If you come by car, drive in the direction of Uni Mitte/visitor car park and turn left directly behind the Infopoint. You will find two barrier-free parking spaces to the left of the bus stop in front of the "Besucherparkplatz" barrier. Here you will also find the barrier-free lift to the central level, where the University Library is located.

You can reach us by public transport on the U35 underground line ("Campuslinie"), "Ruhr-Universität" stop. The lift will take you to the university library level.

Access to the library is possible via the two revolving doors (button to slow down the revolving speed) or via the barrier-free entrance next to the left-hand revolving door.

 

Do you want to lock up your rucksack? Some accessible lockers are reserved on level 0. You can obtain the keys at the information/service desk.

The accessible toilets is located on level 1. You can obtain the Euro key at the information/service desk.

Lifts for the disabled (blue lifts) with voice announcements and Braille are available on level 0.

You can also find information about our building in our digital guidance system with accessible view ( see Service areas - Disability Support).

We can help you with catalogue and literature searches, interlibrary loan requests, etc. We can also retrieve books and media from hard-to-reach shelves or stacks at the University Library and from departmental libraries on campus.

Disabled and chronically ill users can receive special conditions for the lending period on presentation of their disability card.

For users with visual impairments, we can produce accessible scans on request.

Several barrier-free workstations are available in the University Library.

On level 0 (behind the information/service desk) and level 2/area 2 there is a visually impaired workstation (height-adjustable, some with special functions for users with visual impairments, scanner).

You will also find a number of height-adjustable desks in our building, as well as other workstations with special equipment:

Level 0

• Vocatex in the closed reading room (font enlargement and reading aloud in over 30 languages)
• 2 height-adjustable tables in group study room no. 7 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
• 2 height-adjustable tables in group study room no. 8/ DH Space (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)

Level 1

• 1 height-adjustable table in group study room no. 1 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
• 1 height-adjustable table in group study room no. 9 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
• 1 height-adjustable table in group study room no. 31 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)
• 2 height-adjustable tables in area 2 (min. height: 72 cm, max. height: 128.5 cm)

Level 2

• 4 height-adjustable desks in area 2 (min. height: 72, max. height: 105)
• 2 of the height-adjustable workstations in area 2 equipped with a camera
• 1 workstation for people with impaired vision in area 2

Two workstations with extensive technical equipment especially for users with a visual impairment can be found on level 0 and on level 2/area 2. You can use these during the entire opening hours of the University Library.

The equipment includes height-adjustable tables, visually impaired-friendly table lamps for optimum illumination, 24-inch monitors as well as a document camera, a headphone socket, a USB slot and a socket for any additional devices you bring with you. Headphones for using the workstations are available at the information/service desk on the ground floor of the University Library.

The computers are equipped with a capital letter keyboard, an Office package, the JAWS software, which displays the screen information in voice form, and the ZoomText magnification software. You can use a scanner to convert documents into a text file, which is then read out to you.

The VOCATEX screen reader is also located behind the information/service counter on level 0. Books, magazines etc. can be read in here, enlarged on a 27-inch monitor and also read aloud on request

The integrated voice output of the Vocatex device is based on text recognition and can be started at the touch of a button. The texts are read aloud in the language of the publication in question. There are a total of 31 different language settings. It is possible to move the document while it is being read aloud.

The device recognizes the current word after a short time and marks the reading position. An integrated "ticker" makes individual words appear very large for reading along.

The Beratungszentrum zur Inklusion Behinderter (BZI) (Studierendenhaus I ground floor, Tel. 0234 32 11530, e-mail: bzi@akafoe.de) is open to all disabled and chronically ill RUB students. Here you will find, among other things, computers with reading and input aids and a braille printer. You can also get advice on organizing and managing your studies and on general problems such as claiming social benefits.

Lecturers and professors at Bochum's universities can have their seminar materials and lecture notes translated into Braille by the BZI's Braille Print Service. Printed or digital texts simply need to be submitted in good time for processing. The service is free of charge. If your academic teacher is not yet aware of this service, please contact him/her.

The Schwerbehindertenvertretung SBV (in FNO 02/18, Tel. 0234 32 28532, e-mail: sbv@ruhr-uni-bochum.de) is a point of contact for RUB employees with disabilities who have questions, e.g. about setting up their workplace.

We report our holdings of academic audio books to the special catalogue SehKOn (= online catalogue of the Dortmund University Library for the visually impaired). We can also use this database to find and order items from other libraries (e.g. academic audio books).

Members of Ruhr-Universität Bochum can also make use of TU Dortmund University's translation service, depending on availability. Further information can be found on the website "Service for the Blind and Visually Impaired" (SfBS).