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Inclusion in Information Systems (IS) has received significant attention in recent years, but inclusion in IS curriculum design and delivery is comparatively underdeveloped. Understanding and working with diversity in IS student groups has implications for how we prepare students for a diverse workplace and the design and development of IS systems. Although progress has been made towards inclusive higher education, institutions have not transformed into multicultural diverse organizations. This paper showcases an initiative to apply principles of Universal Design in the particular context of an IS postgraduate programme in a leading Irish business school. This initiative is set within the context of two connected research projects seeking to identify barriers to inclusion experienced by students generally, and particularly by certain student groups, in the same school. The findings demonstrate the persistence of inclusion issues in higher education, including in IS, that Universal Design principles are effective in developing more inclusive teaching and learning practices, and that small actions can have a big impact in this regard. A set of key recommendations is provided; while not exhaustive, these contribute to the wider discourse on inclusion and offer practical suggestions to educators on the design and delivery of inclusive programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Ireland ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2018. However, the CRPD's provisions on inclusive education have not been widely considered in relation to Irish third level education. This article outlines the findings from two research projects that examined the experiences of students with disabilities at one Irish university. It begins by considering the scope of inclusive education in the CRPD, addressing this through the prism of two cross-cutting rights, accessibility and reasonable accommodation. It outlines the Irish legislative context, identifying significant gaps between existing legal provisions and Ireland's CRPD obligations. It then explores the practical realisation of inclusive education at the case study university. The article argues that accessibility in the CRPD is broader than both Irish legislative requirements and the general institutional understanding. Noting that students face significant difficulties accessing effective reasonable accommodations in practice, the paper contends that this may be partly attributable to the silo-ing of institutional knowledge and the lack of a 'whole educational environment' approach, as well as attitudinal barriers. These impediments prevent the full and equal participation of students with disabilities in tertiary education. The paper then draws on the CRPD to offer suggestions for enhancing inclusive practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first international human rights convention to state expressly that discrimination includes the failure to provide reasonable accommodation. The duty has been described as transformative but has also been critiqued for its lack of structural impact. This paper evaluates the transformative potential of the reasonable accommodation duty encompassed by the Convention, and considers how its potential can be realised. It argues that the duty is transformative because of the substantive equality it provides for individuals, and because it requires both active engagement with persons with disabilities and proactive consideration of barriers to inclusion, in multiple contexts. However, it contends that full realisation of the duty's transformative potential depends on appropriate legislative formulation. This may be a problem in dualist states where application of the Convention is not automatic and pre-existing legislation may be perceived as satisfying the obligation. The paper supports this contention with an analysis of Irish law, arguing that the full transformative potential of the reasonable accommodation duty has not yet been achieved in Ireland, and identifying the reasons for this. The paper examines the practical consequences of inadequate implementation and highlights pitfalls and best practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]