Graduation Guidance for University Professionals Provides Best Practice to an Enjoyable Experience

For Nayab, 24, graduating from her degree in Education Psychology Counselling was a time for celebrating her hard-earned achievements with friends and family. As a blind student, having an accessible graduation day was key to ensuring that she could celebrate with ease. Speaking to us about our online resource, ‘Make your Graduation an Accessible Day to Remember, Nayab was able to reflect on her own experience and how this resource would have been vital to her having a better experience on graduation day.

Nayab’s Big Day

Despite heavy traffic, Nayab arrived at her university campus in time to meet her friends and catch the crowds, an experience which would have been much more difficult to navigate without the support of her siblings. The volume of people and noise outside the graduation venue made communication difficult, especially when collecting her gown and taking instructions on how to present herself for her official photograph.

Nayab found navigating the day much easier when working in proximity with support staff. This is why she was grateful for the support of her sighted guide who met her at the venue. Nayab was able to navigate a walkthrough of the ceremony prior to it starting so she could be shown where to go and what to do once on stage.

“Having a sighted guide on the day was extremely helpful and gave me confidence. You can have a more positive and enjoyable experience if you are not worrying about how you will get to and from the stage”.

Getting Support Arranged in Advance

“Having support prepared prior to the day would have reduced stress. When it comes to graduations, those with additional needs deserve to spend the day like their peers and not have to think about how they will access the celebrations”

The support Nayab had access to on the day was in her view, “last minute”. She tells us that her university had not contacted students with additional needs prior to their graduation and Nayab and her support worker had to contact the university themselves to get the ball rolling. Two days before graduation day, a sighted guide and walkthrough were agreed.

This left Nayab without adequate information on the venue, how the day would proceed or time to process this information.

“If I had needed support from university staff on the day, I would have needed a sighted person to find someone as I was told everyone would be busy”.

Without this information, Nayab was unable to navigate the day independently as her sighted peers were able to do. This also meant time was taken out of her graduation day, and away from friends, to address her access needs as they happened.

Nayab’s advice for professionals is:

“Give the student as much information about the graduation day as possible. Give the student longer to get their practical and access arrangements sorted and understand that blind or partially sighted students may need time to process and act on information”.

A Dream Graduation

In an ideal world, the university’s graduation team would have reached out to her and other disabled students to arrange reasonable adjustments in advance. Nayab’s difficulties using the inaccessible online systems for registering her attendance, booking her gown and photograph, show that this support should have been available from the start.

Nayab would then have been able to do a walkthrough of not just the ceremony, but the location of services and the running of the day with greater notice. Giving her more time with friends and less rushing around on the day itself.

“There needs to be effective communication with the student. The student must be invited to discuss their needs with the graduation team themselves rather than via a third party. This interaction will also support the graduation team’s knowledge of visual impairment, adjustments, and their importance”.

Key Take Away

An accessible graduation day can mark a positive end to a student’s academic journey. As Nayab says “Every individual deserves to have equal rights and access to positive experiences”. This is why it is so important universities do everything they can to make graduations a day to remember and not one to forget.

On receiving her degree in Education Psychology Counselling, Nayab said:

“Graduating gave me a sense of relief. I had found university to be a difficult experience with many challenges, a lack of communication, lack of resources and a huge workload”.

In speaking with Nayab, getting a graduation right is not just about accessibility, but also about framing how a blind or partially sighted student will remember their time at university.

“This new resource on Making Your Graduation Accessible will help professionals gain an understanding of what to do when supporting blind and partially sighted students to celebrate their time at university. It has made me think how useful this resource could have been for my own graduation”.

Our graduation resource is here for you to make your graduation events a memorable day for blind and partially sighted students.

Be that difference, read and share our guidance for professionals now.

Need Further Advice?

Whether it is a student’s graduation, or a student’s degree, our Student Support Service is here with information, advice, and guidance to help you support the blind and partially sighted students you work with.

You can also access our wide range of online resources for blind and partially sighted students, and the professionals supporting them.