A 3-D model of the building, guidance paths, and an application to help the user find the facility they are looking for are just some of the amenities installed in building D-21 with the disabled in mind. A project aiming to eliminate information and communication barriers is now underway at WUST.

- Building D-21 houses the Laboratory of Information Technology for the Blind and Visually Impaired, often visited by visually impaired or blind people. The building used to be largely inaccessible to them because of missing visual information that would facilitate getting around the building. However, the facilities were created for people with various disabilities - explains Jerzy Borowiec, the Rector's representative for disabled people.

There are about 300 students with many different disabilities currently studying at Wrocław University of Science and Technology - most of them at the Faculty of Electronics, the Faculty of Computer Science and Management, and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

The improvements on building D-21 are the result of two years’ work of the students from the PopArch scientific circle, operating at the Faculty of Architecture under the supervision of  Natalia Ratajczak-Szponik PhD, Eng. The pilot program included not only a detailed audit of the architectural accessibility of the building but - above all - the development of specific solutions, which were fully put into practice.

Guidance paths, attention areas, touch maps, and door plates with information in various formats (contrasting, Braille alphabet, QR code) were created in the building with people with various disabilities in mind. The new features include TOTUPOINT markers, which can be used after installing a special mobile phone application. There are 30 such places at the University - markers that help people with disabilities move around the campus. All text and information are in Polish and English.

A model of the building, which will make life easier not only for the blind but also for other disabled people, was also built near the entrance.

As part of the new evacuation procedure, the highest quality chairs were purchased to safely take people with disabilities out of danger. The university has acquired more than a dozen of such chairs that can even ride stairs.