What about laboratory and fieldwork?

Laboratory and fieldwork are important aspects of many bioscience courses, however they can be inaccessible to disabled students for a variety of reasons. Access to field sites can be problematic, for example sites may be inaccessible to wheelchair users and students with a mobility impairment, transport to and from field sites and the accommodation provided may also be inappropriate to a students' needs. Laboratories and lab work can be inaccessible with benches and chairs at inappropriate heights and equipment a student may be unable to use.

Things to consider:

• Before doing fieldwork are students given an opportunity (e.g. on a registration form) to let you know of any specific requirements they may have (e.g. a fridge to store insulin, gluten free diet etc)? And do students know about the facilities available at the field station?
• Make photos or videos of the study site available beforehand so students know the terrain they will be working on and give information such as 'all study sites are a maximum of 10 minutes walk from the mini bus over uneven paths'.
• Make handouts or schedules available in advance so students know what they will be doing and can discuss with you any barriers there may be to them undertaking the lab or fieldwork
• Provide a glossary of technical vocabulary in advance
• Ensure everyone has access to health and safety information

A number of projects have focused on the accessibility of laboratory and fieldwork for disabled students. Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) may provide an equivalent to lab or fieldwork, see Accessible Technology for further information.

More on Fieldwork:

The Geography Discipline Network (GDN) produced a series of guides on providing support for; students with mobility impairments, blind or visually impaired students, d/Deaf or hearing impaired students, students with mental health difficulties and students with hidden disabilities and dyslexia undertaking fieldwork and related activities, these guides are available online at http://www2.glos.ac.uk/gdn/disabil/

The Subject Centre for History, Classics and Archaeology have produced "Inclusive, Accessible Archaeology", a guide to making archaeological fieldwork accessible, although not bioscience focused the guide provides useful hints and tips on making fieldwork inclusive.

Jenny Jones gave gave a talk about accessible field work at a Centre for Bioscience event, her presentation, Developing inclusive and accessible fieldwork: where to start? and a list of recommended reading for accessibility and fieldwork are available to download from the Centre's website.

Phil Gravestock's 'Accessibility of laboratory practicals, field trips and work placements' brings together tips, ideas and a checklist of accessibility points to consider when planning lab and fieldwork and work placements

Virtual Learning Environments in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, an event hosted by GEES (Subject Centre for Geography Earth and Environmental Sciences) focused on the use of VLEs in learning and teaching. Some of the presentations covered aspects of VLE use in fieldwork and how it can improve or even provide an alternative to fieldwork.

The SWANDS project produced a checklist to evaluate accessibility of fieldwork. A checklist is also available for laboratory work.

More on Lab work and practicals:

The Royal Society of Chemistry's note on The Safety of Disabled Workers in Laboratories gives some guidance and information on making laboratories accessible and safe for all.

Two of the HEAT (Higher Education Assistive Technology) projects in the biosciences have looked at making practical sessions accessible to blind students.

The RNIB National Centre for Tactile Diagrams provide a variety of resources for blind and visually impaired students. One of these resources is tactile diagrams which could be used in practical sessions. They have a catalogue of stock images, for example the process of photosynthesis and bacterial structure, and can develop new images as required, tactile maps can also be produced, images are accompanied by braille descriptions.

Some mini projects funded by the Subject Centre for Engineering have focused on access to laboratories for engineering students and some points made in this will be relevant to all lab work. For example a Case study evaluating accessibility and use of a laboratory by a student who uses a wheelchair and a blind member of staff and The accessible electronics lab - lab accessibility for disabled students.

The Premia resource base is a database of resources, focusing on postgraduate students, that covers aspects of fieldwork and lab work and how disabled students may find them difficult to access and how this can be improved.

Dis-Tribute - a project funded by HEFCE and undertaken at Writtle College aimed to improve provision for students in land-based education.

The Teachability project at Strathclyde University has two guides covering field trips and practical classes, visit http://www.teachability.strath.ac.uk/ to find out more.

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