Accessibility Resources for Faculty & Staff

Individuals with disabilities are covered by two primary legal mandates that protect them from discrimination and ensure that they have equal access to all programs, services and activities of the University.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended, states:

"A public entity shall make reasonable modifications in policies or procedures when the modifications are necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless the public entity can demonstrate that making the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity."

(Source: http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm)

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, states:

"No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States...shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

(Source: https://ncd.gov/publications/2003/Feb122003)

The OAR works diligently to ensure its operations are legally compliant. The OAR director is available to help instructors of students with disabilities to be consistent with the law.

The OAR is dedicated to facilitating University-wide compliance. Faculty are welcome to contact the Director for more information.

The Office of Accessibility Resources, students with disabilities and faculty must work together to provide reasonable accommodations based on disability documentation, functional limitations and students' self-reports.

Each member of this team has different responsibilities:

The OAR director is expected to:

• Authorize students' accommodations.
• Empower and train students in self-advocacy.
• Help students request and access accommodations in a timely manner.
• Provide specific reasonable accommodations to students as necessary.
• Honor student preferences for those accommodations whenever possible.
• Address instructors' questions and concerns.

Students are expected to:

• Register with the OAR.
• Request accommodations promptly from their instructors.
• Follow appropriate and corresponding policy and procedure.
• Complete the same class requirements as all other students.

Faculty are expected to:

• Provide appropriate accommodations to their students in collaboration with the OAR.
• Consult with the Director of the OAR as needed.
• Assist when a student needs a note-taker.
• Help to facilitate the exam accommodation process.
• Collaborate with students and the Director of the OAR to make sure course materials are accessible.

By working together, students, faculty and the OAR director can provide reasonable accommodations in a timely, respectful, stress-free and supportive manner so that students with disabilities have the access that is right and just and also required by federal law.

The Office of Accessibility Resources is the campus office designated to provide appropriate accommodations, services and assistive technology for students with disabilities. In order to implement most accommodations, students, faculty and the OAR director must collaborate, communicate and follow through on commitments in a timely fashion.

The following best practices can assist faculty in making this collaboration successful.

Syllabuses

Include a statement about disability accommodations in course syllabuses:

• This statement should read as follows: "Any student who may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Accessibility Resources at 570-577-1188 or OAR@bucknell.edu. The office will help coordinate reasonable accommodations for those students with documented disabilities."

Confidentiality

Maintaining students' confidentiality about their disabilities and respecting their choices to disclose or withhold the nature of their disabilities:

• Disability information is confidential.
• Students differ on self-disclosure, some may choose to disclose the specifics of the disability to their faculty, but other's may not. A student requesting accommodations in the classroom must disclose to their faculty through their registration with the OAR and Letter of Accommodation, the student is not obligated to reveal the disability to the faculty.
• The OAR director will not disclose a student's disability unless that student has granted written permission.
• Students are instructed to initiate a meeting with faculty after the Letter of Accommodation is sent and this meeting ideally, will be held in a private space.

Registration with OAR

Providing accommodations only to students who have registered with the OAR:

• While OAR is the only campus office authorized to review disability documentation and determine students' eligibility for specific accommodations, not all students with disabilities are registered with the OAR.
• If students have not registered, they are ineligible to receive accommodations.
• Faculty are free to confirm a student's registration with the OAR, which can provide a Letter of Accommodation when required.

Accommodations Only as Requested and When Requested

Supplying accommodations as requested, only when requested:

• Many students' accommodations are administered through the OAR, but when faculty provide accommodations themselves, they must implement the appropriate accommodations correctly.
• Faculty should not guess or predetermine what students may need without a specific request for accommodations; persons with disabilities have the right to choose not to use accommodations, and in exercising that right, they accept the resulting outcomes.
• Faculty are under no obligation to retroactively fix any problem arising from students' choices to forgo accommodations.
• Faculty may consult with the OAR director for further guidance on the reasonableness, parameters, or adequacy of authorized accommodations.

Working with the OAR

Working with the OAR to supply students with alternative formats for print materials and other classroom media in a timely manner:

• Students registered with the OAR must receive all converted materials at the same time as their peers. This requires particular proactivity from faculty of students who receive these accommodations, ideally through selecting already-accessible materials (e.g., print materials available in a searchable text digital version, audiovisual recordings with accurate captions embedded, etc.).
• The OAR is able to assist faculty with this process. If faculty do not have accessible formats for print or audiovisual materials for their students, it is critical that they inform the OAR of the materials they plan to use as soon as they are requested to do so by a student or by the OAR.

Understanding Student Performance

Understanding that students with disabilities vary in their academic success:

• All faculty expect their students to perform to the best of their abilities. It follows, likewise, that faculty should require students with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the class. Just as academic performance varies among students without disabilities, students with disabilities can display a wide range of academic abilities as well.

Student Expertise

Remembering that the student is the expert on strategies that may help:

• Many students registered with the OAR have experience advocating for their needs. Most are knowledgeable about their disability, the strategies and accommodations that work for them, and the assistive technology they use.
• Meeting with students individually can provide faculty with additional insights and helpful suggestions.

The Universal Design for Learning and Accessible Media

While advising faculty on course management and instructional methods falls outside of its scope of service, the OAR suggests the following practices may be helpful to all students in class, potentially averting the need for many student-specific accommodations:

• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to designing course instruction, materials, evaluation, activities and content in such a way that all persons can participate in the educational process without adaptation or retrofitting. By creating a Universally Designed environment, accommodations are likely rare because options for learning and evaluation are available to all of the students in the class. Incorporating these ideals, in whole or in part, is both feasible and helpful to all students. More information on UDL is available at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) website.
• Accessible Media is the converting of images, text, audio, and video into accessible materials. It is the faculty's responsibility for ensuring all content uploaded into Moodle is accessible. Some examples of accessible media include: captioned videos, required text available in e-book version (check with your publisher first before purchasing) and captioned/descriptions of pictures on PowerPoint slides. These small changes can also greatly enhance the learning of students without disabilities as well because it presents content in multiple modes.

Overview of Making Accessible Documents

Regardless of whether the document is in HTML, Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or another document format there are a few basic guidelines to make your content accessible:

• Use headings
• Use lists
• Use meaningful hyperlinks
• Add alternate text to images and graphics
• Identify document language
• Use tables wisely
• Understand how to export from one format to another

Create Accessible Documents Instructions

• Acrobat Pro DC
• Excel
• InDesign
• PowerPoint
• Word

Students with disabilities have the right to equal access to courses, programs, activities, services and facilities offered at Bucknell University. Students are also entitled to reasonable accommodations. All information about the student's disability is to be kept confidential. Students have the responsibility to provide acceptable documentation of disabilities and to register with OAR if they would like to receive accommodations. If students deem it necessary to receive accommodations for a particular class, students have the responsibility to discuss the accommodation(s) as verified by the Letter of Accommodation (LOA).

The Letter of Accommodation (LOA) is a document from the OAR director indicating that the student went through the proper process to become registered with the OAR for accommodations. It includes information regarding the name of the student, the name of the faculty members the student wishes the LOA sent to, as well as the approved legally mandated reasonable accommodations.

An instructor has the right to confirm a student's request for accommodations and to ask for clarification about a specific accommodation with the OAR. Instructors typically do not refuse to provide an accommodation and they do not have a right to review a student's documentation including diagnostic data. Instructors have a responsibility to work with the OAR in providing reasonable accommodations, keep all records and communications with students confidential, and to refer a student to the OAR who requests accommodations but is not currently registered. Instructors do not have to provide accommodations for students not registered with the OAR.

The statement should be a welcoming invitation to all students who have disabilities — especially those who have not yet registered with the OAR — to reach out to the faculty member as a first step in the process. It shows that the faculty member is aware of, and supportive of students with disabilities which provides a welcoming, inclusive and collaborative classroom environment. It is also an essential, legally mandated obligation for Bucknell University to make every effort to provide appropriate notification of resources for our students with disabilities.

Faculty should never directly inquire whether a student has a disability. Rather, as you would with any of your students, set up a meeting to discuss your concerns about grades, writing, absences, classroom behavior, etc. If the student alludes to the idea that there is a disability/issue please refer the student to the OAR. You should always be prepared to provide referral sources (e.g., OAR, Counseling, TLC, Writing Center, Student Health) for any student that may be struggling.

A student with a disability who is disruptive in class should be treated as an instructor would treat any student who is disruptive in class. If an instructor feels that there is a disability-related reason for the student's behavior, the instructor can discuss this with the OAR director to determine if there is a solution to the problem or strategies for addressing the behavior.

It is important for instructors to remember that providing reasonable accommodations to a student with a disability does not guarantee success in the course. Students with disabilities may not master the course material, just like any other student. Students with disabilities have the same right as other students to fail as part of their educational experience.

Ideally, the OAR director will approach you first to seek input before approving this as an accommodation; however, this sequence rarely occurs. In certain circumstances providing a bit more of an allowance for students registered with the OAR for this accommodation is considered reasonable. There are certain health issues that our students have that require flexibility in attendance (e.g., cancer treatment, fibromyalgia, systemic lupus, POTS) as well as mental health issues that cause students to have difficulty getting work in on time or attending class (e.g., anxiety, insomnia, depression). The general rule of thumb is to provide at least one more absence without repercussions then what the syllabus states.

Some of our students have print disabilities — they are unable to see or have difficulty reading — and need all course materials in an accessible format (e.g., ebook, braille, large font). In order to make your classroom more universally designed (designed for all), prior to ordering text books you should always check with the publisher if the text book comes in an accessible format (e.g., PDF). You should also make sure that all of your course materials can be/are available in different modes (e.g., hardcopy, online, audio).

While it is very difficult to deny a student in need, it is very important to follow policy and procedure. All students requesting accommodations MUST go through the registration process with the OAR and only students who you receive an LOA for are officially approved for disability accommodations. Faculty members who provide accommodations outside of this policy place Bucknell University at risk for potential legal issues down the road.

While faculty members want to ensure that accommodations are provided to students with disabilities — especially when students are registered with the OAR — it is the responsibility of the student to follow up the LOA with the professor. Students are informed of this in the OAR initial intake meeting when the LOA is written, as well as in the policy and procedures that they receive. Students are free to use their accommodations or not. Faculty are encouraged to inquire directly with the student to see if the student is requiring accommodations in the class if this makes it easier than waiting for the student to initiate this discussion.

Many students registered with the OAR have the reasonable accommodation of extended time on tests and/or distraction-reduced testing environment. The OAR Testing Center should be considered a second option for those students registered with the OAR for those accommodations mentioned above as well as other testing accommodations. After the meeting with the professor to discuss how the accommodations will be provided and it is decided that the student will be accommodated in the Testing Center, the student is responsible for setting up his own testing center schedule. The professor is responsible for replying to the Your Reply Requested email in a timely manner. The requested information should be submitted as soon as possible with the exam file either submitted at the same time or no later 24 hours before the start time of the student's exam. (whenever possible). Best practice is that the professor provides the extended time or distraction-reduced setting so that the student has access to the professor for any test questions. However, sometimes this is not feasible due to time constraints, back-to-back classes and other issues. Students may also prefer to use the Testing Center. These issues must be discussed in the student (or faculty) initiated meeting following the LOA.

While this statement — taken at face value — might feel true, there are several factors that discredit it.

1. Research indicates that no matter how much time you give a student, if they don't know it, they don't know it—time will not influence that fact.
2. Most of the students in your class are not students with a disability. They do not have the same challenges as students that you receive a LOA for.
3. The students with disabilities are challenged with learning disabilities, ADHD and other attention/processing speed disorders, visual impairments, health impairments, mental health issues, etc.
4. The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination. If the OAR deems that this accommodation is necessary, it is our legal obligation to provide this as a legal, reasonable academic accommodation.

It is best instead to focus on the purpose of assessment and to allow the time for the student to demonstrate what is known—do not focus on the student not being able to finish the test in a certain amount of time. If the latter is your focus, then you are assessing the disability, not what was learned.

The only exception to this rule of thumb is in instances of training for life or death situations such as in the medical field (e.g., paramedics/EMT hands-on training).

Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title I of the ADA give a definition of "reasonable" accommodation in the context of employment. In Subpart E of Section 504 (dealing with postsecondary education) the term "appropriate academic adjustment" is used to describe the accommodations that might be required. The ADA does not speak specifically to the "academic" nature of accommodations, but rather includes educational entities under the broader description of necessary action. Typically, then, a discussion of accommodations required under the ADA centers on whether an accommodation is "reasonable" in the sense of the adjective, not the legal definition.)

Federal law requires that no (otherwise) qualified person with a disability shall be denied a benefit or opportunity or excluded from participation solely on the basis of that disability. An individual with a disability is qualified if, with or without reasonable accommodation, they meet the same eligibility requirements and standards of behavior and performance demanded of anyone else. When exploring compliance under the law, it is not uncommon for a discussion of accommodation to focus on the issue of documentation of disability — "if he/she has a disability, then we will provide accommodation." In fact, the documentation of disability and of the need for accommodation is only the first step in the process of receiving accommodation. The question of whether an accommodation is necessary for an institution of higher education (i.e., should be provided) may not hinge on whether or not the person has a disability, but rather on whether or not the accommodation needed is reasonable.

In some instances, an individual with a disability may need no accommodation to fully meet the eligibility criteria and standards required for inclusion. In some instances, the individual with a disability may meet the criteria and standards provided that a reasonable accommodation is provided or a modification is made. In some instances, an individual with a disability may be able to meet the eligibility criteria or standards only if an accommodation is made that goes beyond what is "reasonable." In these instances, the person with a disability is not otherwise qualified and it is not discriminatory to exclude them from the benefit or opportunity.

In the context of higher education, it is easier to define what is not reasonable and assume that if the accommodation needed does not clearly fall under those guidelines, it is probably reasonable! There are three kinds of accommodations that are not considered reasonable: (1) It is not a reasonable accommodation if making the accommodation or allowing participation poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others; (2) It is not a reasonable accommodation if making the accommodation means making a substantial change in an essential element of the curriculum (educational viewpoint) or a substantial alteration in the manner in which you provide your services; and (3) It is not a reasonable accommodation if it poses an undue financial or administrative burden.

(1) Direct Threat to the Health or Safety of Others

An accommodation is not reasonable if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. In order to establish a direct threat, the institution must be able to document a substantial risk of significant harm. Concern about direct threat arises most frequently in relation to allied health and professional programs in which the student’s ability to provide safe and appropriate quality care is questioned. It should be noted that the mere existence of a disability does not provide evidence of direct threat. Nor does the possibility of a difficulty arising constitute a substantial risk of significant harm. While an institution may be able to make a case for "direct threat" in the instance of a deaf nurse or early childhood education major with limited vision, it would be a hard argument to make for these same students in an English or Philosophy class.

It is important to note that under the ADA the direct threat must be to someone else. The individual with a disability has a right to choose to assume the risk to self in the same way that anyone else who participates chooses to assume that risk. A blind individual could not be denied participation in a hiking class that covers rough terrain because of a fear that he/she might trip and fall, but it might be appropriate to deny participation to this individual in a scuba diving class in which participants are paired up and responsible for monitoring each other’s safety through the visual inspection of valves and gauges.

(2) Substantial Change in an Essential Element of Curriculum

In the academic context, an accommodation is not reasonable if it means making a substantial change in an essential element of a course or a given student’s curriculum. It is the institution’s responsibility to demonstrate both that the change requested is substantial and that the element targeted for change is essential to the conduct of the course or curriculum. Whether or not the change requested is substantial/essential may be a judgment call on behalf of the administrators and service providers charged with making those decisions but it is not unusual for the decision to be a fairly logical one.

• An institution may logically decide that asking them to make a substitution for basic math coursework for a Business major is not reasonable; not only is it appropriate to assure that anyone graduating with a degree in Business has some basic competency in math, but the skills mastered in that basic coursework will serve as the underpinning for much of the advanced course work in the field.

• An institution may not logically decide that it is not reasonable to make a substitution for a math course that is the only math requirement (3 hours) in a 150 hour course sequence for an early childhood education major; this 3-hour requirement is neither a substantial part of this curriculum nor essential to the course of study.

  (NOTE: In both examples above, it is assumed that the individual making the request has already been determined/documented to be a person with a disability which substantially impacts on their ability to follow the standard curriculum regarding the math requirement)

• An institution may logically decide that demonstrated mastery of a foreign language is essential for a deaf student in International Studies and that a substitution for the foreign language requirement is not reasonable.

• An institution may not logically decide that demonstrated mastery of a foreign language is essential for a deaf student majoring in Philosophy because he/she is enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences and "everybody in Arts and Sciences has a foreign language requirement" unless the faculty has engaged in legitimate academic discourse to determine that foreign language is an integral part of the Arts and Sciences degree granted by this institution (i.e., just saying "this is a requirement" is not enough; until it is established that the decision is curricular in nature, rather an arbitrary, the institution has not discharged its burden).

  Sometimes the question hinges not on the course of study but the manner in which a specific course is conducted.

• In an intensive Weekend MBA program designed to give students intensive experience in working cooperatively with classmates, a student who (for legitimate disability-related reasons) will not be able to attend class regularly and participate in group experiences may be denied admission to the program. To ask that the model of delivery be altered to focus on something other than this cooperative learning model is asking for a substantial change in an essential element of course design.
• On the other hand, to demand that students in an Accounting class finish a requisite amount of work in a limited amount of time and thus refuse the accommodation of extended time in testing is not appropriate. Although the instructor may have traditionally measured speed of calculations as one element in grading, this is not essential to the demonstrated of mastery of the subject matter. There is no requirement for a substantial alteration in what is being taught in this instance —the faculty member is not teaching "speed".

(3) Substantial Alteration in the Manner in Which Services are Provided

From an administrative point of view, it is not a reasonable accommodation if it means making a substantial alteration in the manner in which you offer your goods and services (in this case, educational opportunities and everything that go with them).

Sometimes this discussion revolves around method of delivery, and sometimes on the opportunity being delivered.

• An institution that does not have a distance learning program, allowing students to access courses or degrees from alternative sites and/or through various electronic media is not required to create such an alternative for an academically qualified student with a disability who is unable to reach campus and participate in "hands on", in class learning experiences.
• A commuter institution does not have to create housing options for individuals with disabilities who need to be in close proximity to the campus if it is not involved in housing its nondisabled students.
• On the other hand, it is not unreasonable to expect institutions of higher education to provide textbooks and handouts in alternate media for students with disabilities who cannot use standard print. It is not a substantial alteration in the delivery of opportunity. The opportunity is not the chance to read a book, the opportunity is have access to materials to be used in learning and studying and the institution must see that this opportunity is provided equally to all students regardless of disability.
• An individual with a learning disability who reads more slowly may need to have additional time made available to read materials kept on closed reserve in the library. While others are allowed to check out these materials for 60 minutes at a time, the individual with a learning disability might be allowed 90 minutes. It is not reasonable, however, for the student to request that the library stay open an extra 30 minutes past regular closing time in order to have the full 90 minutes. That would be a substantial alteration in the manner in which the library delivers its services.

An accommodation is not reasonable if it creates an undue financial or administrative burden for the institution. However...

• Title II of the ADA (which would encompass all public postsecondary institutions) indicates that an accommodation is not reasonable if it is an undue financial burden but indicates that when examining the cost of provision for auxiliary aids and services the government will be looking at the total resources available in the situation. In other words, it will not be the budget of the Biology Department, or the School of Science, or State University that is evaluated, but the budget of the State of_______ against which the yardstick of "undue financial burden" will be measured.

• In 20 years of case law and findings under Section 504 (which includes public and private institutions), the federal government has never allowed an institution of higher education to refuse to provide auxiliary aids or services solely on the basis of cost. Never.

  On the other hand, there may be instances in which a request for accommodation constitutes an undue administrative burden:

• A request from an individual with multichemical sensitivity that no construction work be done on campus during school terms could legitimately be viewed as "not reasonable". The institution must be allowed to maintain and enhance its facilities in order to best serve the full campus community.
• A request from a student with a disability to have the institution reschedule the offering of a needed class to dovetail with the student’s transportation arrangements (in other words, offering the class during daytime hours instead of in the evening) is not reasonable (but a request for priority scheduling for the student with a disability to assure placement in the one offering of that class that meets during the day is reasonable).

It is important to remember that the institution is only required to make reasonable accommodations to assure equal access to opportunity for persons with disabilities. If the request for accommodation is judged to be unreasonable (as detailed above), it may be refused. However, a request for an accommodation that is not reasonable does not effect the obligation to provide needed accommodations that are reasonable. Saying "no" to a request that is not reasonable should never be viewed as the end of a discussion of accommodation options. If the individual has a documented disability and needs accommodation to assure access, then the institution is obligated to work with that student to determine whether there is some reasonable accommodation that can be devised to provide the access limited by the disability.

Excerpted from Higher Education and the ADA: Issues and Perspectives, (DAIS, 1997).

Reprinted with permission