Important Tip! Make Your Courses Accessible

You can make your courses more accessible from the start. This is a great practice, part of Universal Design for Learning, and it will save you time later. Some basic tips:

• Text: Don't use highlighting or colorful text; it makes things difficult to read for people with low vision and colorblindness.

• Videos: Make sure any videos you use have closed captions.

• Reading Materials: Make sure any PDFs you use are screen-reader accessible. The Office of Accessibility provides a tool called SensusAccess to easily make PDFs accessible.  Not sure how to use SensusAccess? Check out the CLT's guide.

• Off-Campus Events: Considering a class field trip? It's important to assess the site for physical accessibility and arrange access to transportation if students in your class have challenges walking long distances. Provide your class with notice about the trip and provide all students with options to fully access and participate in the class. 

How do faculty interact with the Office of Accessibility?

Once a student is registered with the Office of Accessibility, they are eligible to receive accommodations.  

The formal definition of accommodation, from the American Psychological Association, is  “modifications or adjustments to the tasks, environment or to the way things are usually done that enable individuals with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to participate in an academic program”. 

While some accommodations are implemented outside of the classroom, the majority of accommodations are implemented in the classroom. 

Faculty will be informed of a student’s classroom accommodations through a letter of accommodation.  The letter will provide a list of the accommodations and also provide a list of rules and expectations around testing accommodations, if appropriate.   

Student Role: It is the student's responsibility to request that their letters of accommodation be sent to their instructors every semester. In order for letters of accommodation to be sent out, students need to request their accommodations through the Office of Accessibility.  Each letter will contain a list of accommodations that the student qualifies for, based upon their disability, and that are appropriate for the specific course. 

Instructor Role: It is the instructor’s responsibility to implement accommodations as outlined in the student’s letter of accommodation. If an accommodation results in a fundamental alteration of course requirements or objectives, contact the Office of Accessibility. Accommodation letters are generated using “Maxient”. 

The Office of Accessibility recommends that students discuss their accommodations with their instructors following the distribution of academic accommodation letters. We suggest that these meetings take place in-person or virtually outside of class time.

Faculty Handbook

The Office of Accessibility created a Faculty Handbook to provide a resource to faculty regarding academic accommodations. The handbook is intended to provide a deeper understanding of the Office of Accessibility academic accommodation request process, the types of accommodations that are provided to students with disabilities, and the role of faculty in providing accommodations.

Due to the nature of accommodations, the information provided in the handbook is a general overview. Accommodations are provided to students on a case-by-case basis and not all academic accommodations provided to students will be included in the handbook.

Faculty Handbook Online

Learn more!