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Disability Discrimination Legislation Extends to Education from 1 September
2002
From 1 September 2002 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are prohibited
by law from discriminating against disabled students and other disabled
people. Under the Special Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) that forms
Part IV of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), there is a requirement
that all public educational establishments must not treat a disabled
person 'less favourably' than a none-disabled one, without 'justification'.
This extends to all services that are provided for students including
teaching, leisure facilities and accommodation.
The Act applies to people who are disabled according to the definition
of disability in the DDA. A disabled person is someone who has a physical
or mental impairment, which has an effect on his or her ability to carry
out normal day-to-day activities. The effects must be substantial, long-term
and adverse to be covered by the Act though they not be obviously apparent,
such as dyslexia, Asperger syndrome, epilepsy, diabetes and mental health
problems.
The new legislation goes beyond the requirement for the provision of
a disability statement and imposes an obligation on the employer to make
'reasonable adjustments', to ensure that a disabled student is not placed
at a 'substantial disadvantage'. Ultimate responsibility for complying
with the Act lies with the governing body of an HEI, and universities
and colleges should be informing their staff of any adjustments they
might have to make, and delivering the training necessary for them to
make them.
To supplement the legislation the Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
has produced a Code of Practice Post-16. Even though the Code is not
a legal document the Courts are expected to refer to it when hearing
complaints of discrimination. The Code contains examples that demonstrate
how different sections of the Act might be breached, and explanations
of how its terminology might be interpreted. It is available to download
from the DRC's website at www.drc-gb.org/drc/campaigns/page431.asp.
SENDA Compliance in Higher Education[1] is the result of work done by
a HEFCE funded project involving nine higher education institutions in
the South West which was co-ordinated and managed by the Disability Assist
Services at the University of Plymouth. This publication contains checklists
on admissions; course development, programme planning, approval and review;
preparing documents for printing, visual display and electronic dissemination;
fieldwork; laboratories and workshops and other-practice-based environments;
placement learning; assessment; and lectures, seminars and tutorials,
reproduced below. The checklists provide a useful audit tool for staff
to determine the particular adjustments necessary to comply with the
legislation. The full document can be downloaded from www.plym.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=3243.
SENDA compliance in higher education
Checklist - Lectures, seminars and tutorials
Overall procedure
What is the overall procedure for ensuring that the delivery of lectures
and seminars/tutorials is flexible and versatile to meet the individual
needs of students with a range of disabilities?
By what method do staff become aware of the implications of a particular
disability on an individual student's teaching and learning needs, and
in particular the 'reasonable adjustments' required for lectures and
seminars?
Is targeted disability awareness training available for full and part-time
staff, from the disability support service? Who initiates the sessions?
Who attends?
The availability of supporting materials
Is the course documentation made available well in advance of lectures/seminars
and has a systematic approach been taken to make it available in an accessible
format for a range of disabilities?
Organising the teaching space
Has an opportunity been made to meet or discuss with students any necessary
'reasonably adjustments' that need to be made? Whose responsibility is
this?
Is the time tabling of teaching space supported by a reliable access
audit and is the allocation suitable and accessible to the disabled students?
What arrangements are to be made where the following apply:
- that some students may utilise assistive technology or
employ medical and non-medical helpers to support them
- that a wheelchair user does not want to feel marginalised
by a lecture or seminar room layout?
- that a student with a speech impairment may want another
student to ask their questions?
- that students may require additional support to prepare
a presentation?
- that having two people talking at once will disadvantage
someone with a hearing impairment?
- that a lip reader or student with a visual impairment
may want to be introduced to the student group and have ground rules
set down for communication,
etc?
- the students and sign language interpreters may need
short rest breaks?
Are all presentation areas suitably lit eg is it possible to avoid back
or side lighting from windows or other light sources, and how are task
lights supplied when necessary?
Teaching and learning strategies
Is positive communication employed eg by facing the student group when
speaking, avoiding obscuring the face by hands or gestures and are staff
aware that beards, microphones and books can be obstructive to lip readers?
Are a variety of teaching and learning methods to be used, supported
by accessible written and visual material, eg
- Positive communication
- Whiteboards
- OHP transparencies
- Electronic presentation packages
- Audio-visuals, etc
- Invitations for student input?
Is the material displayed on electronic presentation packages, OHP transparencies
and whiteboards etc including graphs and charts, explained orally? Are
they available in written form for transcribing purposes?
Is complex information summarised through bullet-pointed summaries?
Will plain language be used when speaking and to explain specialist terminology,
thus avoiding jargon and colloquialisms?
Will strategies be used to re-iterate key points, re-phrase information
that is likely to be misunderstood and re-emphasise questions asked by
students?
Will in-session announcements be produced in written and electronic formats,
eg concerning the content of future sessions, venues and times including
amendments, arrangements for fieldwork, etc?
Will students be encouraged to make tape recordings of lectures and seminars
if required?
In-class assessments
Where in-class assessments are scheduled have 'reasonable adjustment'
been made to self and peer assessment, group work, problem-based assessment,
optical mark recognition and other computer-based assessment systems,
etc?
Post lecture and seminar activities
Will course material be posted on the intranet and will email aide-mémoires
be used for students who may have been absent for disability related
reasons? Is there a chat room that can be used for this purpose?
Student evaluation
Is there a system in place for disabled students to evaluate the learning
opportunities provided by lectures/seminars?
Action for Local Associations
Has your institution informed all members of staff about the legislation?
Are training courses being run for staff to ensure that they know what
their obligations are under the Act and how to meet them?
Do staff know who to contact if they have any questions about their obligations?
Do staff know what the procedures are regarding confidentiality and dissemination
when a student discloses a disability?
Are disability issues regularly on the agenda of staff meetings, faculty/school
committees and senior management bodies for resource allocation, cascading
good practice, monitoring and review?
Does AUT have representation on the university committee that considers
disabled issues?
AUT
January 2003
[1] SENDA Compliance in Higher Education, Waterfield, J and West, B,
University of Plymouth/HEFCE |
