As a faculty member, you are encouraged to give notice to students with disabilities about requesting disability-related accommodations. Access for students with disabilities begins with using universal design in instruction in the classroom. This includes having closed captioning on all videos, providing materials that can be accessed by screen-reading software, and assessing students’ knowledge in a variety of methods. In addition to this, some students may require testing or classroom accommodations. Examples of some more typical accommodations include, extended time for testing, use of laptop or note-taking technology for taking notes, use of a computer for all written work and alternate format of texts.

If a student wishes to request disability-related accommodations, they must register with the Office of Student Disability Support (OSDS). Once the registration process is complete and appropriate accommodations are determined, a letter of accommodations is given to the student. The student is responsible for delivering the letter to their professors. Professors should not provide disability-related accommodations in the absence of a letter from the OSDS. Additionally, accommodations are not retroactive, so early disclosure is to be strongly encouraged.

Please include the following notice in your syllabus, which informs students with disabilities how to appropriately request accommodations through the Office of Student Disability Support:

Students with Disabilities
If you wish to receive accommodations for a disability, please notify me with a Faculty Notification Letter from the Office of Student Disability Support (OSDS). As accommodations are not retroactive, timely notification at the beginning of the semester, if possible, is strongly encouraged. To register with a disability or for questions about disability accommodations contact the OSDS at 202.885.3360 or [email protected].