Last winter semester, a seminar on accessibility took place at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, initiated by Dr Natalie Jankowski in cooperation with the Accessibility Task Force. Students checked two university buildings for accessibility using a comprehensive checklist. The results will later be integrated into the HU system AGNES to provide better orientation for students with disabilities.
Pascal Trampe is studying rehabilitation sciences in his fourth semester. When he was in his first semester, he had an unpleasant experience in the university's main building. A lift broke down on Trampe's way home because he could not cope with the load of his electronic wheelchair. These wheelchairs weigh around 200 kilograms. The student had to wait for hours until he was freed from his predicament and was able to go home. This semester, he is looking at accessibility in the main building from a professional perspective and documenting it with the help of a detailed online checklist.
Focus on Dorotheenstra?e 24 and 65
It all started in the winter semester 2024/25: Dr Natalie Jankowski from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences offered a study project in cooperation with the Accessibility Task Force, which focused on the question: How accessible and inclusive is the HU? "Many HU buildings are listed, were not built barrier-free, the signage is sometimes unfavourable or non-existent, so that lifts or barrier-free lecture hall entrances can only be found after some searching," the scientist gives examples. Divided into groups, students from the seminar took a look at the seminar building at Dorotheenstra?e 24 and the Boeckh-Haus at Dorotheenstra?e 65, taking into account different types of impairment.
How do people with physical, visual or mental impairments cope in the seminar rooms, corridors and accessible toilets in these buildings? How is access to the building? What is the floor covering like? Is there a floor guidance system? How wide are doors at their narrowest point? Is the signage tactile? They answered 96 questions of this kind with the help of an online checklist derived from DIN standard 18040, which regulates barrier-free building and planning. The checklist was drawn up by Antonia T?sch, who works as a student assistant for the Rehabilitation Sciences and Accessibility Task Force.
Goal: Provide information for AGNES
"The decisive factor in selecting the buildings was the high number of seminar rooms," explains Jankowski, who had already driven the development of an accessible app for barrier-free navigation on campus by and with students during the coronavirus semesters. She is working together with the Technical Division for the course in the winter semester. This is because the data collected from the checklist, which the students are analysing, will not only be incorporated into their assignments, but will also be available in AGNES. The information is intended to help improve the situation of students with disabilities at the HU by enabling them to better familiarise themselves with the structural situation before visiting an HU building. "However, it will still take some time to incorporate the data into Agnes," explains Natalie Jankowski. Technical preparatory work on the system is required before the data can even be fed in.
In addition to their own measurement work, the students also conducted a survey among the users of the two buildings. "The response rate wasn't that high, but we still received information about shortcomings. For example, the participants indicated a lack of quiet rooms and signage for emergency exits," says Pascal Trampe. He was one of the participants in the course in the winter semester. As he couldn't be there at the time, he was connected online. Natalie Jankowski actually also had the main building on her to-do list. As three buildings were too many, Trampe is now working with Antonia T?sch and his assistant to check the main building for accessibility as part of a student internship.
Author: Ljiljana Nikolic
Reporting barriers
Walkways are blocked, wheelchair users can't get past, there are no handrails and disabled toilets are once again inaccessible? These and similar obstacles can make everyday study and work life considerably more difficult for people with disabilities. Humboldt-Universit?t strives to be a place that is accessible and inclusive for all its members. Your support is important here: report physical barriers directly by e-mail. The information will enable us to respond efficiently to problems and make the university accessible to all. Your data will be treated confidentially. Please provide details of the location, building, floor, room number and type of barrier.