WUST employees received nominations for Accessibility Leaders at the University. One of the 37 leaders was Ula Małecka from our Faculty. It is a group involved in promoting the idea of accessibility, and its task is to support people with special needs in each of the organizational units at Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

The leaders were nominated by Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs, WUST rector, Prof. Katarzyna Jach – rector's representative for people with disabilities, and Krzysztof Peda, president of the "Twoje Nowe Możliwości” (Your New Opportunities) Association , which trained the leaders.

The leader of accessibility at the W4 Faculty is now Ula Małecka, head of the Team for Promotion and Contact with Stakeholders.

urszula.malecka@pwr.edu.pl
tel. +48 725 256 156
Technopolis building C-16, ground floor, room BA1.

– I offer help to people with disabilities and special needs. I am open to the needs of such people. I will try to provide support and assistance but only as much as it takes to enable them to their tasks by themselves. Feel free to contact me personally, by phone or e-mail.  

The training was completed by 37 people who, together with Prof. Jach and Anna Zgrzebnicka from the Team for Support for People with Disabilities (Department of Accessibility and Support for People with Disabilities), form the Team of Accessibility Leaders.

It includes representatives of all faculties of the University – both scientists and administration employees. The task of the team is to support people with special needs and to undertake and support activities increasing accessibility at Wrocław University of Science and Technology – at its faculties and other organizational units.

– I am glad that there are so many of you – emphasized Prof. Arkadiusz Wójs during the nomination ceremony. – People with special needs are a much larger part of the university than it may seem at first glance. That is why it is so important to create a good support system. It is an important foundation of the community that we want our University to be.

Prof. Jach emphasized that the team is already working: – We have a very strong group. We aren't starting now, we are already helping and supporting. We are in touch we people who need us, we consult, we solve problems. A lot of problems we've been dealing with lately are related to mental health crises.

According to the leaders, people with special needs are those who, due to their external or internal characteristics or due to their situation, need to take additional actions or apply additional measures to overcome barriers in order to participate in various spheres of life on an equal basis with others. And the accessibility leaders help them, among others, to overcome these barriers.
 
In recent months, the team members have participated in trainings, during which they learned, among others, about the available forms of support at the University, about communication difficulties resulting from special needs, about universal design, communication in conflict and crisis situations or about the basics of WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) in the context of making the teaching materials available to students. The training program was carried out as part of the "Politechnika Nowych Szans (University of New Opportunities) " project.