Disability Rights and Inclusive Education: Evaluating Legal Compliance in Higher Education

Abstract

Disability rights legislation establishes obligations for equitable access to higher education, yet assessing institutional implementation requires transparent and reproducible indicators. This study developed and demonstrated a documentary compliance assessment framework aligned with India’s Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, and relevant higher education accessibility principles. A synthetic dataset comprising 300 fictional institutions was analyzed using descriptive statistics, institution-level indicator scores, accessibility profiles, and accommodation-related measures. Thirteen binary indicators were combined with conditionally applicable reservation and accommodation criteria to construct an illustrative completeness index. Four tables and four figures summarized the simulated distributions. The mean indicator score was 54.26% among fictional government institutions and 54.43% among fictional private institutions. Accessibility audit completion was recorded for 57.7% of simulated institutions, while 82.5% of simulated accommodation requests were fulfilled. These outputs demonstrate the analytic capabilities of a structured institutional assessment but do not provide empirical evidence of actual legal compliance or discrimination in India. The framework highlights the need to distinguish statutory duties, documented policy adoption, and verified operational performance. Future application requires institution-specific administrative records, accessibility audits, and student participation to establish defensible legal conclusions..