Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥

Accessibility and individual services

General information about the services and costs

The Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ deems it important that students' needs for accessibility and individual services are accommodated at the university as far as possible. The university is committed to developing its learning environments and practices according accessible education. 

In regards to Finnish students with disabilities, their home municipality is in charge of services such as personal assistants, transportation services, as well as interpretation and translation services. This does not cover international students, and universities have no allowances for individual services.

The university also hires student tutors (students of our university) to assist all international students in practical matters in the beginning of their stay. However, a tutor cannot be compared to a personal assistant, and one tutor usually tutors 5-6 students at the same time. Please see below for information on how to hire a personal assistant.

Grants for Erasmus / Nordplus students

Some student exchange programmes (for instance Erasmus and Nordplus) include a possibility of obtaining accessibility grants. Please contact the Erasmus / Nordplus coordinator of your home university for further information. Information for Erasmus students is also available on the  website.

If you come to our university through an exchange programme other than Erasmus or Nordplus, please inquire about the possibilities for an accessibility grant from your home university.

Accommodation

International students registered at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ can apply for housing from KOAS or Soihtu student housing units where a few tailored rooms are available for students with mobility impairments. The student apartments are located approximately 2.5-4 kilometres from the Main Campus and the city centre. If you have special requests concerning accommodation, please inform the student housing provider or, if you are an exchange student, the International Office about them and apply for accommodation as early as possible before your arrival.

Physical accessibility

The university buildings and units are situated on three different campus areas. Accessibility has been taken quite well into consideration in the buildings in Mattilanniemi, Ylistönrinne, and buildings of the Agora and Ruusupuisto.

The older university buildings have been repaired to provide easy access for all users (i.e. the buildings include an elevator or an appropriate slide). These buildings include Historica (H), Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences (L), building A, Musica (M), Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication in building Oppio (O), building (T), YTHS, Student Union building (Yo-talo) and Seminarium building (S).

The F building does not provide easy access for all users. Some of the toilets in the older university buildings are quite difficult to access because of their small size.

Please inform your faculty or, if you are an exchange student, the International Office and the faculty-level coordinator at JYU before your arrival about your needs to guarantee easy access to all lecture rooms. If the notification is received early enough the lecture room can be changed. If you want to take language courses from the Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication, you should notify the Centre already approximately one month before the beginning of the semester, to guarantee an easy access, if possible.

Campus area map

Accessible learning environments

A few lecture halls at the university are equipped with an induction loop for students using a hearing aid. In addition, a WLAN network is in operation in most of the university buildings.

Information on the WLAN coverage of the university

Celia is a specialist library in Finland providing literature for the visually impaired and those with other print disabilities. University course books can be borrowed from Celia free of charge. Books available include talking books, Braille and/or e-books.

Please note however, that the collections of Celia do not include all the course books used at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥. Celia can also acquire new books according to students' needs, if they receive the request 2-3 months prior to the time that the book is needed.

Studying and individual arrangements

Individual arrangements are solutions related to teaching, guidance, exams and/or studies that promote the smooth running of studies. The most common arrangements are extra time for exams or submission of learning assignments and receiving lecture materials in advance. Individual arrangements never influence or override assessment in the curriculum.

If you need individual arrangements, please contact your unit's educational coordinator or Heta Orrain, Student Well-being Specialist. You can also contact and ask more: opintojarjestelyt@jyu.fi . A medical certificate or an expert's opinion is required to justify the arrangements. 

Applying for individual study arrangements

Get a recommendation for individual study arrangements at DROP IN events (without an appointment) at Student Life premises (Library Lähde, B214):

Mon 13.1.2025 at 12.15-16.00

Mon 3.2.2025 at 12.15-16.00

Mon 3.3.2025 at 12.15-16.00

Mon 7.4.2025 at 12.15-16.00

Mon 5.5.2025 at 12.15-16.00

In a meeting of individual arrangements, the Student Well-being Specialist will consider with you what kind of arrangements you need to advance your studies. 

You will receive a written recommendation of the agreed individual arrangements. The recommendation is signed by you and a student well-being specialist through the JYUSign service. The recommendation is valid for for your studies at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥.

All discussions are confidential and the student decides how and to whom information on the recommendation is delivered.

Please prepare for the meeting:

You need to show a certificate from a doctor or other expert (may be a copy of a paper or you can show a certificate from a phone/computer). Without certificate, it is not possible to get a recommendation.

Other ways to get a individual recommendation:

2. The experts of enhanced Wellbeing Support also frame individual arrangements for students of enhanced guidance in connection with the guidance meetings. In this case, you do not have to come to DROP IN events.

For KYC-students, recommendations for individual arrangements are made via TEAMS. KYC-student, contact: opintojarjestelyt@jyu.fi

NOTE! You can get a recommendation via TEAMS for very heavy reasons only (for example, you live very far away from Jyväskylä, your health condition prevents you from arriving to DROP IN events).

Support for the use of Sisu

If you cannot use Sisu because of accessibility issues (visual impairment), please contact your accessibility contact person for the subject. The accessibility coordinator and your education coordinator help you in making a study plan and registering yourself for the courses. The appointment can take place in person or through remote connections. You don’t need any medical certificate in order to receive special support for the use of Sisu.

Transportation and moving around

Some of the local buses are accessible with a wheelchair, but it may be difficult to know beforehand which shift is driven with such a bus. Therefore it is recommended that persons using a wheelchair use a taxi or the  provided by the City of Jyväskylä for transportation in the Jyväskylä area. The service transport service costs the standard bus fare and a taxi costs around 14 euros for a 5 kilometres trip during the daytime. An additional fee of approximately 14 euros per trip may be charged if the taxi driver is needed to assist the traveler for example in entering a building.

Personal assistance

The costs of hiring a personal assistant are reimbursed by the student's home municipality if the student is a permanent resident of Finland. Students who are not permanent residents of Finland must cover the costs of hiring a personal assistant themselves.

Parking

There are accessible parking places reserved for persons with disabilities on campus. You need to apply for from the local police.

Special diets

Campus area restaurants offer different lunch options. For example, vegan and gluten-free options are available daily. You can always ask the staff for more information. The menus for the campus area restaurants of   and  can be found on the internet. Most student restaurants provide easy access to students with mobility impairments, except for the restaurant Lozzi (building P).