"our university has top notch buildings-" are they disability accessible?
"our lecturers are some of the best in the country-" do they know how to accommodate different learning styles? are they normal when a student has significant access needs?
"our historic campus buildings-" do they have working lifts? can they fit a powerchair?
"our research led curriculum-" is it accessible to mentally disabled people?
"our exceptional scientific equipment-" can people with limb differences use it? will you help them use it?
"our state-of-the-art sports facilities-" do you have a single sports club for disabled people? one sports wheelchair?
"we have over 400 societies" are a single one of them made by, for, and about disabled people?
"our student accommodation (housing) is cheap and modern and-" do you have wheelchair accessible rooms that aren't a million miles away from campus and/or really far away from any social events on campus? do you even have them at all?
"here's our prospectus and website and leaflet!" does it have a single mention of disability in it? outside of 'oh yeah we can accommodate you :)'
"here's how to access our support services!" do they involve having to communicate clearly to be taken even a bit seriously?
"here's how we can accommodate you!" okay but are disabled students an active and important part of your student life? are we anywhere to be found at social events, clubs and societies, (inter)national events, fucking *open days*?
i don't give a single shit how accomplished and modern your fancy pants russell group universities are if they don't accommodate disabled people. if i go to your university and almost cry because i feel so desperately, fucking invisible, that is on you. do better.
Do you have a back up plan for when elevators and automatic doors break down? What will students who physically cannot walk up the steps do when the elevator breaks (because for some reason stairs are the only way to access rooms when the elevator breaks)? Do you fix things quickly? Can students report issues and expect them to be corrected quickly? Are all accessible entrances easy to reach and not in parking lots by the trash or over half way around the building and super far from the main entrance?
Is it easy for students to make plans with the administration and their teachers and professors for accommodations or do they need to put in all the work to get accommodations? Do the accommodations available actually support students or are they there to pat you on the back? Does the curriculum allow for students to rest and regain their spoons or does it only take and take? Does it allow for that with accommodations or is the curriculum to severe for even that? Do any of the accommodations support students who have no diagnosis (usually because they can't afford it) or do you only help students who can afford doctor visit after visit and test after test?
But most importantly of all: are there even any disabled people around to accommodate in the first place? Or is it to expensive to apply for disabled people? Or is it too exhausting to fill out the applications for disabled people? Or do you require so many activities and high grades that no disabled person could possibly have the spoons to get in? Or is everything so extremely hostile to disabled people--the lack of accommodations and the ableism and the expenses--that even if a disabled person could get there, they could never possibly stay? Are there even any disabled people around to accommodate in the first place, or have they all been pushed away?
