Faculty Guidelines for Accessibility Services
Grayson College is committed to equal opportunities for students with disabilities in compliance with federal regulation.
Instructors are asked to read and familiarize themselves with this information.
Core Principles
Grayson College's Accessibility Services Office (ASO) works with any student in the development of reasonable accommodations for his/her classes and campus activities including housing to provide equal access for “otherwise qualified” individuals with disabilities. The student must self-identify as a student with a disability by submitting an accommodation intake/request form. Written documentation of a disability should be submitted with the initial request. The student’s self-report is also used in the determination of accommodations.
- Equal Access: The primary goal is to provide "otherwise qualified" individuals with disabilities equal access to educational programs and campus activities.
- Reasonable Accommodations: Accessibility Services (ASO) facilitates the development of reasonable accommodations tailored to individual student needs.
- Confidentiality: Student documentation and disability information is kept strictly Students may choose to share more information directly with their professors.
Confidentiality, Eligibility, and Processes
Disability documentation is confidential between the student and Accessibility Services unless the student chooses to reveal more information to his/her professors. If disclosure of a diagnosis is necessary to aid professors in providing accommodations, limited information may be shared according to FERPA guidelines. Any explicit or implicit reference to a particular student and the disability is inappropriate.
- Students qualify for accommodations if they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities
- Students who meet academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the educational program or activity
- Students must provide documentation of their disability to ASO is responsible for keeping documentation confidential
- After reviewing requests and documentation, ASL conducts intake interviews to determine appropriate accommodations
- ASO posts approved accommodations to relevant professors’ Accommodations Smartsheet and sends an email notification to each professor
- Students receive a letter of accommodation and are encouraged to speak with their professors to discuss their accommodations, but are not required to do so to receive accommodations
Definition of a Disability
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. The Act emphasizes a broad interpretation of this definition to ensure greater protection for individuals with disabilities.
Examples of Disabilities which may impact academics and/or student life
- Blind/Low Vision
- Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing
- Closed Head Injury/Traumatic Brain Injury
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or ADD)
- Autism
- Specific Learning Disabilities/Differences
- Irlen syndrome (scotopic sensitivity syndrome)
- Colorblindness
- Auditory Processing Disorder
- Orthopedic/Mobility Disorders
- Systemic Disorders such as Diabetes, Asthma, Cancer, Crohn’s disease
- Psychiatric/Psychological Disorders
- Intellectual developmental disability (IDD)
- Epilepsy
- Anxiety
- Impairments resulting from stroke
- Long COVID
- Temporary medical conditions such as surgeries, broken bones, concussions
Tips to Facilitate Learning for Students with Disabilities
When choosing or creating new curriculum
- Select audio/video content and online content with accurate closed captions made by the owner/publisher of the content
- Avoid using audio/video content and online content with auto-generated captions which significantly hamper learning
- Avoid audio/video content and online content which does not have captions at all
- Add accurate captions to lecture content created specifically for your courses
- Learn more about the importance of captioned media
- Select a textbook with a study guide
In the classroom
- Write key terms on the board or provide lecture handouts
- Create study guides or provide guided lecture questions
- Briefly review the previous lecture at the beginning of class
- Use visual aids and/or hands-on learning whenever possible
- Face the class when speaking in order for hard-of-hearing students to understand more clearly
- Give quizzes to provide feedback throughout the course
Online learning
- Simple, asynchronous communication is beneficial for students with disabilities
- When synchronous events are necessary, turn on live captioning
- The University of Washington’s DO-IT Center provides a free tutorial for creating accessible online learning
Rights & Responsibilities of Faculty
Rights
- Challenge accommodations that would jeopardize the academic standards or integrity of the course
- Expect all students to adhere to the student code of conduct
- Deny testing accommodations if approval for accommodations is not provided at least one week prior to the first test
- Expect students to adhere to Grayson College’s recording policy which is posted on Accessibility Services web pag.
And the responsibility to …
- Share responsibility with Accessibility Services for student accommodations
- Include an accessibility statement in syllabi referring students with special needs to Accessibility Services
- If students report having a disability, refer them to Accessibility Services
- Implement approved accommodations
- Deliver printed exams to the Testing Center prior to the scheduled exam time
- Maintain strict confidentiality about any particular student’s disability and accommodations
- Avoid differentiating students receiving accommodations from the general student population
Responsibilities of the Accessibility Services Office
- Prevent discrimination of qualified students
- Reduce or eliminate academic barriers
- Maintain strict student confidentiality
- Respond to requests promptly
- Develop individualized accommodations with input from the student
General Accommodations & Services
- Extended time on exams and quizzes
- Minimally distracting testing environment
- Preferential classroom seating
- Audio recording of lectures
- Extended time on assignments
- Sign Language Interpreter
- Text-to-speech applications
- Speech-to-text applications
- Enlarged print for handouts and tests
- Assistive technology
- Audio or electronic textbooks
- Convenient handicapped parking
Ineligible Services
- Mobility Assistance
- Assistance in eating, toileting, dressing or other personal services
- Readers for personal use or study
- Personal devices, such as wheelchairs
- Individually prescribed devices, such as hearing aids or eye glasses
Assistive Technology
Kurzweil 3000
An integrated literacy solution
Who qualifies for a free license? All current employees and enrolled students Employees and students should contact ASO for their free license
Kurzweil Educational Systems, the award-winning text-to-speech and assistive technology, offers powerful reading, writing and test-taking software literacy solutions for struggling readers and writers. It is no secret that life demands the reading and comprehension of print material, whether in print form, online or digital text; for school, personal business or the workplace. Here is how Kurzweil Educational Systems can help: They offer a multi-sensory approach, and multiple means of access to text; whether in print, online or in digital formats.
Kurzweil includes the highest quality Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software available, which reproduces scanned print documents with the exact layout and format found in the original then the software can read the document aloud. In this way Kurzweil software products give users access to casual reading of workplace documents and classroom curriculum and the freedom to read and write without the need for a tutor or human assistant.
Glean
Audio recording and note taking
Who qualifies for a free license? Current students with disabilities
Students with disabilities should fill out an accommodation intake/request form
Students know every single word from class is captured, available to review and improve their notes at their own pace. Glean’s simple set of features lets learners tackle information overload and take ownership of their learning rather than rely on a note taker. A scaffolded 4-step learning process helps learners retain more info for longer, improving achievement across the board.
Links to resources for accommodations in education and the workplace
University of Washington DO-IT Center (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) JAN (Job Accommodation Network)
National Federation of the Blind – Higher Education
What two questions can you ask about a Service Animal on campus? And 35 other burning questions. Pregnancy and Parenting are not accommodated through the ASO, but rather through the Title IX Office.
Pregnancy/Parenting questions should be directed to the Title IX Director, howarde [at] grayson [dot] edu
Key Takeaways for Faculty
- Understand and adhere to the guidelines provided by the
- Maintain confidentiality regarding student
- Implement approved accommodations promptly and
- Create an inclusive and accessible learning environment for all
- Proactively use the provided tips to create accessible course