Classroom Materials
Guidelines for Accessible Classroom Materials
WSU will make every reasonable good faith effort to ensure that students and other academic program participants (Participants) with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodations have meaningful access and an equal opportunity to participate in classes and academic programs at WSU. WSU faculty members should be familiar with their Student Disability Service Center’s procedures and to respond to reasonable accommodation requests in a timely fashion.
Reasonable Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations can include modifications to classroom materials, facilities, or activities to allow persons with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their ability. Accommodations should not fundamentally alter a course’s essential components. Typically, students are responsible for notifying their Faculty of approved reasonable accommodations from their Student Disability Service Center by presenting the approved accommodation form for signatures. Faculty members are responsible for implementing many student accommodations.
Questions about these guidelines and related policies may be directed to WSU Compliance and Civil Rights at 509-335-8288 or emailed to ccr@wsu.edu. Questions about student reasonable accommodation requests may be directed to the Disability Service Advisors on your campus:
Pullman/Global Campus/Everett
WSU Access Center, 509-335-3714 or center@wsu.edu
Spokane Campus
Student Affairs – Disability Resources, 509-358-7434 or liz.west@wsu.edu
Tri-Cities Campus
Student Affairs – Disability Support Services, 509-372-7352 or ctijerina@tricity.wsu.edu
Vancouver Campus
Access Center, 360-546-9238 or van.access.center@wsu.edu
Responsibility for Classroom Materials Accessibility
Students may request accommodations on the basis of a documented disability through Student Disability Service Centers. Once reasonable accommodations are approved, typically, students notify faculty of the approved accommodations from Student Disability Service Centers by presenting the approved accommodation form for signatures. Students are expected to meet with their instructors to discuss how accommodations are facilitated. Generally, faculty are responsible for ensuring course information is reasonably accessible to students and that students have an equal opportunity to convey their knowledge. Faculty can work with the Disability Service Providers for any questions they may have about implementation and for assistance with all reasonable accommodations, including, but not limited to the following items:
- Alternative testing locations and times
- Alternative print of course materials (e.g. braille, Kurzweil 3000 files, text files, audio files, etc)
- Note takers
- Interpreters
- Transcription services
- Screen readers
- Scribes
- Relocation of classrooms, if inaccessible
- Specialized furniture
- Flexibility with attendance/assignments deadlines
- Closed captioning
- Assistive Listening Devices
For student reasonable accommodations, the disability services center is responsible for most costs associated with those accommodations. There may be specific instances where the cost of accommodations are absorbed or shared with departments.