Accessibility

The year 2025 is drawing to a close - a good opportunity to look back on the diverse activities of the Accessibility Services (ZAB). Numerous services were created and further developed, new measures were implemented and innovative projects were launched.

We look forward to more exciting activities in 2026 and wish you happy holidays and a happy new year!

IT and software development

In May 2025, the desktop application "Bielefelder Barrierefreie Gesetzessammlung" was used for the first time in a legal state examination. The application, which was approved as disadvantage compensation, enabled two blind students from Bielefeld University and the University of Münster to work independently with the examination questions. The software project is being implemented in cooperation with the Chair of Civil Law, Civil Procedure Law, Methodology, Digitalisation Law and Legal Tech of the Faculty of Law.

With the update to UniMaps 2.0 in September 2025, all functions such as barrier-free navigation on campus, the cafeteria menu or the departure times of the light rail were given a new design and new functions such as reading out the UniCard and navigation in the new part of the building were integrated.

The ZAB Language Compass was published to on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd December 2025. The Language Compass helps you to check your own German texts for possible ableist formulations and is not intended as a rigid, complete collection, but as a learning and open tool.

Studying and teaching

The student workrooms with a stimulus-reduced working environment (Theresia Degener Room) and assistive technologies (Louis Braille Room) have moved and have been located in UHG B1-241 and UHG B1-243 since the beginning of 2025. The ZAB offices have also moved and are now located on corridor B2. To mark the move, the ZAB held an Open Doors event on 7th May 2025, during which students were able to visit the student workspaces, among other things.

The ADHD networking group was launched in cooperation with the General Student Advisory Service (ZSB) in the winter semester 2025/26. The networking group for students with ADHD and ADD meets in an appreciative atmosphere in which experiences and challenges in dealing with ADHD in everyday student life can be discussed openly and tips and tools can be shared.

Three Moodle self-study courses for teaching staff were developed in the SHUFFLE project and included in the Personnel Development Program for Researchers and Teachers (PEP) at the end of 2025. The Moodle courses support teaching staff in a flexible, practical and time-independent manner in considering digital accessibility in everyday university life.

Communication and events

On 5th May 2025, the ZAB took part in the European Day of Protest for Equality of People with Disabilities in Bielefeld's Old Town with an information stand on anti-discriminatory and accessible everyday communication under the motto "You (don't) have the choice".

At the start of the 2025/26 winter semester, the ZAB's Instagram account is back with a new design and now bears the name: zab.unibielefeld. In future, a large number of posts on various topics will be published there. These include, for example, offers and event information as well as insights into various ZAB groups and projects. The contents are written in German.

In addition, the new portal for the Inclusion and Diversity Action Plan was published in October 2025 with a comprehensive collection of measures. The action plan identifies challenges in the areas of inclusion and diversity and develops and implements measures for an accessible and diversity-sensitive Bielefeld University.

Representative Council for Severely Disabled Employees

In March, representatives of the ZAB were elected to the board of the State Working Group of Representatives for Severely Disabled Persons at Colleges, Universities, University Hospitals and University-Related Institutions in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (LASH NRW). LASH NRW represents a total of 42 institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia and around 5,000 employees with severe disabilities.

The Competence Centre for Accessible Digital University Administration.NRW published three handouts in August 2025 to provide an overview of the legal framework and laws on digital accessibility compliance and to support procurers in taking accessibility into account when purchasing.

The new website for the "Inklusive Hochschule NRW" funding programme was published in October. The website makes the impact of the funding programme visible by presenting over 90 measures as examples of good practice that have been implemented with the funding.