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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Clearinghouse Reviewers
  • Crisis Resources
  • National Resources
    • National Organizations
    • Federal Agencies
    • Campus Student Groups
  • Publications & Products
    • NCCSD Posters & Products
    • Research Briefs
    • Research Highlights
    • AHEAD Publications

Accommodations and Access Technologies

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Accommodations are changes to the design of environments, and auxiliary aids and services that allow individuals with disabilities to access facilities and fully participate in programs at school or work.
​
To determine what accommodations might be appropriate and effective in a class or other educational setting, the student, faculty and Disability Resource Center staff often work together to identify barriers in the environment. The information included here gives you some examples, but is not meant to be exhaustive, since accommodations are applied on an individualized basis.*

General Information on Accommodations

Job Accommodation Network
United States Access Board
DO-IT Center Access College Faculty Room
​National Federation of the Blind Higher Education Accessibility Online Resource Center

Programmatic Environment

Adjustments made to policies and practices that maintain program standards and requirements. Services that enable full participation in programs.

Exam Accommodations, such as extended test time, distraction-reduced testing space, electronic materials.
Note-taking Services
Sign Language Interpreting Services
CART (Real-time Captioning)
Attendance Adjustments
First row, or Close-up Seating
Residence Hall Accommodations
Dining Options for Food Allergies


Access Technologies

Hardware and software that make environments accessible and help students to do their work.

Find access technologies through your State Assistive Technology Project

Learn about access or assistive technology from the DO-IT Center

Assistive Technology for Computers & Printed Material curated by Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., ABPP. A nice review of a wide range of products that might be helpful. Several free products.
PDF documents should include formatting, tags and other features to make them accessible. WebAIM gives a good overview of PDF Accessibility.

EPUB​ is another popular format that publishers are using more and more for books and print materials. Learn about EPUB accessibility at the DAISY Consortium.

Physical Environment

Design of, and modifications to the built environment.

Accessible Parking
Wheelchair-Accessible Paths of Travel on Campus with Signage
Step-free Entrances to Buildings
Power Doors or Power-Assist Doors (local design codes sometimes have an impact on the availability of these)
Elevators
Signs with Braille and Raised Symbols
Wheelchair-Accessible Restrooms
Visual Fire Alarms and Alerting Devices
Accessible Lab and Classroom Furniture


Information Environment

Accessible college or university websites designed to enable large print, text-to-speech, contrast, captioning, etc.  College communications and publications available in accessible formats.
  • CADET - free software for adding captions and audio description to your videos (from the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH - Boston).
  • YouDescribe - free software to add audio description to your YouTube videos

Accessible Textbooks - Resources for students and Disability Services offices:
  • Bookshare - library of literature and textbooks, free membership to disabled students
  • Learning Ally - general reading, literature, some textbooks; low-cost membership
  • AccessText Network - a free service to DRC offices; Accessible Text Finder for students
  • Resources for determining whether your website is accessible

​The Law and Accessible Texts: Reconciling Civil Rights and Copyrights - a White Paper from the Association of Research Libraries and the University of Virginia
"analyzes how institutions of higher education can meet their mission of providing all students with equitable access to information within the current legal framework."

* The information on this page is for illustrative purposes only. NCCSD and AHEAD do not recommend any accommodation, nor should this be understood as legal advice. Students and families are encouraged to work with college personnel to address their needs.

Footer-About the NCCSD

NCCSD logo-bold blue letters NCCSD surrounded by green laurel leaves on both sides; beneath this:
Logo for AHEAD Black lettering Association on Higher Education And Disability
Logo US Department of Education-a leafy tree surrounded by a  blue circle
​In 2021, a federal discretionary grant (P116D210002) was awarded via  the National Center for Information and Technical Support for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities Program (NCITSPSD) to the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration (ICI-UMN), in full partnership with the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and is authorized by Congress in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (777.4). 

The NCITSPSD program grant was originally awarded in 2015 (P116D150005) to the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD).

Please see caveats on the home page about not assuming the NCCSD, University of Minnesota, AHEAD or the US Dept. of Education agree with all content on linked pages, and we can't guarantee the accessibility of other sites.

The material on this website is available in alternative formats upon request; questions or concerns about accessibility should be sent to nccsd@ahead.org.  All images are from Bigstock.com or public domain except where noted.

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