Collecting Disability Information ♿

Is it your University's policy to collect and store Disability information in Student CRM?

If so, it can be collected in any of your Data Harvesting web forms (Enquiry, Prospectus Request, Mobile Event Capture, Open Day booking form, etc).

In any of your Data Harvesting web forms, the student answers the question: 'Do you have a disability?':

Please select 0 - No known disability 2 - Blind/partially sighted 3 - Deaf/hearing impairment 4 - Wheelchair user/mobility difficulties 5 - Personal care support 6 - Mental health difficulties 7 - An unseen disability, e.g. diabetes, epilepsy, asthma 8 - Two or more impairments and/or disabling medical conditions 10 - Autistic Spectrum Disorder 11 - A specific learning difficulty e.g. dyslexia 51 - A specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or AD(H)D 53 - A social/communication impairment such as Asperger's syndrome/other autistic spectrum disorder 54 - A long standing illness or health condition such as cancer, HIV, diabetes, chronic heart disease, or epilepsy 55 - A mental health condition, such as depression, schizophrenia or anxiety disorder 56 - A physical impairment or mobility issues, such as difficulty using arms or using a wheelchair or crutches 57 - Deaf or a serious hearing impairment 58 - Blind or a serious visual impairment uncorrected by glasses 96 - A disability, impairment or medical condition that is not listed above 97 - Rather not say

Each one returns a numeric code from 0 to 98, and that code can be stored both in the activity (ie a Prospectus Request) and also on the Student Record Card, eg:

10 - Autistic Spectrum Disorder

In fact there are a few extra 'system' codes as well, but these are not student-facing:

98 - Information not sought
99 - Not known

Where does this list comes from?

It is the list of codes that HESA uses.

With the introduction of the Disability Equality Duty, and on the recommendation of the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU), HESA has introduced a version of the coding frame introduced by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).

Why might we want to collect it at this stage?

The information is collected to permit disability-based analysis; for monitoring levels and trends in participation by particular groups of people; to monitor take-up of Disabled Students' Allowance as Disabled Students' Allowance is now not means tested; to support the allocation for disability premium; to permit analysis based on type of disability.

NB: Some forms currently collect a simple 'yes/no' answer to the question: 'Would you like more info on disability?' This can then be used to send back more info to those who answer 'yes' by using the conditional text in the touchpoint template. Sometimes this information is used to discuss the specific requirements (ie: access to an event) with the student before they arrive.