We use cookies on this site to enhance your experience.
By selecting “Accept” and continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies.
Academic Accommodations
Academic accommodations are adjustments or adaptations made to academic tasks and activities so that students with disabilities can access them without barriers. Unlike modifications, accommodations do not change or reduce essential elements of the academic task or activity. Once accommodations are in place, students with disabilities are required to meet the same academic requirements and standards as other students.
See below for information about some of the academic accommodations we frequently approve for students.
Alternate format is an alternate means of presenting print information so you can access resources.
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 can be 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.
- Contact the transcription technologist to arrange time to pick up materials (Waterloo students contact etext@wlu.ca, Brantford students contact lbetext@wlu.ca)
- Provide the transcription technologist with original textbook receipts and is provided access to the alternate format materials.
Alternate Formats Guidelines
Accessible Learning has a transcription technologist who handles all of the requests for converting print course material into alternate formats. You must initiate the request.
Strict copyright laws are followed during this procedure. You must show proof of purchase for the course material and agree to use it solely for your own learning. The ALC’s transcription technologist may contact your instructor for course material information in order to provide alternate format to you in a timely manner.
Your instructor can contact the ALC regarding your needs to ensure the course material is accessible.
An option to audio record lectures with a personal recording device for later review.
When It Is Used
Audio recording of in-person lectures may be warranted to address functional limitations such as:
- Compromised reading abilities (e.g., slow processing speed or dyslexic impairments) arising from a learning disability.
- Impairments making it difficult to focus and concentrate for sustained periods of time.
- Reliance on adaptive technology (e.g., screen readers or speech-to-text software) to read and/or write.
- Difficulties with focusing on lecture content while taking notes due to learning disability or attention disorder.
How the Accommodation Works
- You are permitted to audio record lectures on a personal recording device such as a digital recorder, your phone, or your computer. Accessible Learning staff can work with you to find the best device to record lectures with.
- You must abide by the Audio Recording E-Agreement, which is to be completed each term through Accessible Learning Online.
You must complete an agreement to ensure you are using your recordings responsibly in a way that respects the intellectual property of the instructor. This includes agreeing to only using the recordings for your own use and deleting the recordings after you complete the course.
To help facilitate a quality recording, you may request to put a recorder or phone close to your instructor or sit close to the front of the classroom.
This accommodation provides consideration for students who may require additional time to complete assignments that extend beyond the assigned deadline date by the instructor.
When It Is Used
You may receive this accommodation because of:
- Compromised reading abilities (e.g., slow processing speed or dyslexic impairments) arising from a learning disability.
- 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. - Reliance on adaptive technology (e.g., screen readers or speech-to-text software) to read and/or write.
How the Accommodation Works
- Consideration for extensions on assignments/projects may be warranted on a case-by-case basis for disability related reasons by the instructor.
- You are recommended to work closely with Learning Strategist to work on time management and planning strategies.
- Contact your instructor prior to the assignment deadline to discuss potential extension. You should be prepared to bring work to your instructor when requesting extension.
- Your consultant may support in communicating an extension request to the course instructor prior to deadline.
- Your instructor will make decision about the approval and nature of extension at their discretion.
This accommodation provides you with consideration for an alternative means to demonstrate your participation in a course, which differs from the stated means of participation set by the instructor.
When It Is Used
Consideration for a participation alternative may be warranted if you experience an invisible disability that requires an alternative to verbal participation in the classroom.
This consideration may assist with such functional limitations as:
- Impairments due to brain injuries
- Exacerbation of symptoms related to mental health disorders
- Comorbid symptoms of health and mental health conditions
How the Accommodation Works
In-person learning components:
- Written assignments or responses to specific questions that can be shared with the class by someone else reading them aloud.
- If class discussion is required, consider allowing the student to complete Q&A or respond to comments in an alternative way (such as utilizing technology, answering emails, responding to discussion board posts, etc.).
This accommodation provides you with an alternative to presentations or an alternative option to how a presentation is executed, without altering the learning outcomes of the course.
When It Is Used
You have documentation that demonstrates consideration around an alternative to presentations due to such functional limitations caused by:
- learning disabilities
- attention disabilities
- mental health disabilities
- cognitive impairments
How the Accommodation Works
- If you have been assessed for this accommodation, reach out to your instructor to request consideration for upcoming presentations in the class.
- Your instructor will work with you to meet your accommodation needs while not altering the learning outcomes of the course.
- There may be courses wherein presentations are included as a learning outcome and no consideration can be made.
This accommodation provides students with access to lecture notes shared from volunteer note takers enrolled in their classes.
When It Is Used
You may receive this accommodation due to:
- Cognitive and/or physical disabilities
- Difficulties in taking copious class notes while listening and taking in the essence of lecture
- Physical disabilities that may impact taking notes such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Cerebral Palsy, etc.
How the Accommodation Works
- You can request note takers through Accessible Learning Online.
- A coordinator recruits and appoints volunteers to courses which have note taker requests.
- Volunteers will upload notes to Accessible Learning Online where you can view and download notes.
- You are required to abide by the responsibilities agreed to, in the note taking agreement.
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:
- 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.
- 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.