Barrier-free ETH – new registration desks and rescue blankets
One of the aims of the “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich” programme is to make events at ETH more accessible. A panel discussion addressing the topic of “Accessibility and inclusion in higher education” is being held on 20 April. Come along and join the discussion!
Drinks reception at eye level
Suppose your department puts on an interesting panel discussion but you have a hearing impediment? Or the Executive Board offers a fine drinks reception at standing tables but you’re a wheelchair user? A great number of events are held at ETH Zurich each year. In order to enable everyone to participate fully in them, the most accessible solutions possible need to be selected, such as locations that can be reached in a wheelchair, acoustic systems and translations into sign language for deaf people.
The Events and Hospitality section of ETH is currently preparing appropriate information and offers in sub-project 7 “Barrier-free events” of the “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich” programme. Barrier-free registration desks have already been acquired in order to facilitate the reception of wheelchair users at eye level.
Would you like to offer a translation into sign language at an event? To submit your request, please contact: .
New rescue blankets and safety information
Sub-project 6 “Barrier-free alarm systems and evacuation procedures” under the leadership of SSHE is drawing up requirements for alarming and evacuating persons with disabilities or impairments in the event of an incident. One measure comprises rescue blankets that enable persons with limited mobility to be brought to a safe place via staircases.
Training on the subject of barrier-free evacuation procedures is also being provided more regularly at the ETH safety courses. The existing emergency boards in the waiting areas still to be defined are being supplemented with additional information. The announcement of the evacuation system has also been amended. It now says, “Attention! Evacuation! Please leave the building immediately via the emergency exits and assist persons in need. Do not use the lifts.”
Panel discussion “Accessibility and inclusion in higher education – merely a trend?”
The external page UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) calls for an inclusive education system – including at university level. Affected students, lecturers and persons with expertise in the area of teaching will discuss the possibilities and limits of accessibility in education and report on their experiences of exclusion and inclusion at a panel discussion in April. With Professor Elsbeth Stern (Professorship of Empirical Research on Learning and Instruction), Gerd Kortemeyer (Director of Educational Development and Technology), David Mzee (ETH alumnus), Timo Stühlinger (ETH student) and a welcoming address by Professor Ulrich Weidmann (Vice President for Infrastructure).
20 April, 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m., followed by a drinks reception, Hönggerberg campus (HIT E 51). external page Registration is required.
Barrier-free at ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich is committed to being barrier-free: over the course of the next few years, people with disabilities or special needs – whether students, teachers, researchers, staff or visitors – are to benefit from greatly improved access to ETH buildings and services.
The proposed measures are being implemented in 14 sub-projects under three categories: “Construction, building usage and architecture”, “Organisation and culture” and “Technology, communication and teaching”.
For more information on the programme and the 14 sub-projects, visit the programme website.
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