his mother tongue and English is his second language. Of course there is a lot of common ground but he found written English, particularly formal English very difficult. He sometimes didn't understand emails and other written communication. For a deaf student, with exams and assignments, I imagine some support might be needed.

Challenges continued

Today, I'm continuing the challenges for disabled students but I'm thinking about people with a visual impairment.

Common to all post-compulsory education 

• Not being able to see learning materials
• Getting to the campus
• Getting around the campus
• Acceptance of guide dogs

Specific to campus-based modules

• Getting to the campus
• Getting around the campus
• Acceptance of guide dogs

Specific to online learning

• Reading from computers or screens
• Viewing images or figures using a screen reader
• Font style and size
• Colour contrasts

In spite of having had a visual impairment for a while, back in 2003 - 2004, I don't feel like I know as much about this one. When I had limited sight, I was working but not studying. My main challenges were things like physical obstacles (which I would include under 'getting around the campus') but I also struggled with things like writing and teaching Y3 kids things like measuring and using a protractor. I bought special equipment though which made these things easier for me.

For visual impairments, I think it's harder to give a list of specifics because there would be too many to list but the general list looks too small. Many of the challenges are not study-specific but about general life stuff.

Also, when I was visually impaired, my computer was my absolute best friend. It allowed me to do so many things that I couldn't have done before. Now though, over a decade later, the expectation has increased.

Challenges for disabled students - Topic 4

Following my last post, which I shared in the OU disabled students Facebook group, I discovered that tables on webpages are not read so easily by screen readers. One visually impaired lady entered into quite a detailed and helpful discussion, which gave me better insight as to what blind web users experience. I have to confess, it left me a little frustrated because I looked into how I could make tables more accessible and the issue seems to be with using tables to present information, rather than data. This post would have also been easier to present in a table but I don't want to exclude anyone, so for now, I will avoid tables, though I'm sure eventually I will find a solution using divs or something.

Activity 4.1 asks us to list some of the challenges faced by disabled students in:

• all post-compulsory education
• campus based modules
• online learning
• particular subjects/contexts (not dealt with in my blog)

I split it into different categories of disability:

• mobility impairments
• visual impairments
• hearing impairments
• learning disabilities

I'll edit this over several sessions before sharing on social media but here's today's sections, which are about mobility challenges.

common to all post-compulsory education

• sitting comfortably for long periods of time

specific to campus-based modules

• Parking
• Getting to the campus
• Getting around the campus
• Toilets
• Regular attendance
• Fire drills
• Unexpected fire alarms – not being able to use lifts and lack of trained staff for evacuchairs
• Temperature control
• Manipulation of physical resources
• Acceptance of assistance dogs
• Large heavy doors

specific to online learning

• using a mouse or keyboard

I think campus-based learning is much harder in terms of challenges for students with a mobility impairment. That's one of the reasons, I've opted for OU study.