Accommodations
We're committed to providing effective accommodations to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
What accommodations are
- Accommodations are alternative ways students with disabilities can access course material, participate in learning and/or demonstrate knowledge or skills.
- Accommodations remove or reduce barriers, provide equal opportunity into the academic environment.
What accommodations are not
- Accommodations cannot modify program outcomes.
- Accommodations do not provide students with disabilities an advantage over students without disabilities.
- Accommodations do not guarantee academic success; students with accommodations may still experience similar program challenges as their peers.
How to access accommodations
To access accommodations, you must register with Accessibility Services and participate in accommodation planning. Accessibility Services will collaborate with you and your faculty to facilitate and support accommodation planning, implementation and monitoring.
Examples of accommodations
A variety of accommodations may be approved with supporting documentation. Some common accommodations include:
Electronic versions of textbooks, materials and assessments to use with read aloud software and/or to manipulate text (make it bigger, extract study notes, etc.).
For textbooks, students are required to purchase the hard copy first, then use the receipt to request the PDF copy from publishers. Accessibility Services and Library staff will help.
If available, it's recommended you purchase the ebook. Ebooks come with additional accessibility features. Check with the NSCC Bookstore on availability of ebooks.
A personal attendant is for daily care while on campus. An attendant is trained in personal and medical needs only and does not complete coursework. The attendant is organized by the student and Accessibility Services staff. The attendant may not necessarily be, and is often not, in the classroom. The student may need to leave class early or may need adjustments to class scheduling based on the attendant’s schedule.
Chunked time for tests/assessments or reduced length of assignments, tests and projects.
Captioning of all visual media to display text with videos. YouTube and Microsoft Team videos come with a built-in option.
Electronic transcribing device to record test answers or dictate written work. The recorder will transcribe the student’s voice into text. The student will copy and paste the text into an electronic version of the test or assignment.
Extra time for tests or graded in-class assignments with specific time allotments. Extra time could be 1.5 times the regular duration. For example, a two-hour test results in 3 hours (2 x 1.5).
A student may be late or missing from class on occasion due to reasons associated with a disability. The student remains accountable to a communication plan regarding their absences.
Flexibility to take breaks during class time requires collaboration with the instructor to minimize distractions for other students.
Flexibility with deadlines is meant to be used for infrequent extensions on deadlines without academic penalty for the student. It's applicable to individual assignments/projects and typically doesn't extend to group work. Alternate deadlines must be negotiated in advance between the student and the instructor.
The student will verbalize written work such as test answers or assignments to a human scribe who will write exactly as dictated by the student.
All printed text in a particular sized font and style.
A memory aid may be used during tests/exams to assist a student in triggering the recall of information. It's not meant to provide a student with answers. Students must create their own memory aid. Faculty must approve the format and final content before it's used during a test or assessment.
Refers to the use of a recording device in the classroom. All participants in the class must be informed that the class is being recorded for the purposes of learning.
A note taker will take class notes so the student can focus on listening to the lecture.
A designated person and a previously rehearsed a plan to assist with evacuations.
Quiet space to reduce distractions and/or a separate and enclosed space to support the use of assistive technology. The student will use this accommodation in the Testing Centre.
Reader software (Text to Speech) to read text aloud for the student. If possible, the student will record answers themselves in the original format provided by the instructor. Students may require access to laptops or other mobile devices in class in order to use this software.