We know there is a low number of people who choose to tell us about their disabilities when we collect data from our engineering and physical sciences community. Fewer than 3% of EPSRC’s 2021 to 2022 applicant and awardees declared a disability.
Research on the role of management practices in creating disability suggests that disabled academics experience a number of challenges and barriers based on institutional practices and policies.
How we define accessibility and disability
Accessibility
Accessibility is about removing barriers and enabling people to engage and participate in everyday activities, making information or environments usable for as many people as possible.
This is important so that everyone can access information, resources and facilities. It means individuals are not disadvantaged by not being aware of something or unable to access something that may otherwise have a positive impact for them.
The lack of accessible working environments can mean people with disabilities face unnecessary burdens and extra challenges to achieve effective participation on an equal basis with others. Creating a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible environment gives everyone a chance to access the same opportunities, enabling them to reach their full potential.
Disability
A disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. Disabilities can be:
- cognitive
- developmental
- intellectual
- mental
- physical
- sensory
- a combination of multiple factors
Disabilities can be permanent or temporary, present from birth or acquired during a person’s lifetime.
Historically, disabilities have only been recognised based on a narrow set of criteria. However, not everyone with a certain condition will face the same challenges. The focus should be on the person’s individual experience of accessibility within society rather than on their disability.
Our actions to improve accessibility
We are making progress on investigating the barriers to greater access and participation to provide better support for people in our community (action set 5 of our EDI action plan). This includes working across EPSRC to address key issues and challenges relating to disability and accessibility for members of our community.
We commissioned a neuro-inclusion audit in 2023 to assess how we run meetings and events, and identify barriers for neurodivergent people attending the meetings. We have used the set of recommendations to develop an internal neuro-inclusive meetings and events toolkit for EPSRC staff.
Read more about the audit recommendations and guidance for meetings and events.
We have been working to consider and improve accessibility to large-scale research facilities and mid-range equipment, including:
- conducting an accessibility user survey of EPSRC National Research Facilities, to establish good practices as well as common issues and how they might be solved
- introducing a requirement for an accessibility plan in the EPSRC strategic equipment funding opportunity
Last updated: 11 November 2024