Academic Accommodations

Alternate format is an alternate means of presenting print information.

When It Is Used

If you use text-to-speech software, Braille and other tools to access information because you have a print disability and cannot read, see, or manipulate hard copy printed materials.

Alternate formats may include electronic and/or braille options.

How the Accommodation Works

• Request alternate format materials for reading through Accessible Learning Online prior to the start of each term.
• Submit copies of your original textbook receipt to etext@wlu.ca.  Access to your alternative format materials is granted only after we receive your textbook purchase receipts.
• Email the Transcription team at etext@wlu.ca to arrange a time to pick up any hardcopy materials.

Alternate Formats Guidelines

You must initiate the request in Accessible Learning Online before the Transcription team commences work on obtaining or preparing your print course material into alternate formats.

Laurier's compliance with copyright legislation requiries that you submit receipts as proof that you have purchased the textbooks or other course materials. It also requires you to agree that you will use the alternate formats for your personal study use only.

The Transcription team may contact your instructor directly to obtain your course material so that we can arrange your alternate format material in a timely manner.

Laurier instructors deliver courses from our Waterloo, Brantford, Kitchener, and Milton campuses using various modalities:

• In-Person: All course components take place in-person at a specific place, time and day.
• Virtual Asynchronous: Students interact with the course online in their own time, but some course components may require online attendance at a specific time and day.
• Virtual Synchronous: Students and instructors interact with each other online at a scheduled time and day.
• Hyflex: Instructor teaches from an assigned physical location while simultaneously streaming online. Students can choose to attend in-person or online.

Laurier also offers some courses using hybrid approaching including:

• In-Person Hybrid: Students and instructors interact in-person at a scheduled time and place on campus for at least 50% of the contact hours. Remaining contact hours may occur virtually, synchronous, or asynchronously.
• Virtual Hybrid: A combination of virtual asynchronous and synchronous learning, students and instructors interact virtually at the same time and day for at least 50% of the contact hours and students complete the remaining of contact hours virtually asynchronous. 

Enrolled students must complete all course requirements outlined in the course syllabus, including components requiring in-person attendance, on the campus offering the course. 

Exams

Students must be aware that any of the above modalities may include in-person tests or exams requiring students to travel to the campus offering the course. The only exception is for students living more than 100 km from the campus delivering the course. Students concerned about travel requirements should carefully review their course syllabi and proctored exams before published drop dates.

Accessible Learning does not arrange accommodations, including exam accommodations, for students at a campus different from the one delivering the course.

Remote Access for In-Person Academics

Academic accommodations facilitate equitable access for students with disabilities to the learning environment in which each course is delivered. Accommodations are not intended or approved to alter course modalities. Students with disabilities taking courses that are fully in-person, or include in-person components, must fulfill these requirements in-person like all other students.

In rare and unusual situations, Accessible Learning may temporarily support a student's request for remote access to some in-person learning components, like lectures. Examples include:

• A student who has completed most of the course but incurred a serious injury or became seriously ill near the end of term.
• A student who has incurred a serious injury or became seriously ill but must complete a course to graduate in the current term.
• A student whose health or disability has significantly worsened and needs additional support to complete some of their courses to the end of term.

Accessible Learning carefully assesses student requests for remote access by thoroughly considering the student's health situation, course and program requirements. We also consult with the student's healthcare providers (with written consent), instructors, academic advisors, and others as needed.

Remote access to lectures:

• May involve facilitating live access using zoom, capturing audio content using lecture capture or other audio recording technology, or other approaches. The approach used will consider the student's access needs, the course structure/design, instructor familiarity with technology, and available resources and technology.
• Will not fully replicate or replace the in-person learning experiences offered through in-person learning. This includes direct engagement with the instructor and other students, group activities, class discussions, or spontenaeous learning opportunities.
• Does not automatically include permission to write exams remotely. Most students accommodated through remote access to lectures will be required to travel to complete all in-person exams. Permission to write exams remotely may be considered for students coping with serious situations, like those in hospital.

Students with disabilities who rely on a service animal to access or engage with any part of the Laurier campus and our placement partners must register with Accessible Learning.

The following summarizes why students with service animals must register with Accessible Learning:

1. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) supports people with disabilities entering public spaces with their service animal.
2. The AODA states that a person can be asked for written confirmation if it is not readily apparent that their animal is a service animal.
3. Laurier campuses and our associated placement partners are largely non-public spaces. Students enter these educational and training spaces only with approval.
4. Registering with Accessible Learning gives students the identification necessary to confirm their animal is a service animal when asked by a Laurier or placement partner employee.

Registration

Registering with Accessible Learning to bring a service animal to campus involves:

1. Reviewing the University's Animals on Campus Policy.
2. Completing the Accessible Learning Registration Form
3. Reviewing our Disability Documentation Requirements for Services Animals and submitting the correct docmentation.
4. Meeting with an academic accommodation consultant.

To ensure timely approval, students must check their Laurier email and promptly respond to messages from Accessible Learning.

Service Animal OneCard

Students approved to bring a service animal to Laurier will be issued a Service Animal OneCard free of charge. A fee will be assessed for replacing lost or stolen cards.

After Accessible Learning approves you to bring your service animal to campus, OneCard will email your Laurier email address instructions for submitting your animal's photo. Once received, they will let you know when your service animal's OneCard is ready for pick up.

Students must show their service animal's OneCard when requested by any Laurier or placement partner employee.

Unless noted for reasons of a temporary disability or accommodation, a service animal's OneCard will remain valid for the duration of the student's studies at Laurier.  

Compliance

If a student fails to abide by the University's applicable policies and requirements, including the training and service animal behavior declaration contained in the University's Service Animals on Campus documentation form, Accessible Learning can revoke permission for the student to bring their service animal to campus or placement partner. In this case, Accessible Learning will arrange alternative supports as appropriate.

In some courses, students are graded for their "participation". While not always defined in course syllabi, it may require students to:

• Listen and speak with other students, the instructor, and/or teaching assistants about specific topics within the full class, small groups, or tutorials.
• Post messages and/or respond to messages from the instructor, teaching assistants and/or other students in online discussion boards.
• Use technology (i.e., iClicker) for responding to questions posted by instructors during lectures.

While students must fulfill all course requirements, some students with disabilities require adjustments to how they meet the participation requirement in some courses.

When It Is Used

Accessible Learning may approve this accommodation for students with:

• Disabilities like severe social anxiety, panic disorder, or Tourette's Syndrome that can make it impossible for them to speak in public settings.
• Learning disabilities whose reliance on assistive technologies may require more time for reading and/or writing online messages.
• Physical, hearing, vision, attention, or medical disabilities making the use of technology requiring require responses in real-time, public settings difficult.

What are Adjustments?

Adjustments to participation are slight alterations to how the student meets the participation requirement in a course. This adjustment does not exempt students from having to participate and they must meet the same requirements as other students.

Adjustments to participation may include:

• Permitting a student to take notes during in-class discussions and email their comments and responses to the instructor after class.
• Permitting a student to make fewer online posts and/or replies within the same time as other students.
• Giving all students more time when using response technology (iClicker) for replying to in-class questions or permit the student to reply using different technology (i.e., posting in chats on Zoom or Teams).

Learning Strategies

Where appropriate, students approved for this accommodation will be referred to a learning strategist for support with developing and enhancing their skills in participation activities. For example, developing strategies for jotting down their reactions or comments during live conversation.

How this Accommodation Works

Students must communicate with Accessible Learning as soon as they identify a participation requirement that they cannot complete because of their disability.

If Accessible Learning adds the "Adjustments to Participation" accommodation to their plan, students must immediately speak with their instructor about appropriate adjustments.

Both students and instructors can suggest adjustments or consult with Accessible Learning for ideas. Instructors must work with students to identify adjustments that will meet the student's access needs while maintaining academic requirements.

Some students have disabilities that prohibits them from delivering public presentations using traditional methods (ie., speaking to live audience in person or online with or without notes or slide decks).

To fully access the learning environment, these students may require adjustments to how they meet the presentation requirements in some courses. 

Accessible Learning may approve this accommodation for students with:

• Mental health disabilities like severe social anxiety or panic disorder.
• Speech or hearing disabilities.
• Tourette's syndrome that causes embarrassing tics when anxious.

What are Adjustments

Adjustments are slight alterations to how the student meets the presentation requirement.

Adjustments to the presentation requirement may include permitting the student to:

• Deliver their presentation in a pre-recorded video.
• Present using traditional methods to a smaller group of students or solely to the instructor or teaching assistant.
• Assume non-speaking responsibilities while working on group presentations (i.e., researching and preparing slide decks).

Learning Strategies

Where appropriate, students approved for this accommodation will be referred to a learning strategist for developing and enhancing their presentation skills. This may include delivering short presentations, strategies for creating effective pre-recorded videos and negotiating responsibilities in group presentation assignments.

How this Accommodation Works

Students must communicate with Accessible Learning as soon as they identify a presentation requirement that they are unable to complete because of their disability.

If Accessible Learning adds the "Adjustments to Presentations" accommodation to their plan, students must immediately speak with the instructor about appropriate adjustments.

Both students and instructors can suggest adjustments or consult with Accessible Learning for ideas. Instructors must work with students to identify adjustments that will meet the student's access needs while maintaining academic requirements.

This accommodation gives enhanced flexibility on assignment deadlines to students whose disability prevents them from occasionally completing an academic assignment on time.

When It is Used

Students may receive this accommodation because of:

• Compromised reading, writing or comprehension abilities arising from learning disabilities.
• Fluctuating and unpredictable periods of ill-health associated with mental health disabilities or chronic illnesses.
• Impairments making it difficult to focus and concentrate for sustained periods of time.
• Reduced or limited stamina due to physical disabilities or injuries.

Some students who rely on assistive technology for reading and/or writing activities may also require this accommodation.

Learning Strategies

Where appropriate, students with this accommodation will be referred to a learning strategist to develop and/or enhance their time management, assignment chunking, and planning skills. This helps students learn how to account for the impact of their disability when planning their assignments for on time completion.

How the Accommodation Works

• For every assignment extension required, and in advance of the posted deadline, students must email or speak with the instructor about their need for an extension. The student should indicate the length of requested extension, usually stated in hours (i.e., 24, 48, 72 hours).
• Instructors must consider in good faith each request for assignment extensions from students with this accommodation (i.e., they should assume that the student's request is related to their disability).
• Instructors should consider the academic requirements of the course when deciding on each request, such as upcoming assignments dependent on completing current ones, feedback timelines, etc.
• Instructors are encouraged to grant extensions where appropriate.

Guidelines

• This accommodation does not grant students a blanket extension on all assignments in their course(s) and insructors are not expected to grant extensions for all assignments at once.
• Students must connect with their instructors for each extension they need in every course because: (a) this accommodation applies only when the student's disability causes a need for extended time and (b) course deadlines are central to learning and course progression.
• Some instructors build into their courses extended time for assignments - i.e., two weeks for an assignments requiring two days of work. In these cases, some instructors may deny student requests for additional extensions.
• On rare occassions, students may request an extension after a deadline has already passed. For example, a student may unable to communicate due to symptom severity, hospitalization, or other significant reason. 
• In these and similiar situations, students should seek support from their Accessible Learning consultant in negotiating extension requests with their instructors.

Multiple or Repeated Extension Requests

Instructors with questions or concerns about a student's extension request, or in the case of repeated/multiple requests, should contact Accessible Learning for advice before responding to the student.

The notetaking accommodation helps you capture real-time oral information in online or in person lectures, or during instructional segments of labs, tutorials, seminars, and other educational activities.

Accessible Learning approves the notetaking accommodation for use in learning enviornments where you must capture real-time, oral information needed to support your learning or performance on assessments.

When It is Used

The notetaking accommodation is approved for students who have difficulties:

• Concentrating for sustained periods of time stemming from disability related symptoms like physical pain, reduced cognition, chronic fatique, significant anxiety, or depression.
• Taking notes while attending to oral information stemming from attention, neuro (i.e., autism) or learning disabilities.
• Hearing or seeing information.

The notetaking accommodation gives you information to use after class for filling in gaps in your own notes. It is not intended to replace: (a) your own notetaking efforts, or (b) your class attendance and engagement.

Types of Notetaking Accommodation

Accessible Learning supports the notetaking accommodation in two ways:

1. Audio Recording
2. Recruiting Volunteer Notetakers

Audio Recording

This accommodation appears on your Letter of Accommodation as Permission to Audio Record Lectures.

You can choose to use this accommodation with:

• A digital recorder or smartphone to replay while making notes.
• Office356 Word or OneNote with its built-in recording and transcription capabilities.
• Genio (see below).

Audio Recording Agreement

Before using the audio recording accommodation, you must agree to the Accessible Learning Audio Recording Agreement. This agreement states that instructors retain sole ownership of the copyright material in audio recordings. It also states that you:

• Have legal obligations to use this material for your personal study use only.
• Must not share these recordings with anyone else.
• Must delete recordings once you have completed the course.

The agreement makes clear that Accessible Learning can remove this accommodation from if you are found not in compliance with the agreement.

When Is Audio Recording Not Used

Accessible Learning does not intend for students to use audio recording in some learning situations like:

• Online, asynchronous courses where you can listen, stop, and replay recorded information.
• Discussion-type activities in lectures, classes, tutorials, or seminars where engagement with the instructor and/or other students is the main learning activity.
• Classes or discussions involving highly sensitive content or when the topic could evoke highly personal disclosures from students or guest speakers.
• Classes or placement activities involving confidential information like patient or client care.

In largely lecture-based courses that occasionally include learning situations like above, you and your instructors can agree on a strategy for pausing and resuming recording. You must abide by these directives when requested.

You and instructor are expected to explore appropriate alternatives for supporting notetaking access needs in courses delivered largely in learning environments as described above. Some learning experiences may not require any notetaking in which case alternatives are not required. You or your instructor can contact your Accessible Learning accommodation consultant for ideas or additional support.

Privacy

The University’s Privacy Office has stated that given Laurier’s legal obligations towards people with disabilities, it is not a misuse of instructor or student personal information including name, voice, comments, and lecture information when shared in the context of facilitating accommodation like audio recording for students with disabilities.

Genio

Genio is a web-based notetaking application with built-in audio recording, transcription, and study tools where you can organize all your course notes, slide decks, and other materials.

Using Genio requires the Permission to Audio Record Lectures accommodation, which is stated on your Letter of Accommodation.

Note: You can use your audio accommodation in various ways. Therefore, Glean does not appear on your Letter of Accommodation.  

Accessing Genio

Follow these steps to access Genio:

1. Accept the Accessible Learning Audio Recording Agreement.
2. Activate your Accommodations.
3. Monitor your Laurier email for a message directly from Genio with sign on and usage instructions.

Volunteer Notetaking 

Accessible Learning will approve Volunteer Notetaking for students whose access cannot be met through audio recording or Genio. You may be asked to work with the Accommodation Supports Coordinator for help with these accommodations before we start volunteer recruitment.

Accessible Learning asks instructors to help recruit a volunteer notetaker from among students in the course. After signing their contract, the volunteer notetaker takes and uploads their notes to Accessible Learning Online for students to download.

Volunteer notetakers are expected to:

• Attend classes consistently and punctually.
• Take legible handwritten or typed notes for each class.
• Upload them, along with slide decks and other class materials, in Word or PDF format within 2 days after class.

Please note the following limitations with Volunteer Notetaking:

• It takes two weeks or more before we recruit volunteer notetakers in most classes.
• Volunteer recruitment is not guaranteed.
• Some volunteers stop sharing their notes, requiring us to recruit another volunteer during the term.
• Accessible Learning assumes no responsibility for the quality or completeness of notes shared by volunteer notetakers.

Accessible Learning works with instructors to find alternatives when volunteer recruitment is unsuccessful.

Have questions about notetaking?  Email us at alnotes@wlu.ca.

This accommodation adds a set amount of additional time for a student beyond the time an instructor sets for an exam, test, or quiz.

Extended time on exams improves access by compensating students for the time they use coping with disability-related functional limitations or symptoms during their exams. 

A student with a learning disability in reading takes longer than students without a disability to read exam content. Extended time for exams returns to the student the additional time they needed for reading so they end up with the same amount of time as other students in which to complete the exam. 

Extended time on exams will not guarantee that students will finish every exam on time, nor is it intended to give them more time to think through their answers, or review and polish their work.

How Much Extended Time? 

Accessible Learning approves a specific number of minutes per 1 hour of exam, typically in one of the following amounts: 10, 15, 20, 30, 45, and 60. On a 2-hour exam, a student with 15 minutes of extended time receives 30 minutes extra time for a total of 2 ½ hours. 

Note: The specific amount of extended time a student receives on each exam is calculated using the original time an instructor sets for the exam.

The amount of extended time is individualized and considers the following for each student: 

• The nature of their disability 
• The severity of their disability-related functional limitations 
• Information about the barriers they experience during exams  
• Whether the exam already includes extended time 

Accessible Learning also considers best practices and current research in postsecondary academic accommodation planning. For instance, Lovett & Lewandowski (2014) reviewed exam performance for thousands of students with varying types of disabilities, including learning, mental health, attention, and physical disabilities. Even when controlling for disability types and functional limitations, they found that the access needs during exams for most students can be met with just quarter time or an additional 15 minutes per 1-hour exam.

When It Is Used 

Accessible Learning approves this accommodation to remove access barriers that can emerge when students have disabilities that: 

• Compromises their reading speed, comprehension, or math skills 
• Reduces their capacity to attend, concentrate, or think
• Causes pain or reduces stamina
• Requires timely medication or monitoring such as glucose testing
• Requires assistive technology for reading, writing, or other activities

When It Is Not Used

Accessible Learning approves extended time for exams when barriers are clearly present that prevent the student from equitably accessing the learning environment. 

Accessible Learning may not approve this accommodation in the following situations: 

• The instructor uses exams, tests, or quizzes with extra time built in for all students (Read about Accessible and Inclusive Instruction below).
• Current documentation and information do not support extended time for exams. accommodation, even if the student previously had this accommodation. 
• The student experiences “test anxiety” but no other clinically diagnosed anxiety symptoms.
• The student’s concern about grades or finishing exams on time is not directly related to their disability. 

Lovett, B.J., & Lewandowski, L.J. (2014). Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Research-Based Practice. American Psychological Association. New York, NY.

Accessible and Inclusive Instruction

Some Laurier instructors build extra time into their quizzes, tests, or exams to make them more accessible and inclusive. They do this by (a) determining the amount of content to be covered, (b) determining how much time most students need to complete the assessment, and (c) adding a certain amount of extra time for all students.

An instructor uses weekly quizzes in their course worth a total of 10 marks, and students can drop their lowest two quizzes. The quiz covers readings and lecture material from the previous week and includes 10 multiple-choice questions. Last year, students had 10 minutes to complete the quiz. While the quiz still includes 10 questions, this year students are given 15 minutes (or time and a half).

In the above scenario, students whose accommodation plan with Accessible Learning includes up to time and a half for exams do not need individualized accommodation for quizzes in this course. That is because by building in extra time, the instructor removed barriers related to time and in effect, granting all students time and a half. 

A memory aid is a tool or resource that students design with instructor approval to help them retrieve learned information during exams. The tool typically makes sense only to the student but may include information to which other students writing the same exam do not have access.   

A memory aid is one of the following: 

Cue Sheet/Word List– a document with words, pictures, and/or graphics designed to trigger learned information. 

Formulae Sheet – a document using symbols, figures and/or numbers that help cue learned rules or principles. 

To use this approved accommodation, students must follow these steps and specifications: 

1. Attend a mandatory Memory Aid Training session with a Learning Strategist. Note: Students must complete this training before the memory aid accommodation is added to their plan.
2. Confirm submission and approval deadlines with each course instructor. Failing to meet a timeline means forfeiting use of a memory aid during that exam.    

• 8 ½” x 11” double sided (handwritten or typed in 12-point font or larger)
• Written in English 
• Can include words, acronyms, pictures, acrostics, diagrams, symbols, or mnemonics 
• Only includes cues to learned information the student cannot retrieve  

Memory aids must not contain: 

• Full answers to anticipated questions 
• Full copies of course notes or slides 
• Full lists or descriptions of facts, details, or concepts which student recall is being assessed (e.g., bone names in lower body)  

When It Is Used 

Accessible Learning will approve this accommodation only for students with a psycho-educational or neuropsychological assessment completed within the last 5 years using adult norms that include the following: 

• Validated measures of performance validity such as the Word Memory test or test of Memory Malingering. 
• Memory tests which clearly informs the students that later recall is required of actual learning that occurs over a standardized period of time. Example tests include: 
  • The California Verbal Learning Test 
  • Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, including the delayed recall scores
  • The Learning and Memory Battery
• Memory tests that enable the clinician to evaluate whether cues aid recall, and determine if score improvement is better than improves experienced by most individuals. 

Assessment results using tests like the ones above must demonstrate that the student has a long-term memory disorder in which learning successfully occurs, but retrieval is compromised and cannot be achieved without cues (Harrison, Holmes, & Pollock, 2021).

When It Is Not Used

Accessible Learning will not approve the memory aid accommodation for students presenting with assessments that do not include tests like the ones listed above and/or solely with low scores on auditory working memory tests. This includes the Digit Span, mental Arithmetic, Letter-Number Sequencing, or the Working Memory Index of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. 

Low scores on these tests are not sufficient evidence of a long-term memory disorder. Rather, they typically indicate challenges with learning approaches, attention, or other functions of learning and are best addressed by more effective learning strategies to aid initial encoding of information into memory.

Working Memory is short-term memory used to hold information in mind while performing another task. For example, listening to and remembering menu options on a voice recording before making a selection. Since the information used in short-term memory tests is not encoded into long-term memory, a low score on working memory tests is not sufficient evidence of a long-term memory disorder. 

Accessible Learning may not approve the memory aid accommodation for students taking courses in which information recall is an academic requirement (e.g., recalling terms in an anatomy course). 

Harrison, A.G., Holmes, A, & Pollock, B. (2021). Memory aids as a disability related accommodation?  Let’s remember to recommend them appropriately.  Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 36(3), 255-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573520979581   

The reader accommodation involves a person reading aloud exam content to the student during an exam. 

When It Is Used  

This accommodation is used primarily when assistive technology, like text-to-speech software, is not feasible.   

Accessible Learning approves this accommodation for students whose disability-related functional limitations restrict their ability to read text on paper or screen during exams including students with: 

• Worsening vision loss or a newly diagnosed brain injury but are not yet sufficiently familiar with adaptive technology for use during exams.
• Permanent vision loss or cognitive barriers but are taking exams where adaptive technology is not feasible (e.g., math or foreign language exams).
• Permanent vision loss or cognitive barriers but have not acquired sufficient familiarity with assistive technology despite significant training. 

Students approved for this accommodation are automatically assigned to a private room during exams.  

Requirements 

During the exam, the student and reader will agree:

• On a signal that the student will use to ask the reader to stop and resume reading.
• That the student is permitted to skip questions, parts of the exam and go out of order, just like other students.
• That the student will signal to the reader their readiness to proceed to the next question.
• That the student may ask the reader to repeat phrases or whole passages, spell certain words, as many times as needed. 

Reader Qualifications 

Accessible Learning and other administrative staff, proctors, instructors, teaching assistants, and graduate students may serve as qualified readers. 

When a student is approved for both a reader and a scribe, the same qualified individual can perform both roles during exams. 

Qualified readers must be able to:

• Work with students with disabilities without creating unnecessary pressure, expectations, or distractions.
• Silently read the entire exam before reading aloud to the student.
• Read aloud in a clear, audible, and steady voice.
• Properly convey aloud all punctuation conventions.
• Read text exactly as it is written without rephrasing or changing tone of voice to suggest hints or answers.
• Reread text exactly as written without change in tone of voice when the student requests it, and as many times as requested.
• Stop and resume reading as directed by the student.
• Spell words aloud when requested.
• Read at a speed as requested by the student.
• Sit quietly while the student processes or completes their answers.
• Refrain from assisting the student in any way by tracking time, suggesting when to move on, using tone of voice to suggest answers or repeating text without being asked to do so. 

The scribe accommodation involves a person handwriting or typing a student’s answers to exam content verbatim and exactly as the student speaks them aloud. 

When It Is Used 

This accommodation is used primarily when assistive technology, like speech-to-text, is not feasible. 

Accessible Learning approves the scribe accommodation for students whose disability-related functional limitations restrict their ability to hand write or type their answers during an exam. This includes students with:

• Physical disabilities that restrict their hand or arm functioning.
• Learning disabilities such as dysgraphia or dyscalculia and taking exams for which typing or speech-to-text is not feasible.
• New injuries to their hand or arm that prevents them from writing or typing, or taking math-based exams where typing is not feasible.
• Recent concussions requiring reduced screen use and writing exams where handwriting is not feasible. 

Students approved for this accommodation are automatically assigned to a private room for exams. 

Requirements 

The student is responsible for:  

• Saying or pointing to their choice for multiple choice exams
• Correct punctuation and spelling 
• Indicating when they are ready to move on 

The student may:

• Correct misspelling or punctuation during dictation or afterwards
• Skip questions, parts of the exams and go out of order, just like other students
• Review and edit their answers and have their answers read back to them as often as necessary  

The scribe is responsible for:

• Entering the student’s identification and other details on the exam paper (e.g., name, number, date, and page number).
• Transferring the student’s responses to a Scranton, if applicable.
• Asking the student to repeat words or phrases for clarity without suggesting changes or corrections.
• Asking the student to spell technical words if necessary.
• Responding to a student’s procedural questions like “how much time do I have left?”
• Prompting the student if they did not specify where to place figures and operands for responses requiring equations.
• Making any changes to answers that the student requests, even if they are incorrect. 

Scribe Qualifications 

Accessible Learning and other administrative staff, proctors, instructors, teaching assistants, and graduate students may serve as qualified scribes. 

When a student is approved for both a reader and a scribe, the same qualified individual can perform both roles during exams. 

Qualified scribes must be able to:

• Work with students with disabilities without creating unnecessary pressure, expectations, or distractions.
• Handwrite in a clear and legible manner.
• Type at a reasonably efficient speed.
• Maintain a neutral facial expression and posture without giving hints of any kind.
• Refrain from assisting the student in any way like suggesting answers, offering strategies, clues, indicating correct/incorrect answers, or suggesting the student redo or review any responses.
• Sit quietly while the student processes their answers.