In Nouvelle-Aquitaine and particularly in the old Poitou territory, the rate of access of high school students to higher education is lower than the national average, even though the success rate at the baccalauréat ( a French national exam ) is higher than the national average. For several years now, the University of Poitiers has been implementing specific actions aimed at high school students, particularly in rural areas, to make it easier for them to access higher education.

At the same time, in line with the Disability Act of 11 February 2005 and the University Disability Charter of 2007, many efforts are being made in France to promote access to higher education for people with disabilities. Higher education institutions are obliged to put in place the necessary provisions to welcome all students, whatever their situation. However, the self-censorship that is already present among high school students is even greater for students with disabilities.

80% of people with disabilities have a level of education below the baccalauréat. Faced with this observation, the University of Poitiers and the HandiSup Centre-Ouest association have set up, with the support of the IDEFI PaRé project and in conjunction with the rectorate, the PHARES programme to facilitate the projection of high school students with disabilities into higher education and thus support their perseverance in secondary education.

It is within the framework of these workshops that high school students with disabilities will be able to discover the University of Poitiers, in particular through the video game “Campus Explorer”.

Following those observations, came the idea of a virtual tour through a video game in 2017. As a part of the IDEFI PaRé project, a game jam was co-organised with the university of Valenciennes and Ludoscience, and in june 2018, it allowed 45 students to produce in teams game projects around the following theme: “Meet your future”, about projecting yourself in a future student environment, with two bonuses around the accessibility of the gameplay and the inclusivity of the game. Those proposals gave different ideas for a future game.

In 2019, a survey was made among high school students, disabled or not, and among disabled students to know about their gaming habits and how they saw higher education. This survey allowed them to define their gaming habits as well as their representation of higher education, thus allowing the video game project to be adapted to the needs of the targeted audience.

The University of Poitiers benefits from State aid managed by the ANR (National Research Agency) under the PIA (Investment in the Future Program). Within this framework, the IDEFI PaRé project aims to promote student success from an equal opportunities perspective. This project has three components:

• Strengthening support to students
• Renewing teaching practices
• Developing research projects

“Campus Explorer” is part of the first component of IDEFI PaRé, more specifically concerning the inclusive university in the sense that it contributes to improving the reception and support of students with disabilities.