Working Group Accessible Campus

The University of Stuttgart wants to remove barriers for its students, staff, and guests with disabilities. The Working Group Accessible Campus is committed to this goal in the area of buildings and technology.
[Photo: momius - stock.adobe]

The working group was set up by the university management in late 2015 to promote accessibility in the area of ​​buildings and technology at the University of Stuttgart.

The working group’s primary objective is documenting and removing barriers at the University of Stuttgart. This is a long-term project and constitutes a continuous and challenging task, as the University of Stuttgart is very large and has about 160 pre-WWII buildings. The members of the working group ensure that the implementation of the legal framework will help members of the university - students and staff - as well as their guests to participate in life and work on an equal footing and that they can assert their right to education for all.

Our tasks

  • Systematic inventory of accessible facilities and barriers at the University of Stuttgart with the aim to
    • create a campus map and make building information available online for students, staff, and guests with disabilities
    • develop a catalog of measures for the gradual removal of barriers
  • give advice and support for new construction projects and redevelopment / renovation measures, verifying accessibility (in cooperation with Division Engineering and Construction, and the University Building Authority)
  • define and request specific construction measures
  • find short-term solutions to accessibility issues

Measures planned and implemented

Project “Accessible University of Stuttgart”

  • Inventory with regard to accessibility: Online survey since September 2016
  • Joint project with the students of Faculty 1, Institute of Housing and Design: Inspection and documentation of accessible facilities and barriers in 17 buildings. You can find some of the results in our report [de].
  • Since February 2017: Creation of an accessible-campus map and websites with building information on accessibility, alternative routes, and barriers for students and staff with disabilities.
  • Compilation of obligations for the university and the University Building Authority: Adding an “Accessibility” chapter that is binding for Division 6 and the University Building Authority (2017 and 2020)
  • Removal of barriers in lecture halls:
    • Transmission systems for people with hearing impairment are planned to be installed in 120 lecture halls and seminar rooms within the next few years
      • Induction loops: available in M 17.01, installed in V 53.01 in 2017
      • Further induction loops are planned to be installed during lecture hall renovations and when new buildings are constructed
      • Currently being tested: FM systems (stationary installation in lecture halls and seminar rooms is planned)
  • Request for wheelchair spaces with tables in the lecture halls. Implemented in buildings no. 11 Keplerstr., 17 Keplerstr. (M 17.01 and M 17.02), 47 Pfaffenwaldring (V 47.01-04), 57 Pfaffenwaldring (V 57.01-06), partly in no. 7 Pfaffenwaldring
  • Request for step markings and other safety measures
  • Request for tactile paving and a tactile map of the outdoor premises / facilities on the Vaihingen campus (long-term goal)
  • Establishment of relaxation rooms on the Vaihingen (Student Services Center) and Stadtmitte campuses (24 C Geschwister-Scholl-Str.)
  • Support for and supervision of construction measures regarding accessibility:
    • New building “Student Services Center” (2016)
    • 27 Pfaffenwaldring (2016)
    • Emergency staircase in no. 7 Pfaffenwaldring (2016-2020)
    • Wooden barrack of the Green Team (2016)
    • 32 Pfaffenwaldring: Renovation, statement on accessibility (2017), new disabled toilet on the basement floor planned (2018), statement on accessibility (9/2019)
    • New building “ZAQuant” (Center for Applied Quantum Technology) (since 2017)
    • 17 Keplerstr.: Renovation 2nd and 3rd basement floor: Access to the lower parts of the underground lecture halls, accessible elevator and doors, new disabled toilet on the 3rd basement floor (renovation scheduled to take place in summer 2019 and 2020)
    • 57 Pfaffenwaldring (lecture hall section)
      • Lecture hall renovations (6 lecture halls with wheelchair spaces and handrails) (2018/19)
      • New disabled toilet completed in July 2020
      • Stair lift to overcome the two stairs (installed in 2019)
    • 9 Pfaffenwaldring:
      • Signs to the elevators and to the disabled toilet
      • New disabled toilet on the ground floor (completed in 2019)
    • 24 D Geschwister-Scholl-Str. Lift in the passage between buildings 24 C and 24 D Geschwister-Scholl-Str. (installed in 2019)
    • Azenberg Area:
      • Indoor signage no. 12 Azenbergstrasse (completed in 2018)
      • Outdoor signage planned (since 2018)
      • 16 Azenbergstrasse: Providing wheelchair accessibility: A ramp is planned (since 2018)
      • Request for a barrier-free access to building no. 12 Azenbergstr. (2019)
    • New physics building: Supervision and planning of accessible facilities together with the architects, the University Building Authority, and Division 6 (since 2018)
    • 30 Allmandring: Accessibility and disabled toilet (since 2018)
    • 7 Pfaffenwaldring: Installation of automatic doors at the entrances on the east and south sides of the building (completed in 2019)
    • 2 Bandtäle: Installation of a disabled toilet requested (2019)
    • 51 Herdweg: Accessibility of the building and installation of a disabled toilet requested (2019)
    • Outdoor signage on the Stadtmitte campus (buildings KI and KII, 24 Geschwister-Scholl-Str.) requested (2018)
    • 2a Breitscheidstrasse (temporary lecture hall): Request for mobile ramps for the speaker’s platform (2019)
    • University Library Vaihingen: Installation of a disabled toilet and a workplace for people with visual impairment requested (2018)
    • Allmandring 5b (Multi-use building) wheelchair accessible entrance inner courtyard (east side of the building) with an automated door
  • Web accessibility, forms, pdfs: Prompting University Communications as well as the Technical Information and Communication Services (TIK) to take action in this matter (electronic readability, contrasts concept)

Over the next few years, the University of Stuttgart will be establishing relaxation rooms for students and employees with disabilities and chronic illnesses. The first of these opened in December 2017 in Haus der Studierenden, and a further relaxation room will be opening soon at Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 24 C. 

Legal basis for accessibility in buildings

Accessibility and barriers in the buildings of the university

The University of Stuttgart has about 160 buildings. Most of them are pre-WWII, and many are only partly accessible or not accessible at all. The Working Group Accessible Campus is committed to ensuring that, even in old buildings, significant improvements in terms of accessibility will be achieved, which is legally required when renovations are due.

However, since accessibility can only be realized step by step and will certainly take decades, the working group has compiled building information on accessibility, barriers, and infrastructural facilities for people with different disabilities and has created site plans in pdf format. The long-term goal is to create an interactive site plan in cooperation with the TIK of the University of Stuttgart.

Ansprechpersonen

 

Working Group Accessible Campus

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