VIZJA University is a welcoming and fully accessible institution for persons with special needs, including those with disabilities.

Ensuring the University’s accessibility for persons with special needs, including those with disabilities, is achieved by removing and preventing the creation of barriers: architectural, digital, informational and communication barriers, as well as those relating to website administration and educational and research procedures – in accordance with the University’s internal procedures and the provisions of the Act on Ensuring Accessibility for People with Special Needs of 19 July 2019.

Two students from AEH

The organisational unit within the University responsible for supporting and coordinating tasks relating to ensuring the university’s accessibility is the Office for Persons with Disabilities, hereinafter referred to as ‘BON’

Accessibility of the University in terms of its architectural design

Accessibility in the field of architecture is ensured through:

ensuring that training rooms, computer rooms, lecture theatres, sports halls and other premises where teaching takes place are free of architectural barriers, by ensuring access to these premises for people with mobility difficulties;

The University building’s surroundings are accessible and free from architectural barriers, allowing for quick and easy access to the nearest public transport stop; they are suitable for wheelchair users, blind people, people with children in pushchairs, and people travelling by bicycle or scooter;

ensuring that the University’s organisational units are free from architectural barriers and clearly and simply signposted, in particular those units responsible for supporting persons with special needs, including those with disabilities;

parking spaces in the University’s underground car park — 4 designated spaces for persons with disabilities, clearly marked, with direct, barrier-free access from the car park to every floor of the University building;

accessible entrance to the building, sufficiently wide entrance doors, no changes in floor level, an intercom at the entrance, the option to ask a receptionist for assistance;

providing lifts adapted to the needs of persons with special needs, labelled (in Braille) and of sufficient width to enable people in wheelchairs, on crutches or with other health conditions to reach every floor of the building;

ensuring that passageways, corridors, lobbies, etc. are wide and spacious;

designing a simple, logical and clear wayfinding system;

ensuring appropriate signage for visually impaired and blind people, for example by marking key rooms and passageways with Braille signs.

Digital accessibility

  • The University endeavours to ensure that its homepage and selected web pages, including those relating to admissions, are digitally accessible in accordance with WCAG standards, specifically the principles of perceivability, operability, understandability and robustness.

  • If the University is unable to ensure full digital accessibility in a particular area, persons with special needs, including those with disabilities, are offered ‘alternative access’, i.e. the option to contact the University by telephone, email or instant messaging, or to use a virtual or in-person sign language interpreter, or to receive support from a teaching assistant.

    • the use of appropriate contrast against the background;
    • the use of appropriate and effective text enlargement solutions;
    • limiting the use of scanned images of documents.

  • On the University’s website:

    • the University’s contact details, a link to the University’s page in the Public Information Bulletin, and an accessibility statement are provided;
    • contact tools are available, including forms and a sign language video interpreter;
    • information on how to act in an emergency is provided;
    • recruitment documents, contract templates and other documents necessary to take advantage of the University’s services are available;
    • appropriate website navigation is ensured;
    • multimedia content with subtitles is provided.

Accessibility in education, university admissions and the learning process

  • VIZJA University implements the principles of inclusive education by removing barriers and creating the best possible learning conditions (at higher education level, in vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning) for all learners, particularly those with special needs, including persons with disabilities, thereby preventing discrimination and exclusion.

  • VIZJA University defines inclusive education at the higher education level and in the field of adult education as education that ensures all learners have equal access to learning, the University’s educational provision, and active participation in the life of the academic community.

  • The University delivers its educational programmes in accordance with seven principles of educational support, which include: individualisation, personal autonomy, developing the potential of students with disabilities in relation to their educational journey, rationality, adaptation, maintaining academic standards, adjustments that are as close as possible to standard teaching practices, and equal rights and responsibilities.

  • In order to ensure that the educational process is fully accessible, the University has implemented a set of principles for ensuring the accessibility of the educational process, hereinafter referred to as ‘accommodations’, as set out in detail in the ‘Regulations on ensuring the accessibility of the educational process to meet the needs of persons with special needs, including those with disabilities’.

  • The aim of this adaptation is to ensure equal educational opportunities for persons with special needs, including those with disabilities, by providing them with full access to education at VIZJA University, whilst maintaining the full academic standards.

  • Examples of adjustments to the teaching process implemented at the University:

    • support from a teaching assistant;
    • support from a sign language interpreter;
    • the use of additional specialist equipment during classes and exams;
    • adaptation of teaching materials;
    • adapted foreign language courses;
    • provision of a computer workstation in the classroom adapted to the needs of people with special needs, including those with disabilities;
    • provision of a mobile table, specialist chair or other equipment necessary for the educational process in the classroom — corresponding to the needs of persons with special needs, including those with disabilities;
    • changing the format of the examination/assessment — from oral to written or from written to oral;
    • extending the duration of the examination/assessment by 50%;
    • using additional devices, specialist equipment or teaching aids during the examination/assessment;
    • using an alternative method of recording;
    • the presence of a teaching assistant during the exam/assessment;
    • the presence of a sign language interpreter during the exam/assessment;
    • the option to sit the exam in a separate room;
    • greater tolerance for errors, including spelling mistakes (e.g. in the case of dyslexia);
    • other forms of support, arising from the specific nature of health issues/disabilities.

  • These adjustments apply to all forms and programmes of first-cycle studies, second-cycle studies, integrated master’s programmes and doctoral programmes offered by VIZJA University and its branches. The adjustments may relate to classes, the format of examinations, and the physical environment in which teaching takes place.

Accessibility of information and communication

  • The University provides support via a variety of communication channels, including email, telephone, SMS text messages, the MS Teams app, its website, and remote online access to translation services via websites and apps.

  • The University provides access to equipment, software and teaching aids, including portable induction loops, to support the education and communication of people who are hard of hearing or deaf.

  • The University shall provide (where possible), at the request of persons with special needs, including those with disabilities, alternative means of communication with the University’s administrative and teaching staff, as well as with other persons involved in the organisation of teaching and the delivery of the University’s educational programmes.

  • The University provides blind people the opportunity to use an information and navigation system that assists them in finding their way from the nearest public transport stop to the University courtyard and main building, and then to the Office for Persons with Disabilities and key student services departments.

Availability in the field of technology

  • The University is taking steps to develop technology in line with the principles of universal design, with a focus on ensuring accessibility.

  • As part of its efforts to ensure technological accessibility, the University:

    • equips the University with hardware, applications and software that enhance its accessibility in the areas of teaching, education, research, cultural events, etc.;
    • adapt its existing equipment, applications and software to the needs of persons with special needs, including those with disabilities;
    • provides advice and carries out information, educational and awareness-raising activities for students and University staff regarding the adaptation and creation of accessible multimedia materials (e.g. alternative captions, transcripts, etc.), documents and applications.