Advising UCD on Universal Design of IT Systems
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Antoinette Fennell is currently working with University College Dublin's Disability Access Officer Tina Lowe in her role of making Campus IT as accessible and usable as possible for students and staff of UCD.
Tina was recently appointed as Disability Access Officer and has a challenging task ahead of her. She is charged with ensuring that UCD is in compliance with the Disability Act 2005. According to Tina "By making a practical interpretation of the legal requirements regarding UCD’s accessibility, UCD now must endeavour to provide or arrange for and co-ordinate assistance and guidance to people with disabilities who access UCD". Her role, under the guidance of the Director of Access and Lifelong Learning, is to oversee and implement a Disability Access Action Plan to incorporate access to buildings and services. An Oversight Group has been established which will work toward the implementation of the Disability Access Action Plan for the campus.
The Disability Access Action Plan for UCD will be created in compliance with the Disability Act 2005 and will focus on the relevant sections of the Act (Sections 25 to section 29, Sections 38 to 40 and Section 47).
CFIT is supporting Tina in this work, advising on a number of areas, including IT, access to information and consultation with students and staff.