The promise of accessibility: Reconceptualizing college access for students with disabilities

Abstract

In this paper, we critically explore college access through the lens of accessibility. We contend that as higher education shifts to address the critical issues related to access, equity, and diversity for underserved students, students with disabilities are often absent from the conversation. Through in-depth interviews with disability services administrators, we examine how they adapt institutional practices and embed strategies to make the promise of equal educational opportunity for all possible. The efforts of these disability services administrators provide insight into how students with disabilities are given voice, can achieve academic success, and begins to shape a new definition of college access