Find a Coach

Since the spring semester 2025 accessibility-coaches (aCoaches) have been trained in the module "Start! Coaching Accessibility", which is offered by the Institute of Education and the Department of Computational Linguistics via the School for Transdisciplinary Studies.

After completing the module, students have the following knowledge and skills:

• Creation of barrier-free or adaptation of existing teaching and learning materials (e.g. PowerPoint slides, Word or PDF documents), including the formulation of alternative texts for images, illustrations, videos, etc.
• Information and advice for teaching staff regarding the consideration of specific needs of students with an impairment that makes studying difficult in courses
• Setting up physical or virtual rooms to meet the needs of students with an impairment that make studying difficult
• Clarification of the access options and spatial conditions of the allocated event rooms and assistance in organizing alternative rooms
• Providing of information for students with e.g. a mobility disability about the classrooms and how to get there
• Use of technical tools to support lecturers in designing accessible online or on-site teaching
• Support in the follow-up of courses, e.g. by creating transcripts for the slides or editing automatic transcripts and podcast recordings 

All UZH teaching staff who are interested in making their teaching more accessible can apply for an aCoach. Here you can view the profiles of students who have successfully completed the aCoach training.

Step 1: Contact a coach with a profile that appeals to you. Your cover letter should include the following information: Why do you need an accessbility coach? What teaching-related challenge are you facing?  To what extent (approximately) do you need the coach's support? (e.g. estimated number of hours during the employment, should the person be on site in your course or are there fixed time slots in which a podcast/slides have to be prepared or post-edited?)    

Step 2: If you have found a coach with whom you would like to work, we would be pleased to receive a message from you. This message should contain information about your motivation for hiring a coach and the estimated amount of support you require. We will review your request as quickly as possible and inform you of the next steps. Contact: info@ulf.uzh.ch 

aCoaches support teachers at UZH with their knowledge and skills in the didactic and technical design and implementation of barrier-free teaching/learning settings. These are generally subject-independent skills. Nevertheless, the personal motivation of the coaches and a match between subject-specific knowledge and individual strengths and interests (e.g., use of digital tools to design teaching materials or didactic skills from the module in combination with other Start! modules) play a major role in choosing the right coach.

aCoaches are not specialist tutors who support you with literature research or preparing the content of your course. Likewise, ULF-funded coaches may not be involved in research projects at your institute/chair or for your qualification thesis.  

aCoaches can be hired for either 30 or 60 hours. This corresponds to a half or a full tutorial. If your needs differ significantly from our offer, please contact info@ulf.uzh.ch