London Region Zoom Webinar: Access All Areas in Labs
Access All Areas in Labs: Disability Access Guidelines
When people walk into a building they assume they will be able to open doors, walk up stairs to get to the next level, go to the toilet when needed. Unfortunately, disabled people cannot make these assumptions in many buildings, even modern ones.
Dr Deane's team at the University of East Anglia conducted a survey of 152 people (disabled scientists and people with an interest in disability access) - to determine barriers and possible solutions to wider lab access. The results show that not only do many people find labs to be frequently inaccessible, but also unsafe, with commonly-occurring discriminatory practices.
By recognising members' calls for the IBMS to do more to raise awareness of disabilities, we aim to improve the visibility of our members with disabilities, carrying out more inclusive discussions.
A recent webinar on lab accessibility discussed the many issues disabled scientists faced in the workplace. It offered low-cost solutions to dramatically increase the humaneness of the work environment so that laboratories can benefit from the diversity and expertise of disabled scientists, who are rarely recruited.