Expanding Access

Rice University is an inclusive community.
We value the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors.

Diverse Abilities

Many factors contribute to peoples' rich backgrounds.
Race, ethnicity, immigration status, sex, gender, age, religion, and class make us diverse.
Disability also makes us diverse.

Ableism is discrimination that favors people without disabilities.

Ableist designers assume that everyone will access digital information exactly as they do.
This perspective often ignores peoples' diverse abilities.

Ableist designs contain barriers that prevent equal and independent access for disabled people.

We must challenge and overcome all forms of discrimination, including ableism.
Let's commit to designing and building accessible digital experiences that support everyone.

Accessibility, Inclusion, & Universal Design

We can avoid creating barriers when we use a framework of universal design.
Universal design is proactive and includes accessibility at the beginning of your project.
For universal design techniques and accessibility best practices, see our Accessibility Guides.

Ways You Can Help Expand Access

Accommodation

Rice students, employees, and visitors with qualifying disabilities can receive accommodations.
Contact the Disability Resource Center for more information.

Learn more about accommodation.

Accessible Design

Design digital information to meet Rice’s accessibility standards.
Accessible design reduces the need for accommodations and resource-heavy remediation.

Learn more about accessible design.

Remediation

You should fix any digital information that doesn't meet Rice’s accessibility standards.
Remediation is the process of identifying and removing barriers from existing digital information.

Learn more about remediation.

The 411 on A11y