Objectives:
Presenting the idea of universal design in higher education and indicate that the appropriate adaptation of teaching conditions to the potential of learners is the basic context for the development of their competences.

Material and methods:
An in-depth, semi-structured interview conducted with five students with a disability certificate. The study is based on a phenomenological perspective, i.e. the need to understand the experiences of the participants.

Results:
Students pay attention to the need to modernize the infrastructure of Polish universities, including the layout of lecture halls and common space, which is a place of rest between classes. The method of verifying the learning outcomes and the quality of teaching require improvement and communication between students with disabilities and university staff.

Conclusions:
The basic need seems to be the ability to design solutions, because some of the ideas implemented at universities seem to be wrong. Theoretical and practical conclusions are presented in the discussion of the results.