EPICUR EDI Toolkit
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4.3.2.3. KIT<br />
Center for Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology (ACCESS@KIT)<br />
formerly Study Center for Visually Impaired Students<br />
ACCESS@KIT supports and advises visually impaired students and prospective students<br />
in all study courses offered at KIT by transferring all learning material and exams to an<br />
accessible format, conduct exams with compensation of disadvantages and providing<br />
training to improve working techniques. Within the Accessibility Lab, innovative and<br />
individual solutions for accessible studies, especially in STEM (science, technologies,<br />
engineering and informatics) fields are developed. Thereby, students with blindness or<br />
low vision get the opportunity to study in a self-determined and inclusive way at KIT<br />
and to find access to professional life.<br />
Annual Information Event for Students with Visual Impairments<br />
Since 2020, ACCESS@KIT offers a virtual information event for prospective students from German-speaking<br />
countries once a year. The goal of this event is to address all topics of studying with visual impairment or blindness.<br />
My Profile – a totally different application training. A seminar for visually impaired students<br />
Interviews are stressful situations for many applicants. They often feel insecure when being asked what their<br />
strong and weak points are and why they are interested in this company. Students or job seekers with visual impairment<br />
have additionally to cope with the problem how to address their visual impairment. The professional<br />
planning procedure Life/Work Planning (LWP) offers practical and field-tested solutions which are presented in<br />
this seminar. The seminar is offered virtually in 2022 for the first time.<br />
MINTernship inclusive<br />
The pilot project MINTernship inclusive offers an inclusive approach to our international research opportunities<br />
program and is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation. In cooperation with KIT‘s Representative for<br />
Students with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases, the International Scholars & Welcome Office of International<br />
Affairs (INTL) and the ACCESS@KIT – Center for Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology. They offer a tailored<br />
three- to eight-month research opportunities to students with disabilities and chronic diseases in bilateral<br />
exchange with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA (incoming and outgoing) and in the incoming<br />
programs with the University of Waterloo, Canada and Queensland University of Technology, Australia.<br />
Lecture Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technology<br />
The lecture provides an overview of IT-based Assistive Technologies (AT) for people with visual impairment and<br />
includes the following topics: (1) Basics of visual impairments, the causes and effects, (2) Existing assistive technologies<br />
for different fields of application, (3) AT for information access, (4) Accessible software development<br />
(5) Accessible design of websites (6) Use of AI-based methods for the development of new AT for mobility support,<br />
information access, and other applications for people with visual impairments.<br />
Assistive technology lending pool for students with visual impairments<br />
Many students have no or insufficient technical equipment when starting their studies. It also may happen that<br />
assistive technology breaks during studying on short notice. Students therefore need an alternative solution<br />
quickly. For this purpose, students can ask for a temporary solution from the lending pool at ACCESS@KIT. If<br />
needed aids can be borrowed. The pool comprises primarily mobile devices such as notebooks, magnifying software,<br />
screen readers, camera systems and mobile Braille displays.<br />
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<strong>EPICUR</strong> <strong>EDI</strong> <strong>Toolkit</strong>