The Ministry (Minister) of Science and Higher Education undertakes to ensure the accessibility of its website in accordance with the Act of 4 April 2019 on the Digital Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Entities.

The accessibility declaration refers to the website https://compass-info.pl.

Accessibility requests and complaints handling

If, in response to your request for digital accessibility, we refuse to provide the digital access you requested and you do not agree with our decision, you have the right to lodge a complaint.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint if you do not agree to use the alternative access method we have offered you in response to your request for provision of digital access.

You can lodge a complaint by post or e-mail writing to the management at our office:

• Piotr Zieliński,
• Adress: ul. Wspólna 1/3,00-529 Warszawa,
• email: pomoc@mnisw.gov.pl.

More useful information can be found on the gov.pl government portal. gov.pl.

MYou can also notify the Commissioner for Human Rights of this situation and ask them to intervene on your behalf.

Architectural accessibility

Ministry of Science and Higher Education, ul. Wspólna, 1/3, 00-529 Warsaw

The Ministry building is located in the very centre of Warsaw, in Śródmieście district, surrounded by the following streets: Wspólna, Krucza, Hoża and Plac Trzech Krzyży. You can get to the Ministry building by car or by public transport: by M1 underground line (Centrum station), by tram (Krucza 05 and 06, and Hoża 03 and 04 stops) or by bus (stops: Plac Trzech Krzyży 03 and 52, Krucza 01 and 02 or Wspólna 01 and 02).

There are 3 entrances to the building. The main entrance to the building is located at ul. Hoża, 20 and two entrances to the building are located at ul. Wspólna. The main entrance is intended for visitors. The entrance is adapted for use by disabled people moving by wheelchair.

The reception is located in the lobby opposite the main entrance to the building. In order to enable the deaf wearing hearing aids to receive sound through T-coil, the reception has been equipped with an audio-induction loop. The reception is located opposite the entrance door and has a desk allowing for comfortable service of visitors in wheelchairs. To the left of the entrance, there is a cloakroom. To the right, there is a waiting room for visitors and other people waiting to be served, with a water dispenser fitted.

In the lobby, above the reception desk, there are contrast digital information boards, mounted at a height that allows wheelchair users or people of modest height to read the information. Further access to the building is protected by security gates through which wheelchair users can pass. Visitors and other persons visiting the Ministry can move around the building, assisted by a security staff member or the employee of the department/office handling a given matter.

There are 4 lifts in the building, modified to make them accessible for disabled people, wheelchair users and the blind; floor selection buttons are illuminated in contrasting colours and marked with raised dots for blind persons (Braille alphabet). The cabins emit audio announcements for each floor, when opening and closing the door, and are equipped with fold-down seats. All of the corridors and rooms on all the floors of the building, i.e. on the ground floor and on floors I – V, are wheelchair-accessible. Thresholds linking the corridor with offices are level with the floor. In exceptional cases, the height of the threshold is compliant with current regulations and does not exceed 2 cm. The thresholds are colour coded.

There are two vertical communication routes (staircases) on the right and left sides of the building. The steps (first and last) of the staircases are marked with yellow warning stripes. Staircase handrails are marked with raised dots for blind persons (Braille alphabet), informing the blind, moving in an unfamiliar environment, where the staircases lead. The central banister which runs in an uninterrupted line serves as an escape route for blind persons, whilst the outer handrail with a discontinuous run serves as a communication route for these people.

The toilet for disabled people is located on the ground floor, in the wing on the right side of the building (east side of the building). It has an emergency button enabling users to call for help and a raised toilet seat with armrests enabling visitors to use the toilet.

At the entrance to the car park, before the barrier, to the left of it, there is a megaphone with a call button for disabled people.

In front of the building, at the Ministry’s car park, there is one parking space designated for disabled persons and marked accordingly. Close to the entrance to the Ministry’s car park (before the barrier, at ul. Hoża), there are also two public parking spaces available for disabled people, marked with a vertical sign. The parking space at the Ministry’s car park is integrated with the passageway (sidewalk). The sidewalk at the main entrance to the building is lowered to the ground level and adapted for disabled people. The curb of the sidewalk is colour coded. The traffic at the Ministry’s car park is managed by a security staff member who, on request, assists in using the parking space and gaining access to the building.

You can enter the building and all its rooms with a guide dog for the blind or visually impaired people and an assistant dog for disabled people. The building is not marked with a pictogram informing about this possibility.

In the building, there are large format signs for the visually impaired (marking the exit route from the building, on the ground floor). On the fifth floor, there are evacuation chairs for disabled people and the unconscious.

The building is equipped with DSO (Audible Warning System) fire warning system. Assisting persons with special needs is included in the emergency evacuation procedures.

Communication and information accessibility

There is an audio-induction loop at the reception.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 19 August 2011 on Sign Language and Other Means of Communication, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education enables those experiencing permanent or temporary difficulties in communicating to contact the Ministry in the following ways: Fax: (22) 52 92 792 E-mail pomoc@mnisw.gov.pl

From 4 March 2024, we provide Polish Sign Language (PJM) interpreter, remotely through Tłumacz Migam online service.

Link to Tłumacz Migam service. The link to connect with the service is located in the upper right corner of the website. The service operates from Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 16:00. The access includes remote communication through a dedicated page of www.tlumacz.migam.org website and is funded by the Ministry of Digitization. After making a video call through the website, an interpreter will make a call on behalf of the deaf person. The service works directly from web browsers without the need to install any additional software. The service is available from Monday to Friday during the Ministry office hours of 8:00 – 16:00.

At the Ministry’s premises, we provide the access to PJM, SJM (Sign Language System) and SKOGN (ways of communicating for deafblind people) interpreters. If you wish to use such service, please notify us at least 3 working days before you plan to visit to the Ministry.

The Ministry shall make all the documents needed the deal with the matter available to authorized persons in an accessible form, upon their request. An authorised person will also have the right to use the assistance of a chaperone (third party) present in their dealings with the Ministry.