Accessible Instructional Materials
The production of accessible instructional materials involves the conversion of instructional materials into an accessible format and, thus, providing equal access for students with disabilities. The accessible format accommodation must be approved by a specialist in the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS).
The DSS Accessible Technology Team, provides accessible instructional materials of textbooks and other course materials such as course syllabi, notes, handouts, exams, PowerPoints, and journal articles. These course materials may be converted to a variety of accessible formats.
These formats include: Portable Document Format (PDF), enlargements/large print, Rich Text Format (RTF), Kurzweil 3000, Braille/BRF (hard copy Braille or digital Braille), and audio (MP3 format or recordings from Learning Ally).
Specific to Kurzweil 3000, the DSS office provides eligible students with a Kurzweil Firefly account free of charge to install on a personal computer.
Quick links:
- Accessible Format Accommodation
- Student Responsibilities
- Mandatory Orientation of Accessible Format Accommodation
- Helpful Links
Accessible Format Accommodation
To receive accessible format of instructional materials, a student needs to:
- Be enrolled as a DSS student
- Meet with a DSS Specialist (required every semester)
- If approved for accessible format accommodation, schedule a mandatory orientation appointment with the Accessible Instructional Materials Specialist; only one initial appointment is required for an overview of the accessible format accommodation
- After the orientation meeting, submit any instructional materials needed using the Accessible Textbook Request Form for textbooks or the Accessible Short Document Request Form for everything else (syllabi, handouts, notes, PowerPoints, etc.)
- Follow the detailed instructions on the Instructions for Submitting and Downloading Accessible Instructional Materials page
Student Responsibilities
- Student must be a registered with DSS and approved for accessible format accommodations prior to submitting a request.
- All accessible format requests must only be for course materials of registered classes and not for personal reading/documents.
- Student must show proof of purchase with a receipt or a hard copy of the text. Library textbook or a loaned textbook from another source or individual is not an acceptable form of proof of purchase.
- All accessible format are for the requestor's personal use only and may not to be shared with other students.
- Contact the Accessible Technology Team with any changes to accessible format requests that have not been completed. Examples of such changes include the dropping of a class or classes, change in the course syllabus and/or reading schedule, or cancelling any accessible format request because it is no longer needed.
Mandatory Orientation of Accessible Format Accommodation
When accessible format accommodation is approved, the student is instructed by a DSS staff or counselor to schedule a mandatory orientation appointment with the Accessible Instructional Materials Specialist to discuss the following:
- Accessible format accommodation and how to utilize the specialized format
- The process of requesting and receiving instructional materials in accessible format
- Additional things to consider or be on the look out for if a student is a client of the Department of Rehabilitation
Please note that all students who are eligible for accessible format accommodation must sign an agreement to indicate they understand their roles and responsibilities in order to maintain eligibility for accessible format accommodation.
