Measuring perceived accessibility of students with disabilities at a public university

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to explore the perceptions that students with disabilities had towards facility accessibility and quality of education at a public university and to determine any relationships between their perceptions of accessibility and perceptions of quality of education. Students' perceptions were measured using an online survey instrument. The survey was a thirty three question survey with questions exploring students' perceptions of accessibility of campus as a whole, accessibility of older buildings, accessibility of newer buildings, and quality of education. Students were found to perceive both accessibility and quality of education positively; however, there were numerous areas of statistically significant differences in students' opinions when they were grouped by demographic groups. The results also indicated that there was a positive relationship between perceived accessibility and perceived quality of education.