Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Accessibility Statement

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is actively promoting accessibility. We consider the disabled community to have equal rights and to be worthy of enjoying full accessibility to University assets and services.

BGU not only functions as defined in Israeli law but exceeds it in order to assist people with various disabilities, to improve the quality of their lives and to enable their respectable, egalitarian and independent social integration. The relevant adjustments are made subject to/and in accordance with the instructions laid down by the Israeli “Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law" (5748/1998) and its consequent regulations.

(Statement update valid as of Feb. 13, 2018)

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Accessibility arrangements on BGU campuses

Over the past years, the University has been executing a well-planned work program, the goal of which is to provide more comfortable accessibility to the various facilities and services on the BGU campuses. The decisions made reflect the University's commitment to the community and society and the intent to make life easier for the disabled public by enhancing such accessibility.

Physical accessibility on the campuses

Over the last few decades, a revolution began in Israeli social policy and law regarding the granting of equal opportunity to people with disabilities. Recently, changes have occurred in Israel, bringing the matter of accessibility in general and especially accessibility to higher education to the front of the public agenda. There were two primary contributing factors to this process—legal processes, spurred on by the 1998 “Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law" and the establishment of the Commission responsible for its inculcation and enforcement, as well as the strategic decision of the National Insurance Institute of Israel to allot financial resources towards making academic institutions in Israel more accessible to disabled persons. These changes enabled an ever-growing number of disabled persons to join the academic ranks as students at Israeli institutes of higher education.

If you encounter any problems or have questions, please turn to Yaakov Dahan, who is in charge of the concessionaires and serves as the Coordinator for BGU Accessibility.

Many diverse projects have been executed, such as:

Making all the elevators accessible;
Installing permanent sound systems in all the large halls;
Lending personal sound systems to each student requiring it from the Dean of Students Office;
All BGU ceremonies are made accessible to the hearing impaired;
The BGU website is in the final stages of be made accessible;
Most of the toilets for the disabled have been renovated and meet the new regulations;
Handrails have been installed in most of the buildings and open areas;
Wheelchair lifts and elevators have been installed in a number of buildings as needed;
Automatic sliding doors have been installed in all the entrances to BGU buildings;
The path leading to the astronomical observatory has been suitably adjusted;
All the sidewalks at the campus entrance gates have been lowered as per the new regulations;
All the stores on the campuses have been adjusted to meet the new regulations;
Various ramps have been installed in the Student Union Building and across the campuses;
A special lift has been installed at the BGU swimming pool at the University Sports Center;
Work is progressing on marking walkways and stairwells;
Seats have been adjusted in the classroom and lecture halls as needed;
New signs and markings are being displayed and tested in open areas and inside the buildings;
Newly invented “step hear" systems have been installed in most of the campus buildings for the blind.

For additional information regarding physical accessibility on the campuses, please contact:

Moshe Ventura, mventura@bgu.ac.il

Office: 08-6461048
Mobile: 052-5793017

Map of Accessibility on the Marcus Family Campus (in Hebrew)

Accessible service

Instruction of employees in the provision accessible service

The University has prepared a layered, multi-year instructional program, in accordance with the target populations, the goal of which is to instruct and prepare the employees in regard to the various aspects of accessibility. The first layer is intended for all the University employees and its purpose is to inform everyone about the law and the matter of accessibility, and to provide practical tools for the provision of accessible service. This instruction will be held once a year, every year. The second layer is meant to prepare employees who provide services by means of practical, experiential workshops given a few times each year to different participants. The instruction of new (incoming) employees will be done on a running basis at the start of each academic year.

Student Support Center at the Dean of Students Office

This Center tries to help disabled students get the necessary, suitable adjustments they require for their studies and examinations. This service is rendered by professionals in the field.

For details please contact Anna Keslassy-Sultan at the Center in the Dean of Students Office: keslassy@bgu.ac.il; tel. 08-6428810; fax. 08-6472939; see the Dean of Students website; or come to the Zlotowsky Student Union Building, 2nd floor, Room 258—Sun.-Thur. 10:00-13:00.

Main telephone numbers

The answering machine has been made accessible by providing clear language without background music.

BGU main switchboard – 08-6461111.

Student information and administration center – 08-6461600. An alternative means for student registration is via Email – rishum@bgu.ac.il or fax. 08-6461026.

Computer Help Desk of the Computing and Information Systems Division – 08-6477171. An alternative means for computer tech. support is via Email – helpdesk@bgu.ac.il or fax. 08-6477967.

To locate an employee by means of a voice router – 08-6428000.

Emergency/security phone line – 08-6461888 or 08-6461555 or via Email – security@bgu.ac.il

Making the BGU website accessible

The University has begun the task of making its Internet websites accessible, in accordance with the regulations for accessibility as per the “Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law."

BGU is making efforts and investing resources to improve the accessibility of its Internet websites, to which end it has established a Steering Committee headed by the Vice Director-General.

The University is proactive regarding the following:

The establishment of an integral communications infrastructure that enables the establishment of accessible websites.
Taking an accessibility survey of the formats of the primary websites.
The provision of instruction regarding accessibility to website developers, content editors, data uploaders and website managers.
Adjusting BGU applications, intended for students, candidates and the general public, to suit them.

The current level of accessibility

The University is on the last lap of the long process of upgrading its infrastructures, upon which most of BGU's websites are built, in compliance with the Accessibility Law.

As such, most of the University's websites now meet most of the accessibility requirements in conformance with the stipulated AA level.

The new websites being built on this upgraded infrastructure conform to the permanent guidelines for Internet accessibility at the AA level.

The infrastructure of the course syllabi “Moodle" has been adjusted per the accessibility requirements.

Both the “Student kiosk" system, that contains the students' personal information, and the course-registration system have been made accessible.

The system for authorizing student computer use has also been made accessible.

A large number of the remaining applications for students have also been adjusted accordingly to meet the accessibility requirements.

We are working to complete this accessibility process on various infrastructures that are not parts of the main infrastructure, such as that of the video server, and to adjust the contents of all the University websites so they too conform to accessibility regulations.

Ways to get information on the accessibility of the Internet website

For problems, questions or suggestions regarding accessibility to BGU websites, please turn to the BGU Webmaster via Email – webmaster@bgu.ac.il or call 08-6479817

Data on the accessibility of the BGU website

The adjustments made to the website for the sake of accessibility follow the recommendations of Israeli standard no. 5568, based on guidelines 2.0 WCAG, level AA.
The website provides a semantic structure for supportive technologies and supports the commonly-used pattern for activation by means of a keyboard.
It suits the displays of the common browsers and the use of cell-phones.
The colors on the website have been adjusted to suit contrast requirements.
Website navigation is done only using the keyboard, by means of TAB, arrows and ENTER to choose an item.
Embedded accessibility menu software powered by Equalweb throughout BGU website.
Advice on making an Internet website more accessible is provided by the “A-2-Z" Marketing and Internet Accessibility Company.

Ways to make requests and offer suggestions for improving accessibility

University faculty members are invited to make contact regarding any issue or deliberation regarding improvements in accessibility for disabled BGU employees, both in general and particular cases. Please contact Maayan Kimhi-Tedgi, who is in charge of the employment of disabled employees: tel. 08-6477758 to “accessible University" – accessibility@bgu.ac.il

Accessibility Statement