Hitit University aims to provide a helpful and
well-resourced environment for students with disabilities in order to integrate
them into society. It continues its studies with the intention of removing
barriers that affect student learning and educational opportunities, and
helping them in developing their independence as individuals. In this context, Coordinatorship
of Disabled Students, which was founded in 2012, makes every effort to maintain a
safe and accessible learning environment for all students with disabilities.
Barrier-Free Access to the Facilities of the University
Within the concept of a Barrier-Free University, all the buildings that are being built or completed at our university are constructed to meet the criteria of ‘Barrier-Free Access to the Area’, which includes various applications. Among them are places such as parking lots for the disabled, accessible entrances, paved passages with guidelines in suitable widths, halls and corridors, elevators for the disabled supported by light and sound warnings, tactile routers, signs written in Braille, as well as toilets for the disabled.
Necessary arrangements are made for students with
disabilities under the Coordinatorship of Disabled Students. The
coordinatorship takes the essential steps and creates awareness about
disability, as well as produces projects. It coordinates all kinds of events for
students with disabilities and organizes activities that encourage them to
develop themselves socially.
Facilities for the Visually Impaired
Hitit University established a cooperation with Boğaziçi University’s ‘Assistive Technology and Education Laboratory for Individuals with Visual Disabilities’ (shortly GETEM in Turkish) in 2012. GETEM provides free assistive technology services and free online digital library services for our university students with disabilities. Students who want to benefit from the GETEM library should apply to the University Central Library for a password, which allows them to access the library from anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Central Library of our
university made an agreement in 2013 with ‘The Common Platform for Visually Impaired Libraries (GEKOP)’ in order to better serve our
visually disabled readers. Visually disabled readers in the university and in
Çorum can benefit from the opportunities offered by the non-commercial GEKOP
system with the password they will receive from the Central Library.
In addition, the university
library has a large collection of audiobooks for the visually disabled persons,
as well as the EYE-PAL device, which allows users to listen to all kinds of
printed sources aloud and transfer them to CD or DVD using Screen Reader
Systems. Visually disabled users can find thousands of resources in the
university library, as well as transfer the materials they read to digital
media.
Barrier-free University Awards Granted to Our
University by the Council of Higher Education
Our university has been one of the universities with
the highest number of awards in the "Barrier-Free University Flag"
program, in which advantages provided by universities for the disabled are
evaluated by the Council of Higher
Education.
Our university has also become entitled to receive the Barrier-Free
Program Medal, which is awarded only to 3 universities.
This year, Faculty of Sports Sciences and Institute of Health Sciences of our university, which made their physical spaces accessible for the disabled with various physical arrangements, have been awarded “Flag for Spatial Accessibility” (Orange Flag). Faculty of Sports Sciences, Institute of Health Sciences and Alaca Avni Çelik Vocational School have also received “Flag for Access to Education” (Green Flag) for providing a certain level of supportive information, documents, course tools and materials to students with disabilities. Lastly, Food Technology Program of Alaca Avni Çelik Vocational School has been awarded "Barrier-Free Program Medal" for the opportunities it provides for the mentally handicapped.
