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Help your students succeed by making them feel like they belong by using inclusive language. Learn tips for interacting with students living with a disability or medical condition.
What is inclusive language?
Inclusive language is language that does not reflect prejudices, stereotypes or discriminatory views of particular people or groups. Sometimes called non-discriminatory language, it avoids false assumptions and assists in promoting respectful relationships.
At UTS we adopt the social model of disability, which focuses on access requirements that are necessary in the physical and digital environment to ensure an independently accessible experience of facilities, systems and activities.
How to communicate about accessibility
Ask about access requirements
When communicating about accessibility, never ask anyone what his or her impairment or disability is. Instead, focus on the access requirements of that person. Access requirements are solutions designed to address physical and communicative barriers experienced by people with disabilities.
Talk about the person first
Focus on the person, not the disability. Person-first language is the most widely accepted terminology in Australia. Examples of person-first language include: ‘person who is deaf’, or ‘people who have low vision’. Put the person first, and the impairment second (but only when it’s relevant).
The ‘uppercase D’ Deaf is used to describe people who identify as culturally Deaf and are actively engaged with the Deaf community. The ‘lowercase d’ deaf simply refers to the physical condition of having hearing loss. Hard-of-hearing is a widely-accepted term to describe mild to moderate hearing loss. As discussed, it is always best to check with people to find out their preferred identifier.
Tips for interacting with people with disability
- Treat people with disability as individuals, offering the same respect you would anyone else. Be polite and patient.
- Ask how you can help. Don’t assume help is needed.
- Don’t let your unease about saying or doing the wrong thing lead to avoiding people with disability.
- Always look and speak directly to a person with disability, not the companion or assistant.
- Try to relax and see the lighter side. If you feel that you’ve embarrassed someone, apologise but don’t dwell on it or avoid the situation.
- Refer to a person’s disability only when necessary and appropriate.
- Do not avoid a handshake if a person has limited hand use, in circumstances where you would normally shake hands. A left hand shake is acceptable.
- Don’t patronise or talk down.
Glossary of UTS terms
| Word | Meaning |
| Academic Liaison Officer (ALO) | Academic representatives within each faculty who are responsible for approving assessment arrangements for students with disabilities or medical conditions, and students with carer responsibilities. |
| Accessibility Consultant (AC) | Consult with students about their access requirements and facilitate requests for reasonable adjustments. |
| Access database | The UTS database that facilitates accessibility related requests. |
| Assistive technology | A device or system that can help an individual perform a task that would otherwise be difficult or inaccessible. Most assistive technology requires the original data source to be accessible to access the information. A common example is screen reading software which reads aloud the information from the screen. |
| Audio descriptions | Audio description is the verbal description and narration of visual events in videos, films and live performances. It provides information about actions, characters, costumes, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content. It is particularly beneficial to people who are blind or with low vision. |
| Auslan | Auslan is the Australian sign language of the Australian Deaf community, and its grammar and vocabulary are quite distinct from English. |
| Digital accessibility | Digital content that is accessible, easy to navigate and understand for all types of students, including those users who have visual, auditory, motor or cognitive disabilities. |
| Exam provisions | Exam provisions aim to accommodate the impact of a disability and/or ongoing medical condition while maintaining academic standards, and include adjustments such as extra time, additional breaks, or applications for a rescheduled exam after the main exam period. |
| Inclusive teaching practices | An approach to teaching that recognises the diversity of students, enabling all students to access course content, fully participate in learning activities, and demonstrate their knowledge and strengths at assessment. |
| Learning and Assessment Arrangements: Access Plan | The Access Plan is developed when a student registers with Accessibility Service. It outlines the potential services and requests a student is likely to require for their course. The Access Plan is sent to the ALO and includes the approval of exam provisions. |
| Extra provisions report | A report run from CASS that lists students and their approved provisions for a subject. |
| Reasonable adjustments or accommodations | Adjustments that can be made for a student that are reasonable for the University to implement while maintaining academic integrity. Reasonable adjustments are specific to courses inherent requirements. What might be reasonable for one course/subject might not be for another. The reasonable component is determined from the DDA legislation – Disability Standards for Education (2005). |
| Requests | Students registered with the Accessibility Service can make requests including extensions, exam provisions (eg. Extra time, scribe), alternative assessments, re-engagement plans. Students are not required to complete Special Consideration for requests that are related to their registered disability. |
| Students with access requirements | Includes all students living with one or more disabilities, medical or mental health conditions who require an accessible environment, reasonable adjustments or support services. |
This resource was developed from Naomi Malone’s blog Inclusive language in relation to accessibility.