Accommodation Resources for Supporting Learners

Overview of Accommodations for learner variability*

In an academic environment, accommodations that support learner variability can take many forms. Accommodation for each learner involves a collaboration between the course instructor, the learner and a variety of talented members of the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) team. The central document in the process of accommodation is the Letter of Accommodation.

Faculty Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) around accommodations

Letter of Accommodation

The Letter of Accommodation (LOA) identifies the accommodations that a learner is requesting for a specific course.  Because each letter of accommodation was delivered to each professor throughout the course of the semester, in the online format, the professor is responsible for ensuring the accommodations are met.

Common Accommodations

There are a number of accommodations that are common across groups of learners and so there are some strategies that can be employed by course instructors that can both reduce their workload and ensure the accommodations are met. Those common accommodations include

• Testing Accommodations,
• Presentation Accommodations,
• Accessible Documents.

Testing Accommodations

If a course requires a test to complete the assessment of their Course Learning Requirements, please consider a flexible approach. Unless the course requires an assessment to be completed in a specific amount of time, professors could consider allowing a 24-hour window for the test to be completed.  This would ensure that the extra time accommodation is available for those requiring accommodation and would have the added benefit of reducing test-related anxiety for all learners.

If a professor insists that a time constraint is required for an assessment, then the time accommodation must be created in Brightspace by the course instructor.

Presentation Accommodations

If your course requires a presentation, there are several options, from Zoom, Camtasia, iMovie, and so on.  Each of these tools has their quirks.  One of the downsides of recording yourself is that it is concrete.  The anxiety related to presenting becomes much more real because a record of it now exists.

If appropriate, consider other options, such as Graphic Organizer, written presentation or other suitable ideas, as well as any suggestions from your learners.

Accessible Documents

Some learners use Natural Reader (https://www.naturalreaders.com/) or other screen reading tools to access written content.  Please ensure that all documents are accessible, and formatting is appropriate.

For information on how to check the accessibility of a document, please use Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker (https://support.office.com/en-us/article/improve-accessibility-with-the-accessibility-checker-a16f6de0-2f39-4a2b-8bd8-5ad801426c7f)

You can also review the ideas in Bonney Hunt’s Start with One! worksheet for Word and PowerPoint. (CourseContentWordAndPowerPoint-BeyondAccessibility.docx)

* With tremendous appreciation to the Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) team for their work and support in the preparation of these resources.

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