Mobility for students with disabilities in European universities

Abstract

International legislation and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in Sustainable Development Goals 10, 8, 4 and 11 (2015), protect the rights of people with disabilities and, among them, consider accessibility to higher education a top priority. In European universities, thanks to legislative advances and a deeper understanding of the diverse needs of students, there is a growing need to eliminate barriers for students with disabilities. For academia, the challenge becomes knowing what the most common barriers are in order to find facilitators to approach education from an equal opportunity perspective. Accessibility is the key word, not only with regard to physical and/or digital environments, but also with regard to academic teaching, which involves university staff with respect to inclusive skills that become an integral part of academic excellence.

The objective of this paper is to present a critical analysis of possible challenges, best practices and proposals to explore opportunities to make European universities more accessible.