Disabled students are sometimes excluded from lectures and have no choice but to learn entire modules by themselves due to the poor access facilities at Cardiff University, gair rhydd can reveal, after a Union-directed review of the provisions.
Lecture halls that are only accessible by staircases, lifts too small to fit a wheelchair and fire doors that are too heavy for some disabled students to operate were just some of the problems encountered by Kate Monaghan, Cardiff Students’ Union’s Education and Welfare Officer, when touring the Cathays campus with a volunteer student in a wheelchair.
Some difficulties are just inconvenient, such as having to use a swipe card to get into Glamorgan Building through an alarmed door in the basement, as there is no ramp leading up to the main entrance.
Others put students’ studies in jeopardy, such as the fact that the John Pryde lecture theatre, located in the basement of the Biosciences Building, is only accessible by descending a flight of stairs.
One student said: “I was forced to teach myself a module in years two and three because there was no access to the John Pryde lecture theatre.”
According to its own website, the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 places a duty on Cardiff University to make ‘reasonable adjustments to services so that disabled students and applicants are not placed at a substantial disadvantage because of their disability’. The University failed in its duty to this student, and it is not only the John Pryde lecture theatre that puts disabled students at such a disadvantage. The Large Shandon lecture theatre in the Main Building is also only accessible by stairs, and others, such as the Wallace lecture theatre in Main Building, have no designated area for students in wheelchairs to sit in front of a desk. Entry is from the top of the lecture theatre, where desks have fixed seating, and there is no way to descend to the other tiers of seating except by the stairs. The disabled student would have no choice but to sit at the top of the stairs, without a desk.
Although lifts are primarily installed for the convenience of the less able-bodied, the lifts around campus have been criticised for their unsuitability for use by disabled people. The doors of some close so swiftly that it is difficult for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre themselves out of the carriage before the doors close on them. Some have a large metal door and grate that must be pulled across to operate the lift – challenging for those who lack energy or physical ability – while others do not stop at all the floors, leaving students stranded on the wrong floor.
Both the Glamorgan and Biosciences buildings have at least one lift that is too small to fit a wheelchair inside, reducing the number of elevators available to disabled students, and increasing the problems they face if their usual lift breaks down.
Seemingly absurd reversals have also taken place. Of the three IT rooms in the Main Building, not one has disabled access since the sole ramp that would allow students in wheelchairs to reach the computers was removed and replaced with stairs. A member of the University’s Estates Division has said that the ramp “was found to be inadequate in several respects” and that it “was not possible to make it compliant.” Although the University claims that an alternative route was made available, it is not clearly signposted, as Monaghan was unable to find it.
Ted Shiress, a first year English Language and Communications student, will take on the role of Disability Officer for Cardiff Students’ Union next year. He says: “Disabled access [at Cardiff University] can be summed up in four letters, ‘c’ being the first and ‘p’ being the last!”
Ted, who has cerebral palsy memorably highlighted the accessibility issues he routinely faces at this year’s Hustings meeting, where all candidates running for Sabbatical and Non-Sabbatical Students’ Union positions make speeches about their policies.
He was unable to get up onto the raised stage to make his speech from the same platform as all candidates for other positions, as there was no ramp leading up to it. Instead, he stood below the stage, driving home the fact that Cardiff Students’ Union also does not provide equality for disabled students. Union President Joe Al-Khayat said: “In this one instance, we fell below our normal high standard for provisions for students and staff with additional needs. Consequently, both resources and instructions have been given to ensure that, at all times, reasonable provisions are made.”
But this is not the only way in which the Union building falls below satisfactory standards. Heavy fire doors that only open one way make it difficult for disabled students to move around, and although he enjoys a night out, Ted does not include the Students’ Union in his regular haunts. “In the Taf and Solus, people stare at me because they think I’m drunk. If I go in there to find my friends I find it really difficult because there’s so many people I might get knocked over. I end up sitting down in the nearest chair and it’s no fun because I can’t find anyone.”
Ted believes that if a rail was installed that ran along the wall from the bar to the chairs, he would be able to more fully enjoy his evenings out, as he would be able to support himself while looking for friends.
Renowned in student legend for being the best time of your life, Freshers’ week was a difficult experience for Ted. He lives in Talybont Court, in a specially-modified flat that includes two double-sized rooms into which he can fit his scooter, but that can only house four people.
“My room is technically suitable, but I had little choice where I could live. Out of the thousands of flats in Cardiff’s halls of residences, only a handful are modified to accommodate disabled people.” Unlike other students who are unhappy with the flat they have been designated, Ted cannot simply move to the next block.
Since one of his flatmates dropped out after two weeks, and he is not close to the other two, he often feels very isolated.
“The doors in and out of flats are heavy and you can only access other flats by key or electronically, which makes it really difficult to interact.”
When looking around universities, Ted noticed that the disabled access of other institutions put Cardiff’s to shame.
He said: “The facilities are terrible in comparison to places like Lancaster University. I decided to come to Cardiff because it is a happening city, but sometimes I wonder if life would have been easier somewhere else.”
Many of the University’s buildings, including the white-fronted buildings within Cardiff’s civic centre, are so old that it is impossible to obtain planning permission to make significant structural changes like enlarging lift shafts and ramps.
The University does insist, however, that it continually updates the facilities within its capabilities as the need arises.
Recent improvements have included a £100,000 refurbishment of the Aberconway lifts – an area that had attracted criticism because of frequent breakdowns. Proposals have also been put forward for improvements in access to and within Main Building’s pool rooms – the University’s main teaching rooms – including installation of stairlifts for the Large Shandon and Wallace lecture theatres, improvements to lifts, internal ramps and corridor doors in the Main Building. A concurrent project to improve facilities within the main rooms will address issues such as the lack of space for wheelchairs in lecture theatres. None of these projects have yet been approved, and work on other buildings will not begin until these are underway.
Meanwhile, the University says that structural considerations make it impossible to change buildings to allow for the same level of access for all students. It is apparently not practical to make the entrance of Glamorgan building accessible to all, and so disabled students will have to continue entering through the basement.
Other supposed improvements seem to have made some wheelchair users’ lives more difficult. One found the accessibility in the new Biosciences 2 block unimpressive. She called it ‘a maze’, and found it impossible to turn around in the narrow corridors, having to reverse back the way she came.
Students with hearing difficulties pointed out that not all lecture theatres include hearing loops – systems that cut out background noise, making it easier for people wearing a hearing aid or loop listener to hear. The notoriously noisy humanities lecture rooms were also problematic, as the trains that frequently rush past the window drown out the lecturer’s voice.
Monaghan says that these are just some of the things that students without disabilities would never consider. “The role of Disability Officer is invaluable,” she says. The Officer is required to be self-defining, meaning that they must have a disability themselves. Monaghan continues: “I found it really interesting that we encountered problems I would never even think about as an able-bodied person. The Disability Officer can pick up on these things and push the University to make changes.”
