Few are willing to step outside their comfort zones, but University of Pretoria students did just that, embracing blindfolds and wheelchairs to truly understand life from the perspective of those living with disabilities.
Pretoria, South Africa (02 October 2025) – Not everyone is willing to put themselves in the shoes of someone else, especially if it means voluntarily removing themselves from their everyday comforts and privileges. But this isn’t to be said for the students of the University of Pretoria who traded their sight for blindfolds, their hearing for ear muffs and exchanged their ability to walk freely for wheelchairs.
To mark the South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind’s 3rd annual Disability Walk, over 100 students joined the initiative to experience life with a disability.
Guided by the Association’s dogs and instructors, the UP students gained first-hand insight into the importance of accessibility and inclusion.
The initiative was led by the Faculty of Law, with the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and IT joining this year.
The eager students stepped into the shoes of people with disabilities through an immersive simulation on campus. Blindfolded students were guided by the guide dogs and Orientation and Mobility Instructors, others used wheelchairs supported by Service Dogs, and some experienced hearing loss or learned human guiding techniques.
The greater purpose of the initiative was to help future professionals gain a deeper understanding and perspective on accessibility and inclusion.
Professor Grobler Du Plessis from the Department of Public Law at the Law Faculty at UP said that this was a way in which students got to experience accessibility issues surrounding disability.
“It is so important for us from a legal perspective to understand accessibility and the right to access, to buildings and infrastructure because that is usually where discrimination takes place. This is a wonderful way in which we [combine] law and accessibility and get to physically experiencing it with the South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind,” Grobler Du Plessis said.
Sources: South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind
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