EPFL aims to provide a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment for all its students and staff, so that everyone can thrive and succeed.
EPFL attaches particular importance to the diversity of its community, which contributes to its intellectual, scientific and cultural wealth. However, day-to-day life at EPFL still involves obstacles and challenges that are out of place, and which particularly affect people with neurodiversity, chronic illnesses or sensory, physical or other impairments.
The “EPFL Without Barriers” project was launched in 2023 with the aim to assess existing social and environmental barriers, and to formulate recommendations to improve the School’s ability to welcome its entire community under the best possible conditions. The project is equally aimed at students, academic staff as well as administrative and technical staff.
Report them using the Walkable or StreetCo applications.
See also the Pedestrians and reduced mobility page.
The app that guides you through EPFL
In this video, discover the StreetNav app, which enables everyone, including people with sensory disabilities or reduced mobility, to navigate the EPFL campus. The first phase of the project focuses on indoor navigation within the CM building, helping users bypass the DoubleDeck construction site when travelling between the metro station and the Rolex Learning Center.
Current situation (phase 2)
Since the self-assessment report (Phase 1), several actions have been undertaken:
- Recruitment of a project manager: Quentin Delval (September 2024)
- Development of the action plan based on the self-assessment
- Resumption of coordination for the Assistive Technology Challenge
- Collaboration with the Health Days initiative
- Internal training on welcoming people with disabilities
- Launch of a project for accessible routes on the Ecublens campus
- Collaboration with the inter-university project “NeuroDiversUnis” (swissuniversities)
- Responses to individual requests
Assessment and recommendations (phase 1)
The conclusions of the self-evaluation phase, organised in seven thematic areas with recommendations and priorities for future actions, were validated by the project Steering Committee on 20 December 2023 and presented to the EPFL Direction on 30 January 2024.
- Executive summary of the report (pdf 169 KB)
- Full report (in French, English version to come, pdf 1.4 MB)
- Gisou van der Goot, VPT (chair)
- Kathryn Hess Bellwald, AVP-SAO
- Pierre Dillenbourg, AVP-E
- Claudia Noth, VPO-DRH
- Franco Vigliotti, VPO-DDC
- Eric Du Pasquier, VPO-SE
- Rafael Corvalan, VPO-DSI
- Gaël Hürlimann, Médiacom
- Basile Morier, student body representative, member of the School Assembly
- Antoine Hoffmann, intermediary body representative, member of the School Assembly
- Frédéric Dreyer, administrative and technical staff representative, member of the School Assembly
- Fabienne Segu, external specialist, Forum handicap Vaud
- Alireza Darvishy, external specialist, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
- Sonja Moghaddari, coordination VPT-EGA
- Helene Füger, coordination support VPT-EGA
- Damien Quaglia, AVP-SAO SAE
- Isabelle Cahour, AVP-E GE
- Gaël Revelin, VPA-SISBE
- Matteo Galli, VPA-EM-APR
- Jessica Pallie, VPO-DRH RHPP
- Barry Stanton, VPO-DC CNST
- Marie-Noëlle Morais, VPO-SE SIS-SEC
- Natalie Meystre, VPO-DSI
- Maureen Décosterd, P-MEDIACOM MEV
- Xurxo-Adriàn Entenza, P-MEDIACOM MEC
- Alexandre Saint-Amour, VPT-DUR
- Claire Saout, VPT-DUR
- and 6 people with a physical or sensory impairment, neurodiversity or chronic illness (3 men and 3 women from the student body, administrative staff or scientific staff)
Synthesis from the call for testimonials
Feed-back and input from persons affected by or witnessing social or environmental barriers to inclusion at EPFL was gathered through a call for testimonials between May 31 and August 31, 2023.
- Synthesis of the results (pdf, 713 KB)
Resources and legal basis
- Workplace adaptations
- Special study and exams arrangements
- Practical information and subsidies
- Trust and Support Network
- Trust Point
- Mental Health
Most of these resources can be accessed via the Trust Point application.
- Federal Office for Equality for People with Disabilities (Bureau fédéral de l’égalité pour les personnes handicapées BFEH – in FR/DE/IT only)
- FRH Foundation
- Forum handicap Vaud (FR)
- Inclusion handicap (FR/DE)
- Swissuniability (FR/DE)
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Federal Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against People with Disabilities
- Ordonnance sur le personnel du domaine des EPF, Art.11, lit.b (2001) (FR/DE/IT)
- LEX 2.6.5 Procedure for support measures and LEX 2.6.5 adapted study schedules for disabled students at EPFL
News and Profiles
Students invent devices that businesses haven’t yet conjured up
In the Assistive Technology Challenge (ATC), EPFL master’s students carry out MAKE projects to develop practical systems for the disabled. We spoke with the group that invented a remote-control device for operating touch-control cooktops, enabling the visually impaired to prepare meals using a physical interface.
Lost on campus? A navigation app makes getting around easier
The Double Deck construction project has made moving around the EPFL campus an altogether different proposition. A navigation app, named StreetNav, helps community members – including those with disabilities – find their way from the metro station to the Rolex Learning Center and beyond.
“I never once thought that I couldn’t do it”
Like other students who earned the highest possible grade on their master’s thesis – while juggling it with sports, volunteer work and travel – Clémence Bachmann is exceptional. Yet she has something extra. Or rather something missing, as she’s nearly blind.
”Accommodating my neurodivergence was life-changing”
A postdoc researcher in the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory in Sion, Joanna Dyson lives with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). This topic will be addressed during the
Making a difference with the MAKE Assistive Technologies Challenge
Thanks to the dedication of EPFL students, all motivated by the potential to make a difference in someone’s life, six MAKE prototypes were built last semester with the aim of assisting the mentally or physically challenged.
“I’ve become expert in camouflaging myself”
Nathalie Bui, a first-year Master’s student in EPFL’s chemistry program, has Asperger’s syndrome – a mild form of autism. She took part in a panel discussion on 9 October as part of the 2023 Health Days.
EPFL students develop two apps to help the visually impaired
As part of the Assistive Technologies Challenge, EPFL students developed two apps to help people with low or no vision: one app orally communicates the information contained in a box of medicine and the other helps them find empty seats on public transport.
“My goal is to use my experience to help others”
PhD student Cristiano Trevisin has been hearing-impaired since childhood. He’s working to make EPFL more accessible for people facing various barriers.
Videos
“Les clés pour mieux comprendre une personne autiste”: Presentation on October 3, 2024 during the EPFL Health Days
“Comprendre et gérer les troubles de l’attention”: Round table on October 2, 2024 during the EPFL Health Days
“Work environments for neurodiverse people”: Round table on October 9, 2023 during the EPFL Health Days
“Barrières au Quotidien”: Vidéo of the Swiss Center for Disability Research
Contact
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.