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Opinion: Universal Accessibility is a Human Right

19 March 2021 | Story Mosa Moerane

by Mosa Moerane, Liaison, Advocacy and Awareness Officer at CUADS

Annually, the month of March marks Human Rights Month in South Africa. This month also commemorates the Sharpeville massacre that took place on 21 March 1960, where police opened fire on a group of protesters who sought the banning of the repressive pass laws of that era. Sixty-nine people were killed. We honour their sacrifice by, firstly, observing Human Rights Month and, secondly, persistently seeking to ensure that we dismantle systems that uphold and maintain the status quo so that nobody has to protest in order to have their voices and needs heard and addressed. We acknowledge that we are still some distance from this ideal.

It is against this background that the article seeks to invite some thinking around disability rights and disability justice within higher education. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), people with disabilities make up 15% of the world population. Disability transcends gender, class, race, and origin. However, society appears to be constructed to negate this fact.

South Africa is party to international laws and agreements such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) of 2006, which South Africa ratified in 2007. This means that the country accepts all the legal obligations imposed by this instrument. The CRPD seeks to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities. According to the CRPD, persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments, which, in interaction with various barriers, may obstruct their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis. This is a clear recognition that persons with disabilities are equal and valuable members of society and should be recognised in all aspects of life. There is no single definition of disability that has achieved international consensus, since the concept of disability is evolving. The concept evolved from the initial charity or welfare approach that viewed persons with disabilities as objects of pity who required help, to the medical approach that sought to treat the disability in isolation, to the current social and human rights approach.

Universal Access in Higher Education
Universal access addresses, among others, structural barriers such as accessibility to facilities and infrastructure, the lack of support services or technology, the lack of availability of information in accessible formats, and the lack of reasonable accommodation in schools and workplaces. To this end, it is imperative that we align ourselves with the values of universal accessibility and universal design. Universal access is when the focus of attention is shifted from the individual with the disability to the environment in which they live. In this instance, universal access demands that the environment and society be more adaptable and flexible. The universal access approach conceptualises a disability as an experience where the environment in which a person functions or interacts is inaccessible, and may include social, attitudinal, learning, administrative, and physical barriers for a student. Therefore, while universal access does benefit people with disabilities, other demographics of people enjoy the advantages brought about by this approach.

Let us use two examples to illustrate this: Firstly, ramps are indeed useful for wheelchair users and people who use canes/crutches to gain entry to buildings. However, it is also useful for students and professionals who may regularly cart around large volumes of documents, files, and/or books – hello Accounting students! The second example is one highlighted by the current COVID-19 pandemic: creating opportunities for multiple methods of submitting assessments. In responding to the pressures and threat that COVID-19 posed for the academic year, it quickly became obvious that the stringent methods of assessment that we were accustomed to would simply not suffice, as students grappled with varying degrees of access to equipment and infrastructure in order to make these submissions. Therefore, more academic staff embraced and opened opportunities for submissions through alternative platforms that require significantly less data and is therefore less expensive. While this was helpful to students who faced unprecedented pressure due to lack of access to university computer labs, it also expanded the opportunities for more diverse student-teacher engagement beyond the often-inaccessible methods previously available.

Universally Accessible Communication
With the advent of COVID-19, various institutions have embarked on aggressive communication campaigns to ensure that they convey their messages as clearly and to as wide an audience as possible. However, unfortunately these were not always successful, as they often failed to prioritise people with disabilities by not ensuring that the methods of communication were accessible to all. For example, in order to simplify the message of COVID-19 transmission, a lot of organisations developed animation videos. However, these videos would either have audio not accompanied by closed captions/subtitles, which resulted in deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deafened members of our communities not being able to access the message. Alternatively, the video would only have subtitles, thereby excluding blind and partially sighted people.

This finally brings us to the crux of this article: to encourage all of us to treat universal access as the primary approach of communication in order to avoid the exclusion of significant sections of society. This approach further ensures that the constitutionally mandated right of access to information is upheld for all people. Access to information is vital to ensure maximum participation and opportunities for success, particularly for those who have previously been denied their human rights – such as persons with disabilities, through ostracism, exclusion, and discrimination.

In keeping with the UFS Language Policy, our university communication is conveyed in English. However, statistically speaking, the majority of the university staff and students indicate English as their second and sometimes even third language. To this end, a universally accessible strategy would improve the quality of communication and encourage wider engagement if it employed multiple methods of conveyance, for example, audio, closed captions, and screen-reading software, and (where material is printed for distribution) different formats should be available, such as electronic text, Braille or enlarged font. The reason for this is that we all have different styles of learning and understanding; creating opportunities to cater for this variety serves to accomplish – instead of deterring – the ideal that the Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) articulates as “a transformed university which strives for social justice in everything it does.”

To this end, the Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS) at the University of the Free State has developed the Universal Access Checklist in an effort to equip and support the university community, as it continuously strives to create and cultivate a demonstrably inclusive culture. The Universal Access Checklist is a useful resource for planning a variety of in-person and virtual events and situations. It seeks to express, in a simple manner, the basic elements to achieve accessibility in our various endeavours – whether in the planning of events, communicating vital information, or creating resources. The Universal Access Checklist can therefore be used in a variety of situations. CUADS is also available to provide training and support on this document to faculties, divisions, and departments seeking it. Requests and enquiries can be sent to MoeraneMM@ufs.ac.za

CUADS contact information
Email: cuads@ufs.ac.za
Bloemfontein Campus: MirandaMH@ufs.ac.za / +27 51 401 3713
Qwaqwa Campus: ThuloTB@ufs.ac.za / +27 58 718 5189
South Campus: MotaungEG@ufs.ac.za / +27 51 505 1355
Facebook: Centre for Universal Access and Disability Support (CUADS)

CUADS offers academic support to students and staff with disabilities through services such as:

• Disability Support Programme, which entails the provision of specialist and a holistic coordinated approach in student support, while also availing information for data collection and reporting purposes. The aim of the programme is to create enabling environments that empower students with disabilities to participate equally.
• Accessible Transport Programme, which includes the provision of accessible transport to students with disabilities between the Bloemfontein and South Campuses.
• Liaison, Awareness and Advocacy Programme for the development of awareness and advocacy for persons with disabilities across all three campuses. Partnerships here are the Centre for Teaching and Learning, Student Life, and Communities.
• Staff with Disabilities Programme to advance optimal support for staff members with disabilities, together with Human Resources.
• Staff Development and Training Programme in partnership with Human Resources, to develop an institutional knowledge-based culture of mindfulness regarding the diverse student population of the UFS.
• Accessibility Programme to ensure access to all buildings and facilities for all users according to the principles of Universal Access and Universal Design, together with University Grounds and Estates.
• Accessible Study Material Production Programme for the provision of academic support through the coordination and production of accessible learning material and lectures with academic departments and lecturers.
• Communication Access Programme for the provision of academic support through the facilitation and coordination of communication access together with Interpreter Services.
• Alternative Assessment Programme by facilitating and coordinating alternative assessment options together with the Examination Division and Student Development and Counselling.
• Student Academic Support Programme to move away from all academic support services to persons with disabilities predominantly being the responsibility of CUADS in collaboration with the Centre for Teaching and Learning – WriteSite, A_Step Programme.

News Archive

During 2011: Achievements at the UFS

2011-12-01

Sarah Shannon

Dr Alex Amtaika, Department of Political Science

During a conference at Khon Kaen University in Thailand, Dr Alexius Amtaika from our Department of Political Science was elected as Executive Director and Convener of the International Committee of Scholars of Local Government. This honour was bestowed upon Dr Alexius during the first International Conference on Local Government at Khon Kaen University.

Sarah Shannon

We all have heard stories about inspirational people, who defy the odds, fight circumstance every day and never give up. Sarah Shannon has cerebral palsy but has never stopped dreaming and achieving them.

Sarah is also a competitive swimmer, and is currently ranked seventh in the world in her class of disabilities.

She is currently completing her postgraduate certificate in Education, Foundation Phrase, through Unisa. She is also studying Sociology at our university.

DW Bester and Sannah Mokone, Rhodes Scholars

Of the four open Rhodes Scholarships available to students from all universities in Southern Africa, two of our students won these prestigious scholarships. DW Bester, B.Sc. Hons. Actuarial Science student, and Sannah Mokone, BPub-cum laude student, joined Oxford University in the United Kingdom in September 2011 to further their studies.

The Rhodes Scholarships, arguably one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world, were founded in 1903 in the will of Cecil John Rhodes and cover the full costs of study at Oxford University.

While academic excellence is a pre-condition for consideration for the Rhodes Scholarship, these scholarships are unique in that Rhodes Scholars are outstanding young students who excel academically, but very importantly, demonstrate leadership, are committed to making a difference in the world, and have the energy to fulfill their ambitions.

Dr Derik Coetzee, Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences

When you suddenly receive a call during a World Cup year and requested to come and assist in leading the Springboks, then you have to know, you have something to offer. This is what happened to Dr Derik Coetzee from our Department of Exercise and Sports Sciences. This year he once again became involved in the Springbok rugby team, after he had been die Bokke’s conditioning trainer from 2004 to 2007.

His primary task as conditioning head was to help in seeing to it that the Springboks reached their best level of play – psychologically, physically an emotionally. Amongst others, his duties included the optimisation of the players’ muscle and explosive power, speed, anaerobic ability and technical skills.

Jefferson J Dirks-Korkee en Mart Kotzé

Jefferson J Dirks-Korkee, from Willowmore in the Eastern Cape, and Mart Kotzé from Bloemfontein, recently made history by being the first students from our Department of Drama and Theatre Arts featuring in an Afrikaans South African film Skoonheid, the first ever to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

The movie won the Queer Palm Award at the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival, where Robert de Niro was the chairperson of the panel of judges.

Prof. Muriel Meiring, Department of Haematology and Cell Biology

Prof. Muriel Meiring, Specialist Scientist in our Department of Haematology and Cell Biology, is responsible for establishing the Specialised Haemostasis Laboratory at our university and the Universitas Hospital’s National Health Laboratory Service. She established this centre as a reference centre for Von Willebrand disease, a genetic bleeding disorder, in South Africa. This laboratory is internationally recognised for their research and as a reference laboratory.

Prof. Meiring develops and tests antithrombotic (anti-clotting) agents and her long list of publications, research awards and congress presentations has earned her a nomination for the Department of Science and Technology’s Distinguished Woman Scientist Award. She was one of two scientists of the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) to receive the award – Prof. Meiring being the only woman from our university.

Medical facilities from all over the country make use of her and her team’s expertise when testing for blood disorders and she hopes to expand the centre even further.

Melinda Jonker

Melinda Jonker, one of our third-year financial economic students, won the overall national competition of the prestigious Traders Trophy competition at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The competition, sponsored by Nedbank Capital and Oxyor in Amsterdam, requires participants to trade actual JSE-listed shares against one another on a simulated platform. The winner is determined not only by the highest profit, but also by the technique used throughout the trading session.

Christopher Diab, also a student from our Department of Economics, won the regional UFS competition.

ASSAf members

Seven of our academic colleagues have been elected as members of the Academy for Science of South Africa (ASSAf). They are Proff. Hendrik Swart, Physics; André Roodt, Chemistry; Zakkie Pretorius, Plant Sciences; Max Finkelstein, Mathematics; James du Preez, Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology; Maryke Labuschagne, Plant Breeding; and Neil Roos from our Postgraduate School.

Due main objective of the Academy is to promote and apply scientific thought in the service of the society, in order to determine the quality and scope of the role that the Academy can plays in the country’s life and progress, and eventually apply it

Other colleagues who are currently members of ASSAf include Proff. Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector; Johan Henning, Dean: Faculty of Law; and Frans Swanepoel, Senior Director: Research Development.

Samantha Renda-Dollman

Samantha Renda-Dollman, a BSc (Zoology) student on our Qwaqwa Campus, has obtained 19 distinctions out of the 22 modules she has written since 2009.

Her hard work earned Samantha the prestigious Dux Student award of our 2011 Annual Student Affairs Excellence Awards, held at our Qwaqwa Campus. This makes her the best overall academic performer of the entire student body on this campus.

Jaco Griessel

Jaco Griessel, an Honours student at our Odeion School for Music, received a prestigious Mandela Rhodes bursary for 2012 to study towards his Master’s degree next year.

Jaco, who is currently busy with his BMus Honours degree, is a performer par excellence, with many achievements to his name. In 2010, he received the Fanie Beetge Prize for the best undergraduate student in Systematic Music Studies. A year before, he received the same prize as best undergraduate student in Historic Music Studies. He shall continue his Master’s degree with Music Composition as field of specialisation at our university in 2012.

Prof. Helena van Zyl, UFS School of Management

Prof. Helena van Zyl, Director of the UFS Business School, was elected as President of the South African Association of Business Schools (SABSA). Since the beginning of 2010 she has been acting as president. Prof. Van Zyl is the first woman to occupy this position and also the first woman who is currently heading a business school in South Africa. She will serve SABSA as the president for the next two years.

Prof. Zakkie Pretorius, Department of Plant Sciences

Research by Prof. Zakkie Pretorius from our Department of Plant Sciences, has become part of Phase II of a mayor global project to combat deadly strains of a wheat pathogen that poses a threat to global food security.

Prof. Pretorius focuses on the identification of resistance in wheat to the stem rust disease and will assist breeders and geneticists in the accurate phenotyping of international breeding lines and mapping populations. In addition, Prof. Pretorius will support scientists from Africa with critical skills development through training programmes.

The Ug99 strain was discovered in Kenya in 1998, but are now also threatening major wheat-growing areas of Southern and Eastern Africa, the Central Asian Republics, the Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Australia and North America.

Prof. Danie Strauss, research fellow in the Faculty of Humanities

Prof. Danie Strauss, a research fellow in our Faculty of the Humanities, won the Dooyeweerd Prize from the Board of the Association for Reformational Philosophies in Amsterdam. Prof. Strauss, former Dean of our Faculty of the Humanities and head of our Department of Philosophy, won the prize for his book Philosophy: Discipline of the Disciplines. The prize is awarded for work in the field of systematic philosophy.

Nida Jooste and Ryan Lamb, Abe Bailey Travel Bursary holders

Nida Jooste and Ryan Lamb are two of the proud recipients of Abe Bailey Travel Bursaries. Both students are academic achievers, but also excel in other fields. This is what set them apart from the rest of the applicants for the bursaries.

Ryan (23), a Medical Physics Honours student at our Faculty of Health Sciences, received the Senate’s Medal for the best Bachelor’s Degree student at the UFS. He was one of 100 students at the Brightest Young Minds Summit this year and was one of the 2008 delegates to the World Youth Forum, hosted by the International Association for Poetry and Solidarity in Italy.

Nida (21) is a very familiar face on our Bloemfontein Campus, as she served as the Deputy Chairperson of our Interim Student Council in 2011.

Loerie Award for Tarran Jacobs, Elizabeth Forson and Mafohlela Mahlatsi

The creativity of a group of students from our university was rewarded with a bronze Loerie Award after they won an internal competition. Tarran Jacobs, Elizabeth Forson and Mafohlela Mahlatsi, all third-year Marketing Communication students, won the award for an advertisement they designed for Cansa.

Each year, the third-year Marketing Communication students of our Department of Communication Science have the opportunity to flex their creative muscles in the Copy-writing class. The challenge is to design two advertisements for any charity organisation by applying the knowledge they gained from the subject in a practical way. The top three groups are then entered for the Loerie and Pendoring awards – two of the most prestigious awards in the South African advertising industry.

The top three groups designed advertisements for Cansa, the South African Blood Service and Crime Line.

Hendrik Kruger and Anke Malan walk away with awards at Pfizer UKZN Young Health Scientists Research Symposium

Two students in our Faculty of Health Sciences won awards at a Pfizer UKZN Young Health Scientists Research Symposium.

Hendrik Kruger, a medical student, represented his group, which won the clinical category with the paper “Injury patterns of occupants surviving motor vehicle accidents in the Free State”. This presentation was based on a study which is the first of its kind in South Africa.

The group with Anke Malan from our Department of Nutrition and Dietetics as presenter received the prize in the community-based category with the presentation ’Knowledge, practices and perceptions of undergraduate students at the UFS regarding the risk factors of osteoporoses’. Anke’s team was also nominated as the overall winner of the symposium. Presentations were delivered in three categories, namely clinical, community-based and laboratory research.

Prof. Louis Scott, Department of Plant Sciences

Prof. Louis Scott from our Department of Plant Sciences was formally rewarded the Fellowship of Royal Society of South Africa (RSSA).

Prof. Scott is an internationally recognised Palinologist at our university and a B-rated scientist.

Fellows of the RSSA are considered to be part of a very elite group of South African scientists who have achieved international acknowledgment.

Prof. Aldo Stroebel, International Academic Programmes in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor

Prof. Aldo Stroebel has been elected as a Founding Member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).

He is Associate Professor in our Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension, as well as the Director of International Academic Programmes in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor.

The Young Academy has as its objectives to represent young scientists in advising the government on science and technology policy and human resource development. In addition, they will prepare the SAYAS to join the Global Young Academy (GYA) to engage with high-level international bodies, including the World Economic Forum.

Prof. Lodewyk Kock, Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology

Prof. Lodewyk Kock was a sought-after keynote speaker at various conferences and seminars around the globe on our nanotechnology breakthrough research.

He delivered keynote lectures at international conferences of repute in the USA, China and Greece. In the USA he delivered a the keynote address at the Conference & Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs (Pharma-2011), held in Baltimore, and was a keynote speaker at the 2nd World Congress on Biotechnology in Philadelphia. He was also invited to present various lectures abroad.

He posted two video lectures in e-conference format on his research on the web page of the journal Translational Biomedicine. He was also invited by the International Society of Translational Medicine (ISTM) to head their “Molecular Imaging” Division.

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