From Individual Accommodations to Universal Design - Mapping Accessibility and Inclusive Practices at AGH University of Krakow

The increasing diversity of student populations in higher education highlights the need for more systematic approaches to accessibility and inclusion. Despite growing institutional efforts, accessibility practices often remain fragmented and insufficiently documented, limiting their usefulness for evidence-based decision-making and institutional learning. This paper addresses this gap by analysing accessibility and inclusive practices at AGH University of Krakow over a five-year period. The study is grounded in the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which conceptualises accessibility as an integrated element of educational design rather than an additional form of support, and in broader perspectives on inclusion that emphasise systemic responsibility in higher education. A retrospective longitudinal approach was applied using institutional records from the AGH Accessibility Centre. The dataset comprised 218 observations of individual accommodation packages granted to students with disabilities and other specific educational needs between 2022 and 2026. The figure of 218 cases does not refer to the total number of students with disabilities or special educational needs enrolled at the university during the study period. Rather, it represents the number of formally approved individual accommodation packages that met the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. Accommodations were classified into 21 categories and analysed using Accessibility Practice Mapping (APM), combining document analysis and Social Network Analysis (SNA) to identify patterns, relationships, and changes in accessibility practices over time. The study develops a structured taxonomy of accessibility and inclusion practices, integrating institutional-level strategies with individual academic accommodations. The taxonomy supports consistent categorisation and comparison across time. The analysis is organised into three areas: pedagogical adaptations, individual academic accommodations, and organisational mechanisms supporting accessibility and inclusion. This framework reflects Universal Design principles at the institutional level and enables systematic mapping of inclusive practices over time. The analysis shows that accessibility practices at AGH remain centred on individual accommodations, particularly extended examination time, alternative methods of note-taking, and assistive technologies, which occupied the most central positions within the accommodation network. At the same time, the growing importance of assistive technologies and digitally supported solutions suggests a gradual shift toward more systemic and proactive approaches aligned with Universal Design principles. The study contributes a transferable analytical framework, offers a longitudinal perspective on inclusive education within a single institution and highlights the links between Universal Design and the digital transformation of higher education.