University of Prince Edward Island(UPEI) accessible for everyone

Author: paul
Tuesday, August 04th, 2009

Great news for people with disabilities… We finally have a place that we can go on Prince Edward Island where everything is ACCESSIBLE. THIS IS a place we should be proud of and hold as an example to the rest of province and this place is our university, the University of Prince Edward Island.

The university has made great strides over the past four years to ensure its language, facilities and culture is inclusive for everyone. Other universities are calling wanting information on the steps taken and procedures used to create such a win-win situation for students with disabilities, staff, faculty and senior management.

The university is now entering year four of the seven year accessibility plan, this year’s work includes: completing accessible washrooms in Main, installing sound systems for people with hearing disabilities, installing assessable workstations in labs and improved lighting and signage for people with visual impairments. And people, if you find something that’s not assessable it should be within the next three years.

With their new seven million dollar accessible sports field, hosting the 2009 integrated Canada Games and recent hosts of the World Sledge Hockey Championships the university has become the envy of higher learning institutions throughout the Maritimes.

The sledge hockey tournament was a great success because of our gentle sloped completely assessable small campus with an over abundance of assessable parking places; people with disabilities indicated that they could not wait to return.

It only took the athletes with various levels of disabilities 30 or 40 seconds to make the short trek across the entire campus, from residents to sports facility.

The tournament was such a success and the athletes with disabilities so pleased with the facilities that the organizers are requesting that Charlottetown and the University of Prince Edward Island be next year’s host as well.

With over 200 students that have disabilities, hosting the integrated 2009 Canada games, requested to be repeat hosts of the world sledge hockey championships UPEI has proven itself to be one of the most assessable university’s in Canada.

The proof is in actions not in derogatory words written by someone with a chip on their shoulder and a personal vendetta on their blog.

If you have questions about the accessibility of UPEI don’t take my word for it and certainly not Pate’s… take a drive out and look for yourself, visit their website or contact accessibility services.

Reproduced from http://disabilityalert.org/?p=32