Accessibility in teaching • University of Passau

Statistically speaking, around 16% of all students have a study-related health impairment. The following information is intended to help increase educators' understanding of affected students and improve the compatibility of studying and disability.

How does accessible teaching work?

Many students with health conditions – this can be a disability, a chronic or mental illness – find it very difficult to approach you. You can facilitate the initial contact by announcing it in your courses at the beginning of each semester:

“If any of you have a health condition that requires support, please contact me after the course or during my office hours, or talk to the or the Student Disabilities Officer, Dr Ulrike Bunge, ulrike.bunge@uni-passau.de.”

Please feel free to use our presentation template.

Further information and examples

Legal basis
Information on accessible digital teaching
Online-Lehre (fast) ohne Barrieren (Source: German National Association for Student Affairs)
Barrierefreie Dateien erstellen

Health Impairments and Exam Access Arrangements

Possible health impairments of students may include mobility, visual, hearing and speech impairments as well as chronic or mental illnesses and ADHD, partial performance disorders and autism spectrum disorders. Taking medication can also be a health impairment that makes it necessary to compensate for disadvantages.

Detailed information on the individual impairments and how you can support students can be found on the Disability Support website.