I kind of already knew it, and it’s a part of why I’m at this school, but I thought it was cool that in the video, the ODR mentioned that 11-13% of the UMW student body has disclosed a disability. It’s interesting that 11-13%, which feels like a rather small amount of the people on campus is still more than almost every other university in Virginia.
Accommodations are more individualized. They confront an individual’s needs, and give a person what they need based on how THEY need to operate in a given environment (things like an accommodation to be allowed to eat in a class you wouldn’t normally be allowed to eat in might be a good example of this!) There also almost always has to be an explanation for why an accommodation is needed.
In contrast, accessibility is a more general concept. It is making it so that people with disabilities have access to the world around them in similar ways to their able-bodied counterparts. Accessibility features are usually things that are BUILT IN, such as a ramp, an elevator, or automatic doors. In general though, its an approach that considers disabilities alongside the needs of able-bodied people.
My general opinion is that the best way to be accessible is to remove as much of the systemic barriers as possible. For example, every classroom should have entirely accessible furniture in it, not just those used by people with documented disabilities. (somebody please change the desks in Farmer, they hurt my legs and are evil)
Anyway!! Back to actually talking about work at the DKC, I feel like accessibility requests here may be related to how accessible (or inaccessible) some of the furniture is. It may also include things like speaking more clearly or adjusting speech to be more clear.
I really want to be careful about making sure my website (this one and also my main domain) are both accessible. I also want to think about how the posters and posts I make may appear to people with various visual disabilities.