The Department of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) is pleased to announce that it has been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021–2024, for being continuously innovative in learning, teaching, and providing an excellent educational environment for Students of Determination at Zayed University.
Apple Distinguished Schools are centers of innovation, leadership, and educational excellence. They use Apple technology to inspire creativity, collaboration and critical thinking, and have documented results of academic accomplishment.
This announcement marks Zayed University’s third Apple Distinguished School recognition; empowering Students of Determination not only with Apple technology, but also with assistive technology, apps and accessibility features to pursue their education.
Prof. Clayton Mackenzie, Zayed University Provost, said: “The selection of the Department of Student Accessibility Services as an Apple Distinguished School highlights our success as an innovative and compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence to our overall academic and operational accomplishments.”
Fatma Al-Qassimi, Director of the Student Accessibility Services Department, said: “SAS has excelled since its last application in 2018 and worked on scaling-up innovative technology practices and solutions to support Students of Determination and integrate impact-oriented interventions to show students’ progress.” She continues, “SAS is a pioneering entity in the higher education sector in the region because it follows a comprehensive approach in designing educational plans for each student to achieve their learning potentials and to be empowered to become independent learners through technology.”
Zayed University has a unique and distinguished experience in implementing the most progressive technologies to enable Students of Determination, which includes students with physical disabilities and learning difficulties to complete their studies and make meaningful contributions to their local community and to the UAE society.
Currently, SAS provides accessibility support in the UAE and the GCC region. This outreach includes delivering training to educators,students, and parents. The training is focused on creating and consuming accessible content using Apple technology.
