New competence center to promote digital accessibility at universities

Universities play a decisive role in the digital transformation of our society. In order to live up to this responsibility and ensure equal participation for all students and employees, the new Competence Center for Barrier-Free Digital University Administration.NRW of the Disabled Persons' Representation / ZAB - Zentrale Anlaufstelle Barrierefrei will sustainably promote digital accessibility at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia. To this end, the project has been awarded funding of one million euros at Bielefeld University and will run until the end of 2026. The core objective of the project is to make digital administration at universities barrier-free. In view of the large number of (web) applications and digital systems used in this area, it is crucial that they meet the requirements of the North Rhine-Westphalia Disability Equality Act (BGG NRW), the North Rhine-Westphalia Barrier-free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV-NRW) and the E-Government Act (EGovG).

The project focuses on four main areas:

- Checking the accessibility of existing applications and systems in higher education administration.

- The integration of accessibility checks into the development and adaptation processes of universities

- Anchoring accessibility checks in the procurement process for new applications and systems

- The development of measures to sensitize and qualify university employees.

This holistic approach ensures that digital accessibility is implemented efficiently and comprehensively. The project offers universities bundled expertise as well as a support and service system. Contact persons at the individual universities act as an interface between the university and the competence center.

The ZAB is still looking for employees who are motivated to implement the project and is looking forward to receiving applications for the job advertisements for a project employee and for three IT project employees.