The IDEA Committee moves forward with accessibility plans at Ciências ULisboa

A simple stroll can prove to be a barrier for Amélia Ávila. And a lowered sidewalk is enough for the wheelchair to move around and allow her to arrive without much delay at the practical classes of the Master's Program in Human Biology and Environment. After some time dealing with the first scenario, the student from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa) began to enjoy the second, with the interventions carried out on the ground floor of building C5 and in one of the entrances to building C2, at the beginning of March. "I knew that there were things that weren't preventing me from coming to the Faculty, but could improve my experience," the student replies. The tours make a difference for Amélia Ávila – but they are only the first step in a larger project. In the coming months, the Committee for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility of CIÊNCIAS (IDEA.Ciências) is expected to announce new objectives for digital services and an accessibility plan for the entire Ciências ULisboa campus.

“Some may think that accessibility measures are not justified when there are few students with specific needs, but if we don't create accessible content and don't have accessibility conditions on campus, those students won't want to come and study here,” replies Carlos Duarte, Vice-Dean at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa) and member of the Committee for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility of CIÊNCIAS (IDEA.Ciências).

The undesirable pattern was identified long ago – and scholars have long said that it needs to be interrupted for things to change for the better. After the first signs of change in access to buildings C2 and C5, the launch of a tool to analyze accessibility requirements in files available on the Moodle platform is planned. The new tool is based on work done by Beatriz Patatas, a Master's student in Informatics Engineering who is co-supervised by Carlos Duarte and Professor Letícia Seixas Pereira, and will pay special attention to the analysis of PDF files, with the aim of determining whether they meet the so-called "markups" that allow reading support software to recognize the different components of a text. In addition to the analysis that indicates what needs to be done to make a PDF file more accessible, a tool will also be launched that obtains general statistics from various documents, in order to determine indicators on compliance with accessibility best practices.

The launch of this new tool shouldn't be long in coming – but there are more anticipated innovations for the digital channels of Ciências ULisboa. "As a public institution, we have legal obligations that require us to make our websites more accessible," says Carlos Duarte.

Carlos Duarte is currently part of the management team at Ciências ULisboa – but it is also as a member of the IDEA Commission that he announces the goal of moving forward, in the near future, with the process of requesting an Accessibility Declaration for the Ciências ULisboa website, as well as applying for the Selo Prata (Silver Seal) awarded by the Agência para a Reforma Tecnológica do Estado - ARTE (Agency for Technological Reform of the State) to recognize some of the best practices in digital accessibility. “And we want to move towards the Selo Ouro (Gold Accessibility Seal) in 2027,” he adds.“ "Furthermore, we intend to survey and analyze all websites linked to the Faculty, but this will take longer because there are so many pages involved," adds the vice-director, who also sits on the IDEA Commission.

In digital tools, accessibility tends to take on a dual importance: on the one hand, respect for best practices ensures that a communication channel or file remains accessible; on the other hand, once this accessibility is guaranteed, digital support becomes a valid alternative for people with specific educational needs to participate in events that are not always easy to follow through more traditional means.

“I go to the Faculty two or three times a week, when there are practical classes in the laboratory. I usually follow the theoretical classes remotely (via videoconference),” explains Amélia Ávila. In the laboratories, it's common for professors to provide tables that make Amelia's work easier; and in group work, there's no shortage of classmates who also help Amelia with tasks she can't do. After an initial period marked by shyness, the student says she ended up fully revealing herself and has no doubt that she wants to continue studying at the college because she knows professors and "people who are worthwhile." Even so, she admits there are things that could be improved: "I'm lucky that my parents take me to the Faculty. If I came alone it could be more difficult."

Within the IDEA Commission, these repairs and demands have already been properly identified – not least because Amélia Ávila herself has become a member of the Commission. It was within the scope of this participation that the master's student and another student from Ciências ULisboa, who has severe visual impairments, were invited for a reconnaissance visit that allowed them to gather suggestions for improvement in the various spaces that make up the Ciências ULisboa campus.“ "It's natural that those without limitations don't immediately perceive the difficulties and gain a clearer understanding when someone with those limitations explains how they deal with those difficulties every day," comments Amélia Ávila.

The campus reconnaissance mission turned out to be "very instructive because it allowed us to understand what we need to improve at Ciências ULisboa," says Carlos Duarte. Some elevators that don't work and the need to rethink the planning of bathrooms adapted for specific needs emerge right away – but it's already known that there are more challenges to overcome. Therefore, the IDEA Commission plans to present an accessibility plan by the end of 2026, which should be produced with the involvement of professionals specialized in the subject. "Only after this plan is presented and all the proposals are known will it be possible to have a forecast regarding the time required for the works," replies Carlos Duarte.

Although they may not always appreciate it, people without specific needs are always among the direct beneficiaries of accessibility. This is evident both in the use of lowered walkways, which are useful for logistics and maintenance professionals who need to move work equipment, and in the development of voice recognition systems that can be used for text transcription, but which once prioritized ensuring that people with specific needs could interact with a computer.

“We must invest in accessibility because it is the right thing to do from an ethical and moral point of view. If we are an educational institution, then we have to reach as many people as possible,” recalls Carlos Duarte, also taking the opportunity to issue a warning: “There are students who have specific educational needs but do not reveal them to the Faculty or professors, due to privacy issues that we must respect.”

Even though changes to improve accessibility may take time, Amélia Ávila already knows that a first step has been taken: “All accessibility measures that are taken improve my experience and that of everyone who comes after me, in addition to making this Faculty more attractive to students who want to study in an inclusive place,” concludes the young student. The challenge is set.