MU strives to be fully accessible
Mobility and communication accessibility are being addressed.
Published Sept. 29, 2009
For most college students, everyday activities like going to class and taking notes on a lecture are simple tasks. But these jobs can be more complicated if a student is in a wheelchair or trying to take notes on a lecture they can't hear.
Lee Henson, the MU Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, distinguished between the two types of disabilities MU primarily works to accommodate.
"We do a fairly good job on mobility accessibility, but we have a lot of room to improve in communications accessibility," Henson said.
Students with sensory disabilities, most commonly the blind and deaf, make up this category. Office of Disability Services Director Barbara Hammer said granting them access presents an entirely different challenge.
MU's top priorities for improving communications accessibility are captioning for any media with an audio component for the deaf as well as accessible Web sites and media for the blind, Hammer said.
"Those are the kinds of things that are just as important as building accessibility on a campus," Hammer said. "Our main focus is that we follow the principles of universal design wherever possible."
The struggle to keep up with new technology is one reason communications accessibility lags on campus.
"If technology changes and improves, that means more things that we can do to make the campus, the classrooms and the learning experiences more accessible and more functional for people with disabilities," Hammer said.
Although the large majority of student buildings are mobility accessible, Henson mentioned a few problems with the ease of access on campus. Small elevators in older buildings, narrow entrance ramps and a steep ramp down to McDonald's were among the few.
Even if some buildings remain inaccessible, this is not in violation of the ADA requirement.
"The ADA doesn't require that every building be fully accessible, especially with existing buildings," Henson said. "It requires that we provide 'program accessibility', which essentially means that if we have a program that's in an inaccessible location, we have to move the program to an accessible location."
In addition to buildings that house student programs, residence halls must be just as compliant.
Residential Life Director Frankie Minor said campus-wide renovation addresses ADA policy.
"In the renovation efforts, it's our goal to make as much of each facility accessible as possible," Minor said.
Adaptations are made to rooms to accommodate different needs, often involving personalized changes and even a residential life staff member to assess each person's individual needs.
Junior Michelle Adams has spina bifida and is a wheelchair user. She is pleased with the services provided for her in her residence hall.
"Aside from a few little maintenance things that could make my life easier, I think everything's been going pretty well," Adams said.
Adams' fully accessible room is complete with its own bathroom, kick plates on the doors and a lower peephole among other adaptations.
The design and construction of accessible rooms in multiple halls means more choices for the disabled.
"It used to be that our students with physical disabilities were congregated into a few buildings," Minor said. "Now, they have many more options. It's about giving those students with special needs the same level of options that other students enjoy."