Building a Campus Accessibility Team

When students arrive at universities, it’s often the first time they’re living away from their homes. After families drop them off, they must face new responsibilities, navigating their academic and personal lives. For students with disabilities, there may be extra steps they need to take to get situated in their new housing and courses.

From finding access to common services, like captions, tutors, therapy and more, to individual accommodations from their instructors, the process can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, universities have teams of professionals in various departments who can offer their support. However, it’s not always clear who should be part of the team that provides guidance, advice and advocacy for students with disabilities. While each university might be a bit different, here are some of the major players that might make up an accessibility team and some of the ways they can help students get the most out of their education and campus experiences.

The Student 

Students are at the team’s center. While parents often take the lead when it comes to coordinating accommodations with K-12 students, in higher education, much of the onus is on the individual student. It’s up to them to report or disclose their disability to the university, and many students don’t take this first critical step. Whether it’s because they don’t think they need the services, feel uncomfortable reporting, or simply don’t know where to start, neglecting to get critical support in place can have a negative impact on academic success and make it less likely that the student has a positive experience integrating into the campus community.

What students need to do:

The student’s role is largely about communication. Specifically, they should:

• Find the disability services office or coordinator and set up a time to meet (remember there may be deadlines for requesting accommodations, so it’s better to act as soon as possible)
• Disclose any disabilities to the office so that the university is aware
• Provide appropriate proof or documentation of any disabilities to ensure the university has an obligation to provide accommodations
• Share any tools, services or accommodations — flexible deadlines, specific seating arrangements, captions or notetaking services — that helped in the past
• Ask about other potential services available that might be helpful
• Learn the university’s process for making an accommodation request, how it works with professors to find solutions and note any deadlines
• Keep an open line of communication with the office to keep track of what is and isn’t working
• Be flexible when necessary – some courses might require unique approaches (for instance, a professor may refuse to transcribe their course if it involves discussions of personal, sensitive topics and they believe students would be reluctant to speak if they’re being recorded)

The Student Disability Services Office

The student disability services office and personnel must understand the university’s obligations and policies. From the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 to self-imposed requirements, the university needs a team that knows what the law and the handbook say about accommodations for students. Disability coordinators also need to know how to work with instructors who might be less knowledgeable about accommodations or the technology that students might need to use in their courses. It’s really their role to pull everything and everyone together to provide students with the solutions they have a right to and need to have a successful educational experience.

A few ways these individuals are involved or can help include:

• Ensure the office’s contact information is easy to find and that students have a way to connect with a disability services coordinator
• Check student documentation and qualifying information to determine what accommodations the university needs to provide the student
• Take the time to meet with the student and learn what they need to excel in their courses
• Communicate with students about the university’s criteria for accessibility accommodations
• Connect with instructors about course requirements and how to implement the right supports
• Make determinations about when accommodations are or aren’t appropriate or warranted, and put those decisions in writing
• Protect the confidentiality of the student’s disability

The Instructors

As the individuals providing instruction for students, professors will need to handle many of the day-to-day accommodations for students in their courses. Accessibility may factor in during the classroom and tests, but also needs to be a consideration for course materials. Fortunately, universities often have people on-hand to help with any technical processes that instructors must engage in to make their courses accessible.

Some ways instructors should support students with disabilities include:

• Provide accessibility accommodations for lectures and instruction, including tools like captions, audio descriptions, transcripts or other solutions, whether the course is in-person or virtual
• Create accessible course content, which may include screen-reader friendly online content or videos with captions or subtitles
• Work with the disability services office to make any determinations about student accommodations
• Communicate with the student and the disability services office to find creative solutions when necessary or if standard accommodations create a challenge for a specific course
• Keep student disability information confidential and only discuss accommodations with the appropriate personnel
• Ensure that direct communications with the student are in a format they can access

Mental Health Personnel

Mental health challenges have become a major concern on campuses across the country. In fact, according to the American Psychiatric Association, the rate of mental health issues among college students has increased by almost 50% since 2013, with about 60% of students reporting one or more related challenges. Mental distress is more prevalent among people with disabilities, meaning that many of the students requesting accommodations for courses may also benefit from emotional support and therapy.

Some ways for these professionals to help students include:

• Connecting with the disability services office to ensure that coordinators know about the school’s counseling resources
• Perform student outreach to let students know about the availability of services
• Offer training for faculty and administrative staff to provide a better understanding of the potential stressors for all students, and specifically those with disabilities, and how to identify warning signs in students with anxiety, depression and other conditions
• Connect with students’ past providers with permission to assess how therapy helped in the past and how it might continue to support the student as an undergraduate or graduate student

The Academic Advisor

Academic advisors help all students reach their educational goals and prepare for their careers after graduation. These advisors are critical for helping students make sure they have a solid plan for completing all the necessary coursework before they reach their planned graduation date. Given that close to one in five undergraduate students have a disability, advisors will likely work with some individuals who need accommodations. For students with disabilities, advisors may need to learn about the barriers that their advisees face in their coursework and help them find solutions.

Some ways academic advisors can support students with disabilities are:

• Developing a rapport with the student so that they are comfortable sharing how they’re doing
• Connecting the student to campus resources, like disability services, academic supports or tutoring and mental health practitioners
• Communicating with the disability services office to take part in discussions about accommodations
• Working with students on creating schedules that set them up for success, which might include limiting the number of credit hours the student takes, avoiding courses that occur at certain times in the day or allowing for enough time between classes

The Academic Support Office

Any student may benefit from extra help and instruction. In some cases, where universities provide general tutoring services, students with disabilities may be entitled to tutoring with additional “reasonable accommodations” that make those supports more accessible. While not all universities have the same resources, most have some way of providing extra help for students.

Some possible ways academic support offices can assist students with disabilities may include:

• Offering access to a writing center that helps students improve written communication
• Connect students with disabilities with staff members and volunteers who provide extra help for specific courses
• Communicate with the disabilities services offices to learn what academic supports students might need
• Train staff and volunteers on ways to work with students with disabilities
• Check that support practices and materials are accessible for students with disabilities
• Make information about available support easy to find and accessible for all students

Student Families

Before students attend college, their parents often take care of their medical needs and doctor appointments and may coordinate with their schools to ensure they’re getting the appropriate type and level of support. Once students leave for university, that role passes to the students themselves. However, there are steps parents and guardians can take to make that transition smoother.

Here are a few ways to support students with disabilities as they take on more responsibility for themselves:

• Have a conversation with the student about the support they may need and help them find the right people to contact
• Provide the student with information and documentation that can help them make requests for accommodations (this might mean access to their patient portals, or electronic copies of diagnoses or records that they’ll need to show the university to prove they qualify for accommodations)
• Brainstorm with the student about the tools and approaches that helped them in the past so that they know what to request
• Be there for support when the student has questions or faces obstacles

When it comes to supporting students with disabilities as they pursue higher education, good communication is paramount. By connecting individually with students and other players on the accessibility team and providing accessible content and information online, every member of the university community can play a role in creating a more inclusive atmosphere.

Verbit partners with universities around the world to support more accessible learning environments. Reach out to learn more about our captioning, transcription, audio description, translation and other solutions.