Project Findings

The 'creating accessible teaching and support' initiative is about supporting university staff to practice more inclusively. Through the project website (www.cats.edu.au), CATS aims to support staff to provide equitable access to university education for people with disability, while maintaining academic standards. The website contains helpful information about inclusive curriculum, accommodations, accessibility, and alternative assessment, as well as innovative professional learning resources including videos and customisable fact sheets. A quality assurance framework to support improved practice has also been developed. The self review and planning tool uses the Universities Australia Guidelines Related to Students with a Disability as a framework for better practice. The tool is also customisable to suit institutional need. By engaging university staff to use the CATS resources, it is hoped that the following can be achieved: (1) an improved understanding across the sector of the importance of quality assurance in improving the teaching and service delivery for students with disability; (2) improved compliance with the DDA, Disability Standards for Education, and the UA Guidelines and therefore, minimised risk of discrimination incidents for institutions; (3) university staff can improve their teaching and support of students with disability; and (4) that inclusive practice is firmly embedded in the higher education sector.