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Posted May 30, 2013

Higher Education Now More Accessible to Disabled Students

In the UK there are more than 11 million people with a disability, impairment or long term illness, and a sizeable quantity of these people are looking to further their education. Luckily for many people in that situation, new technologies are making this much easier, as university courses are able to offer a much wider range of options for students who are not able to access learning in the conventional way.

Research by the Office for Disability Issues found that disabled people are twice as likely not to have a degree than those without a disability, which highlights the disparity between access to higher education. Technology is able to level the playing field and make access to education equal for all who wish to learn, and this can only be seen as a good thing. As we move forward, there should be no reason why anyone who wishes to further their education cannot do so, no matter what their physical condition.

Digitisation of Information

One of the ways that universities are making courses more accessible to disabled students is by digitizing textbooks and handouts, taking away the need for students to lug around heavy bags full of books. For wheelchair users and those with mobility issues, this makes life much easier indeed. All students effectively need now is a laptop, and they can access the full range of academic course materials required to complete their degrees. Gone are the days of large cumbersome text books.

E-textbooks are also a huge help to those with visual impairments as well, as they can be altered to suit the needs of the user. Text can be scaled up for ease of reading, and can also be used in conjunction with audio programs that read the text aloud, making it much easier for people to study and access knowledge.

Distance Learning

Distance learning is another development that is making university more accessible to a vast number of people, taking away the necessity to travel to a specific campus site in order to study. With online module information, conference call seminars and lectures, and email support from tutors, students are now able to access the all academic resources from their own homes.

Distance learning is one of the fastest growing areas of academia, for disabled and able bodied students, and the standard of teaching available through this method is constantly improving.

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