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A Technical Officer in a university chemistry department used learning from the university’s course on universal design to identify opportunities to improve disability inclusion in the lab. The universal design course was offered to all staff in the department, with versions for academic and for non-academic staff. It was very successful at raising awareness about building in accessibility from the start, rather than waiting to react to specific requests from individuals.

The course outlined three core principles for designing any learning activities or environments, which were:

• multiple means of engagement – presenting information that people can engage with in different ways, according to their learning preferences;
• multiple means of representation – representing the rich diversity of people’s experiences, backgrounds, and cultures. This includes representation of disabled people and people with health conditions;
• multiple means of action and expression – providing different options for the form and medium in which assessments are submitted, such as a video talk on a topic, instead of an essay.

As coursework, people were asked to identify one thing which could be changed in the lab to make it more accessible for everyone, which led to every student being given a spatula, which would usually have been purchased at their own expense. As a result of the course, lab manuals for students are being reviewed to ensure that screen readers can read them, that all images have alt text, and that descriptions of experiments are broken down into step-by-step flow charts.

There is already a good process in place to identify adjustments needed in the lab. Students are asked about this when they register with the university. Following a thorough assessment, adjustments are implemented, which may include:

• Having a stool in place, so a student experiencing fatigue can sit down;
• Specialised glassware marked with coloured tape to help visually impaired people;
• A personal assistant (PA) to assist in the lab, carrying out tasks such as measuring liquid in a burette;
• Enabling neurodiverse students to use headphones in the lab to help them to focus and to reduce potential distractions.

Additionally, material is provided ahead of time as a matter of course so that students can access slides and text documents in advance of sessions, and all experiments are pre-recorded, so that students can access information in the way which works best for them. This can be particularly helpful for neurodiverse students.

On the course they say try not to change everything at once, just pick one thing and get that working and then pick another thing and get that working. Looking forward, I think one of the most important things is to work on the documents and materials to make them more accessible. Students look over the materials as they prepare for the labs and as they write up their lab reports, so to have that accessible is extremely important.