A major step towards accessibility

Just in time for Diversity Day 2026, two new support systems at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences are ensuring that the campus becomes even more accessible. A digital wayfinding system now makes it easier to find your way around the campus. The new audio system improves the acoustics in the lecture theatres, regardless of where you are seated. Both innovations are designed so that it is not only students with disabilities who benefit from them. With these new services, the “University by the Sea” is a pioneer in the state of Bremen.

Although the campus of Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences is relatively small and easy to navigate, not every room in every building is easy to find. This is where the new digital wayfinding system comes in. It detects the location of the person using the app. From there, it provides directions to the room they are looking for. This is what makes the system unique. “The digital wayfinding system works indoors. So it doesn’t just show the routes to the buildings, but actually right up to the rooms you’re looking for. It also describes the lifts, for example,” explains Claudia Krieten, Inclusive Learning Officer. The wayfinding system offers accessible routes for people with reduced mobility and audio instructions for blind and visually impaired people. In addition, content in sign language and plain language can be integrated. This means it is designed to cater to different needs through multimedia.

One key feature of an accessible campus is the support provided for people with hearing impairments. Whilst it is usually only certain seats in lecture theatres that are fitted with better acoustics following refurbishment work, in Bremerhaven the aim is for all students to benefit. With the help of a special technical system, students’ own smartphones become both a loudspeaker and a microphone. This means that people with hearing impairments are not dependent on seats with better acoustics being kept free for them, and they can sit wherever they like. At the same time, students without hearing impairments can also use the system. “The planning and implementation of this system was an important step towards greater accessibility in everyday student life,” explains Ulli Seebeck, Head of First Level Support, who is responsible for the project. The audio system was installed during technical upgrades in Building S, which houses seminar rooms and lecture theatres, and is now ready for use. Over the course of the year, further rooms will be equipped with the system to continuously improve accessibility. “Everything we do follows the motto: design for all. We don’t want special solutions for specific groups, but something that works for everyone,” says Dipl.-Inf. Dirk Hagelstein, a research and technical staff member in the Laboratory for Electronic Learning and Virtual Worlds and representative for people with severe disabilities at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. 

Across departments and disciplines, dedicated staff at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences are working to make the campus as accessible as possible and to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. To this end, the Accessible University Working Group was established several years ago. Their work is evident, among other things, in major structural improvements, such as automatic doors and wheelchair-accessible toilets. With the new digital systems, they are now taking it a step further and thinking about inclusion beyond mobility impairments. This makes Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences a pioneer among higher education institutions in the state of Bremen. As part of the enhanced cooperation between Bremen’s universities, as envisaged by the state action plan for implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, representatives of the Accessible University Working Group will be offering a workshop for their colleagues from Bremen at the end of August to present the two systems.  

Anyone interested in inclusion at the university is warmly invited to the ‘Open to All’ action day on 10 June from 10 am to 2.30 pm at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. Among other things, the digital wayfinding system will be presented there at 1 pm. Further information is available at www.hs-bremerhaven.de/offen-fuer-alle-aktionstag.