Provisions of L. 4957/2022 (Government Gazette A’ 141/21-7-2022) regarding accessibility

Provisions of L. 4957/2022 (Government Gazette A’ 141/21-7-2022) regarding accessibility

Art. 3 The structure of Higher Education – The Mission of Higher Educational Institutions

5. In order for Higher Educational Institutions (H.E.I.) to fulfill their mission, their organization and function adhere to regulations and practices which ensure that the following principles in particular are upheld:

(viii) equal treatment regardless of sex, non-discrimination, universal design in every domain of their responsibility and activity so as to ensure that facilities, services (physical or electronic), equipment and educational material are accessible to the members of the academic, administrative or other kind of staff and students with disability and special educational needs.

Art. 15 Rector’s Responsibilities

1. The Rector has the responsibilities described herein in addition to any other assigned to the Rector’s office according to the Higher Educational Institution’s (H.E.I.) internal regulation unless the latter have been assigned by the law to other H.E.I.’s authorities. The Rector has the following responsibilities in particular:

xxviii) takes measures in order to ensure that the H.E.I.’s premises are accessible to members of the academic/teaching/research staff, administrative staff, other groups of staff with disability; (s)he also takes measures in order to ensure that students with disability or special educational needs have access to teaching, research and every other activity taking place within the academic community.

Art. 209 Equal Access Unit for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs

1. An administrative unit under the name “Equal Access Unit for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs” is established in every Higher Educational Institution (H.E.I.). The hierarchical level and the administrative organizational structure of this unit are outlined in the Organization of each H.E.I.
2. The mission of the Equal Access Unit is to ensure that every member of the academic community with disability or special educational needs can fully participate in every educational, research and administrative activity carried out in the H.E.I. More specifically, its duties are:

I. the implementation of the equal access plan of the H.E.I.,

II. providing support to the Equal Access Committee mentioned in Art. 220 while fulfilling its duties,

III. tracing national and european legislation and strategy for the rights of persons with disability,

IV. supporting the access to the educational process especially by providing accessible academic textbooks, educational material and sign language interpretation,

V. supporting alternative ways of testing students with disability and special educational needs depending on their needs and educational abilities,

VI. providing personalized assistive information technologies and facilitating e-accessibility,

VII. supporting the participation of persons with disability and persons with special educational needs in research, projects carried out by the Special Account for Research (SARG), conferences and workshops, student assemblies and assemblies of administrative bodies, artistic and sports activities,

VIII. enabling electronic communication for solving administrative matters pertaining to persons with disability and persons with special educational needs,

IX. ensuring and facilitating the physical access of persons with disability, especially by means of transportation and accompaniment service,

X. providing psycho-emotional support and guidance to persons with disability and persons with special educational needs in collaboration with the Centre for Psychological Support and Consulting,

XI. collaboration with Academic Advisors in supporting students with disability and special educational needs,

XII. maintaining statistical data concerning disability, built environment and services accessibility of the Institution,

XIII. exercising any other duty described in the Organization of each H.E.I. that is relevant to the Equal Access Unit’s scope of work.

3. The Equal Access Unit for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs is designated as the reference point in each Institution for monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and for drafting and submitting proposals and legal regulations to the Special Reference Point of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs regarding the optimal implementation of the Convention in H.E.I. It is also responsible for writing an annual progress report and carrying out consultation with the members of the academic community with disability on the aforementioned subjects. Regarding the staffing of the Unit, priority is given to scientific personnel with experience in physical accessibility, e-accessibility and disability; otherwise to personnel which will be properly trained on the aforementioned topics.
4. Other departments/units of the H.E.I. are obliged to collaborate with the Equal Access Unit for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs on matters falling within the Unit’s duties.

Art. 220 Equal Access Committee for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs

1. The Equal Access Committee for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs is appointed by decision of the Governing Council of each Higher Educational Institution (H.E.I.). The Committee is comprised of nine members: five (5) members of the Teaching and Research Staff, who come from different Departments/Faculties of the H.E.I., if possible, and are preferably persons with disability or have expertise or experience in matters related to the equal access of persons with disabilities and persons with special educational needs, the head of the Equal Access Unit, the head of the H.E.I.’s Technical Service, one (1) student representative, preferably a student with disability, and the head of the Teaching and Learning Support Centre mentioned in Art. 129.
2. The Committee is an advisory board of the H.E.I. and its mission is to make recommendations to the administrative boards responsible for determining and implementing the policy for equal access of persons with disability and persons with special educational needs. More specifically, the duties of the Committee are the following:

I. developing an equal access plan for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs; this plan is submitted to the H.E.I.’s Rector for approval. It shall include recommendations on technical or other measures for equal access, a timeline for the implementation thereof as well as any suggestions for its improvement,

II. making recommendations to the Rector regarding public procurement contracts for the supply of goods or services necessary for implementing the plan mentioned in point I,

III. planning and implementing programs, activities, workshops, awareness raising events and other related activities and initiatives in cooperation with other entities of the public sector (as defined in Art. 14, paragraph 1, point (i) of the L. 4270/2014 (A’ 143)) or social stakeholders in order to raise the awareness of the academic and administrative staff and the students concerning the equal access of persons with disability and persons with special educational needs in higher education,

IV. carrying out studies and creating subcommittees or groups, such as groups of volunteers, for assisting the Committee to perform its duties more effectively,

V. preparing a draft of the internal regulation for ensuring the equal access of persons with disabilities and special educational needs and submitting it to the Senate for approval,

VI. every other duty described in the Internal Regulation of each H.E.I. and falls into the Committee’s scope of work.

Art. 226 Equal Access Plan for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs

1. Higher Educational Institutions implement all measures necessary for the equal access of the teaching and administrative staff, other groups of staff, students and other persons - guests with disability or special educational needs to higher education. For that purpose, each H.E.I. develops and implements an equal access plan for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs which shall include measures regarding the following in particular: a) built environment accessibility of the university premises, b) access to the educational process and other educational activities, c) e-accessibility, d) supporting the transition into the labour market, e) equal access to university life in general.
   All measures necessary for the equal access of persons with disability and persons with special educational needs in H.E.I. are contained in this plan in accordance with each H.E.I.’s needs.

2. The equal access plan for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs is approved by decision of the Governing Council on recommendation of the Equal Access Committee for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs.

Art. 43. Students Council

4. The Students Council in each H.E.I. represents the students enrolled in first, second or third cycle study programs of the H.E.I. and functions as the communication link between the students and the administrative bodies of the H.E.I. More specifically, the Students Council has the following duties:
   a) it makes recommendations to the administrative bodies of the University regarding:
   a.iv) the adoption of measures necessary to ensure equal access for the students with disability and special educational needs to the university premises and facilities, both physical and electronic, equipment, sources of information, communication as well as to the educational and research processes and activities, evaluation process, educational material, printed or electronic, and to the H.E.I.’s support services.

Art. 216. Strategic Planning Unit

2. … The duties of the Strategic Planning Unit are the following:
   b) the evaluation of development plan proposals regarding the academic and research units of the H.E.I., ……... the equal access of persons with disability and special educational needs mentioned in Art. 226 and their harmonization with the strategic plan of the H.E.I. pursuant to Art. 224,
3. The Strategic Planning Unit is staffed with members of the H.E.I.’s administrative staff with a member of the H.E.I.’s staff as its Head, whose qualifications are defined in the H.E.I.’s Organization. The duties of the Strategic Planning Unit in particular are the following:
   d) tracking the plan progress implementation:…e.ii) regarding the equal access of persons with disability and persons with special educational needs, as defined in Art. 226.

Art. 224 The Institution’s Strategic Plan

2. The strategic plan outlines each H.E.I.’s development strategy in local, national, european and international level in accordance with its particular character and its mission in every domain of its activity, such as its educational and research policy, the policy of its separate units, the educational strategy for each study cycle, lifelong learning, education and scientific training, the constant improvement of teaching and learning, enhancing the outward-looking orientation of the H.E.I. and its connection with society and economy, the development of international collaborations with other universities and institutions, innovation and improving the quality and accessibility of the academic environment. This plan contains the short-term and medium-term goals for every domain the H.E.I. wishes to develop, the actions to be undertaken and the means for the implementation thereof, such as attracting new financing tools, using the resources available to the H.E.I., upgrading the H.E.I.’s facilities and equipment and attracting highly qualified scientific personnel. The strategic plan shall include the H.E.I.’s equal access strategy for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs, the strategy concerning its digital transformation and the upgrade of the H.E.I.’s digital resources as well as its sustainable development strategy, as specified in the plans mentioned in Art. 226 to 228.

Art. 45 Higher Educational Institutions’ Websites

3. The website of each H.E.I. must be available at least in Greek and English language and comply with the accessibility standards of Art. 35 to 47 and 104 of the L. 4727/2020 (A’ 184). More specifically, the content of the websites including any textual or multimedia data attached to them must fulfill the requirements of the european standard EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08) or the european standard replacing it; in that case, the most recent version of this standard or the standard replacing it is to be applied.

Art. 210 Digital Governance Unit

The duties of the Digital Governance Unit are in particular:

xiv) to ensure the digital accessibility of the content, websites and mobile applications provided by the H.E.I.,

Art. 125 Hellenic Academic Libraries Link

1. The aim of the Hellenic Academic Libraries Link (HEAL-Link) which was established under Art. 17 of the L. 3404/2005 (A’ 260) is to spare resources and provide its members better support services in their educational and research activities. More specifically, among HEAL-Link’s objectives are the following: the coordinated enrichment of each central library’s resources, the creation of an interlibrary loan system on national level, the development of a common strategy for accessing electronic resources in order to make information sources management more efficient, the dissemination of research findings, promoting information literacy and open science, supporting open access publications, creating a collection of open access academic textbooks, adopting common standards and performance indexes regarding the services provided by central libraries and developing services aiming to meet the demands of persons with disability for accessible content and more specifically of the print-disabled users of the academic libraries.

Art. 67 Synchronous distance learning

1. Organizing the educational process by implementing methods of distant learning ensures the accessibility for persons with disability and special educational needs.

Art. 65. Exams – Students’ assessment

4. The internal rules of procedure of each H.E.I. regulate the following:
   c) the alternative methods of testing students with disability and special educational needs and
   d) provisions regarding the assessment of students who demonstrably suffer or recover from severe illness during the exam period.

Art. 69. Student Internship

10. The internship regulation is approved by decision of the Senate and constitutes a separate section of each H.E.I.’s internal rules of procedure. Issues pertaining to the coordination, function, organization, implementation, supervision and evaluation of the internship in each study program, the appointment of the Person in Charge of the internship program at H.E.I. level, his/her duties as well as the duties of the Internship Committee and the Supervisors, the rights and obligations of the students doing an internship, the collaboration with the entities offering internship positions, the internship contract template, facilitating students with disabilities and special educational needs during their internship period and any other necessary issue in relation to the internship program are regulated therein.

Art. 76. Maximum period of study and part-time study

3. Students eligible for applying for part-time study are:
   b) students with disability and special educational needs,

Art. 68. Asynchronous remote learning platform

1. Higher Educational Institutions (H.E.I.) maintain an online platform accessible to persons with disabilities through which asynchronous remote learning is delivered; this applies to every study program in all three study cycles offered by the H.E.I. Matters related to the identification of beneficiaries upon logging in, their access rights and the obligations of students and members of the teaching staff are regulated in each H.E.I.’s internal rules of procedure.
2. Educational material can be uploaded in the aforementioned platform for each module; this educational material may consist of notes, presentations, exercises, key to the exercises, video-recorded sessions as long as personal data protection legislation in force is upheld. Educational material in whichever form is solely provided for educational use by the students and is protected under L. 2020/1993 (A’ 25) as long as the relevant requirements are fulfilled.

Art. 60 University Museums – Establishing Process – Purpose

4. For the foundation of a university museum on the premises of a H.E.I. the following requirements must be met:
   iv) documentation of the suitability and efficiency of the buildings or spaces for the foundation of a university museum in relation also to the specific functions these buildings and spaces perform (as spaces of the museum) along with the accessibility of physical and digital infrastructure and services it offers to its staff and visitors with disabilities,

Art. 237 Financial Management

7. The distribution of the total annual revenue of the SARG originating from its own resources and as of 31 December of the previous fiscal year pursuant to Art. 230 is determined after decision of the Governing Council on recommendation of the Research Committee in accordance with the certificate mentioned in paragraph 6 in order to cover educational, research and operational needs of the H.E.I. The amount allocated to the budget of the H.E.I. is subtracted from the total annual revenue, according to paragraph 5. The rest is allocated to the SARG for the purpose of financing projects/programs whose scope is the commitment of expenditure for the purpose of:
   e) implementing actions proposed in each H.E.I.’s strategic plan, in the digital transformation plan of the H.E.I. as specified in Art. 227, the sustainable development plan as specified in Art. 228 and the equal access plan for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs as specified in Art. 226.

Art. 242 Process for using the SARG’s cash assets

1. SARG’s cash assets (reserves) may be used after decision of the Governing Council on recommendation of the Research Committee in order to finance project/programs whose scope is the commitment of expenditure for the purpose of:
   d) implementing actions proposed in the equal access plan for persons with disability and persons with special educational needs as specified in Art. 226, the digital transformation plan of the H.E.I., as specified in Art. 227, and the sustainable development plan, as specified in Art. 228,

Art. 115 Council of the Centre for Continuing Education and Life-long Learning

The Council of the Centre for Continuing Education and Life-long Learning (CCELL) has the following duties:

iii) it appoints expert committees for improving the quality, accessibility and efficacy of the programs offered by the CCELL and their interconnection with the demands of the labour market,

ix) it periodically evaluates the educational programs offered by the CCELL regarding their accessibility, sustainability and feasibility,

xiv) it ensures that the educational programs offered by the CCELL are physically and electronically accessible to persons with disability and special educational needs,

Art. 177. Disciplinary Offences

2. More specifically, any infringement of legal regulation referring to teaching, research, internal organization, financial management and function of the H.E.I., his/her capacity and status as a member constitutes disciplinary offence and in particular:
   viii) any violation of the principle of equality, equal chances and gender equality in labour and employment, according to L. 3896/2010 (A’ 207), any violation of the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, descent, religious or other beliefs, disability or chronic disease, age, marital or social status, sexual orientation, gender identity or characteristics, according to L. 4443/2016 (A’ 232, with correction in A’ 32), the use of gender discriminatory language along with exercising any form of violence and abuse in the workplace, according to L. 4808/2021 (A’ 101), when fulfilling one’s duties,
   ix) behaviors and acts against one’s sexual freedom or against the sexual dignity of a third person or any act of financial exploitation of a person’s sexual life, sexual harassment along with performing illegal discriminatory acts on the basis of sex, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, descent, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or characteristics,

Art. 207 Safety and Protection Unit

2. The mission of the Safety and Protection Unit is to implement and evaluate the policy and the measures taken regarding the security and protection within the H.E.I.’s premises with the aim of ensuring that the educational, research, administrative and other activities of the H.E.I. take place ordinarily and uninterrupted; it also supports the Safety and Protection Committee of the H.E.I. while performing its duties.
   More specifically, the Safety and Protection Unit of each H.E.I. is responsible for:
   x) preparing security, notification and evacuation plans for persons with disability concerning the H.E.I. premises, in case of emergency situations,

Art. 434 Empowering Provisions of Chapter XXV

The Ethics Committee mentioned in Art. 217, the Gender Equality and Non-discrimination Committee mentioned in Art. 218, the Safety and Protection Committee mentioned in Art. 219, the Equal Access Committee for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs mentioned in Art. 220, the Digital Governance Committee mentioned in Art. 221 and the Technology Transfer, Innovation and Start-ups Committee mentioned in Art. 222 are appointed by decision of the Governing Council of the Higher Educational Institution (H.E.I.).

Art. 471 Transitional Provisions of Chapter XXV

2. The Equal Access Committee for Persons with Disability and Persons with Special Educational Needs and the Transfer, Innovation and Start-ups Committee pursuant to Art. 220 and 222 respectively are to be appointed within three (3) months after the entry into force of this law.