Accessibility

Hamilton College is committed to fostering a community where all individuals, without exception, feel valued, empowered, and treated fairly.

Campus Buildings and Grounds

Hamilton values accessibility as one of many forms of inclusivity and routinely makes accessibility improvements across campus, particularly with every major renovation.

Throughout the last several years, the College has partnered with experienced consultants to assess general accessibility for the majority of campus buildings and grounds. These studies are a critical tool in evaluating, prioritizing, and executing future upgrades as part of our sustained investment strategy towards a universally accessible campus. A landscape master planning effort is actively underway and will focus on creating and enhancing accessible connections across campus, while a 2019 study focused on accessible interior spaces. In total, more than 50 buildings supporting academics, student life, and athletics were surveyed.

Current Projects

Campus accessibility improvements are already being achieved through planned renovations like the Root Hall renovation, where ongoing efforts will result in a modern facility with an elevator, accessible approaches and entrances, better interior circulation, accessible restrooms, and more. Hamilton also has recently invested in accessibility upgrades at Morris House, Wallace Johnson Hall, 20 College Hill Road, and List, to name a few.

The College has also committed to budgeting $500,000 each year for accessibility-related projects moving forward. A phased approach is required to systematically target accessibility improvements due to the enormous scale and complexity of retrofitting our historic campus.

Current near-term projects, planned to be completed by the fall 2023 semester, include:

Soper Commons Dining Hall

Installing new entrance doors and adding a door operator to the entry vestibule; providing accessible signage and wayfinding; renovating bathrooms; addressing reach range and counter heights at food services; and changing door hardware

McEwen Dining Hall

Similar scope to Commons, plus installation of an elevator

Burke Library

Renovating bathrooms, providing signage/wayfinding, and modifying obstacles (e.g., water fountains) to improve movement through spaces

Wellin Museum of Art

Adding a door operator to the entry vestibule

Website and Digital Communications

The College's commitment to accessibility extends to the College’s website and other digital content and communications. We strive to ensure that our web and digital content is accessible for all users. The College follows the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), an international standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

If you encounter accessibility challenges with Hamilton’s website or digital content, please email Communications & Marketing at emedia@hamilton.edu so we can remediate the issue and determine an appropriate accommodation to ensure you obtain the information you want or need.

Accessibility Services for Students

Information about Accessibility Services for students can be found on the Dean of Students website.