How are Welsh Universities Portraying Disability on their Webpages?

Description

This session will present the outcomes of a recent research project which explored the portrayal of disability through the Disability Service web pages of all nine Welsh universities, to understand their potential impression on disabled applicants. The coding frame used during the research, which will be shared during the session, draws heavily from Critical Disability Studies and literature around disabled students' experiences in HE to analyse multiple dimensions including use of language, terminology and photography, as well as discussion of academic, cultural, social and logistical aspects of student life. The absence of certain criteria will be reflected upon, as well as the frequency and prominence of others. Five thematic areas of discussion are highlighted as a result of this study. This research proposes a call to action to challenge deficit-based interpretations of disability and advocates an affirmative stance towards disability in higher education policy and practice. In specific relevance to the USW Equality Steering Group, USW's profile in this research will be highlighted against the rest of the sample, to illustrate instances whereby our practice is strong, and even sector leading, and other areas whereby there are tangible examples of good practice we could learn from in the wider Welsh HE sector.

Period	9 Jul 2020
Event title	Equality and Diversity Steering Group Meeting: How do Welsh Universities Portray Disability on their Webpages?
Event type	Seminar
Location	N/A, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	Local