Educational approach | Accessible templates

The ECIO Frank Award election is one of the initiatives where student input is the focus. Experiential involvement is an important part of inclusive education.

Since 2019, the ECIO Frank Awards have been highlighting top ideas from students by experience. With the prize money of 1,000 euros, they are given the opportunity to develop their vision to make their educational institution (even) more inclusive. With this award, ECIO recognizes the extra effort, work and motivation that students with support needs provide on a daily basis. Especially when they are committed to their fellow students or make a direct contribution to inclusivity at their educational institution.

“This award is an appreciation of their inspiring dedication.” – Ellen van Veen (advisor ECIO)

Realization of accessible templates for teachers and students

2022 TU Delft student Marissa van der Tol won the ECIO Frank Award with her top idea of accessible templates for teachers and students with support needs. For this, she received a cash prize of 1,000 euros. The Executive Board of TU Delft thought Marissa’s idea was so important that they doubled the amount they won. This made the project a real priority. With 2000 euros Marissa could get to work implementing her idea.

“For the templates, I work with the communications department. Together we decided to use the prize money for promotion and a manual for teachers.” – Marissa

Student Unlimited platform involvement

Marissa has been on maternity leave for the past few months, but the templates project remained active. A meeting and a needs assessment via group chat were used to gather input on areas for improvement. A colleague from Student Unlimited used the input obtained to compile a report with findings and recommendations. Among other things, it revealed that students prefer a black font on a colored background over a white font on a black or colored background. “An outside agency worked on the templates over the summer break. We recently gave feedback on those, but I can already say that we are very happy with the result. Soon I will meet again with the communications department to discuss the next steps,” Marissa said.

“Ideally, we would like to allow teachers to share their slides with us so that we can make them accessible to them. This will probably require more budget. Once the templates are ready, we want to pay attention to communicating to the outside world, for example in university magazines and on social media. We also want to share a public version with everyone. That way other schools can benefit from this as well.”

Impact ECIO Frank Award: realization, inspiration and influence

Winning the ECIO Frank Award made the task of creating accessible templates a priority. Within the platform Student Unlimited, it is a unique opportunity to better connect with the communication department of TU Delft. This has expanded our network and allows us to work better on making sure TU Delft is more accessible.

I have noticed that teachers within my program are aware that I won the ECIO Frank Award and that this has made them think about their own teaching materials. Within the university much attention has been paid to winning the award with thanks also to the student deans who spread this news.”

In addition to helping her realize the templates, winning the ECIO Frank Award helped Marissa realize a larger network. “Doors that used to be closed open to you when you have an award to your name,” she said.