UAB promotes itself as an accessible campus, but several students say that promise falls short in everyday reality.
Accessibility is not just about meeting requirements. It’s about making sure every student can move through campus with dignity, independence, and equal opportunity. UAB has made progress, but there is still work to be done.
Long ramps, slow elevators, and limited alternatives to stairs are obstacles that make getting to class physically draining and time-consuming.
Zoya Aleezada, a freshman biology major who experiences chronic pain, said that while stairs are challenging with their condition, the ramp designs create a difficult tradeoff. The ramp near University Hall is one example: it provides necessary wheelchair access, but at the cost of added distance and physical strain.
“It’s hard to go up the stairs when I have chronic pain,” Aleezada said, “and the ramps are very long, so it takes time to reach there.”
Although ramps are built to meet ADA slope requirements for safety, the extended distance can increase travel time and fatigue for students like Aleezada with limited stamina or pain-related conditions. Accessibility should not come with added hardship.
University officials say accessibility efforts depend on coordination across departments. Allison Solomon, director of UAB Disability Support Services, said the work involves collaboration with multiple campus partners.
“In pursuit of this objective, the department works in close coordination with UAB Facilities—including Campus Operations and Maintenance, as well as Planning, Design, and Construction—and the ADA Compliance Subcommittee,” Solomon said.
At the student level, accommodations are determined through an individualized process based on documented needs. These may include priority registration, ergonomic seating, assistive technology, alternative-format course materials, access to BlazeRide, and ADA-accessible housing. While these resources are essential, they cannot substitute for a campus environment that is inherently accessible by design.
Elevators present another challenge, especially in high-traffic academic buildings. Crowded elevators create bottlenecks between class periods, which requires waiting through multiple elevator cycles to find space. Jenna Wang, a junior immunology major, said these elevator delays sometimes make it difficult to get to class.
“The elevators are slow, especially in Heritage Hall and Campbell Hall, and it’s hard because a lot of people can’t take the stairs,” Wang said.
Accessibility challenges extend beyond individual buildings. Navigating campus often requires careful route planning to avoid stairs, uneven terrain, or long detours to accessible entrances. When essential accessibility features are inefficient, they stop being accommodations and start becoming barriers.
Lucas Donald, a senior in kinesiology, said clearer signage and improved routes could make a difference.
“They should definitely have more signage of accessibility routes and make the ramps easier to travel on,” Donald said.
As UAB continues to grow, improvements such as faster elevator service, clearer accessible route signage, and rest areas along long ramps could make daily navigation more manageable.
