There is nothing that you need to do to implement these accommodations. Some accommodations listed on the Letter of Accommodation are there to provide context to the manner in which a student may participate or be present in class. Some students may need to wear sunglasses or a hat with a brim to address the impact of sensitivity to classroom lighting, and including this accommodation in the letter is intended to prevent instructors from interpreting such actions as disrespectful or distracting. Similarly, some students may be unable to remain seated for the duration of a...
Some students have specific accommodations from DSP to receive typewritten notes from a student note taker in their class. If this is the case, the note taker should be allowed to use their laptop in the classroom after they have identified themselves to you.
As a compliance office, DSP is required to document correspondence from parties engaging in the interactive process and the fundamental alteration process. If you are engaging in email correspondence with a Disability Specialist regarding implementing a student’s accommodations, your messages will be saved in the staff notes module of that student’s AIM file. This module is not directly available to students in AIM. However, all student records at UC Berkeley, including staff case notes, are subpoenable if the student is engaged in a grievance or legal process, and all...
We do encourage students to have a conversation with their instructors about their accommodations. These conversations can be helpful for both parties. DSP Disability Specialists can also help facilitate these conversations and assist faculty with setting up an agreement with students about accommodations (for example, Disability Specialists can help instructors and students confirm the parameters for acceptable numbers of absences or timelines for assignment extensions). However, we cannot require students to have a conversation about their accommodations with their...
DSP serves students with disabilities. Short-term illnesses such as colds and flu, COVID, or mono are not in themselves disabilities.
Additionally, accommodations are not retroactive, and any approved accommodations would be valid from the issuance of a student’s Letter of Accommodation forward.
If a student has experienced a short-term illness that has resulted in a disability (such as long COVID), DSP is an appropriate office to determine any needed accommodations. However, if the short-term illness simply takes...
If you have a significant concern about the well-being of any student in your class, please file a Care Report with the campus’s Center for Support and Intervention (CSI). Filing a Care Report allows a CSI Case Manager to evaluate the concern and to offer appropriate support to the student.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) notes that "reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures shall be required, unless an entity can demonstrate that making such modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, including academic requirements in postsecondary education, would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations involved."
Faculty are responsible for making their own websites accessible and providing accommodations for students with disabilities in an online course. There are many campus resources to assist faculty with this.
UC Berkeley is required to ensure that anything posted in public forums (for example, University websites or YouTube Channels) is fully accessible to persons with disabilities and can be accessed using assistive technology ( i.e. screen readers) and also includes video captions. Any information that is posted in your official university capacity that is visible to any member of the public must meet this accessibility standard.
Online courses or websites that are only accessible to registered students must provide accommodations as described in...
All accommodations are approved to address barriers that students experience based on the impact of their disability in the context of a particular academic space, task, or requirement.
In order to determine the appropriate amount of extended exam time a student may be approved for, a Disability Specialist will review the student’s medical documentation to understand how the student’s disability may impact them in a typical timed exam setting. In addition, Disability Specialists interview students about their own experiences when taking exams...
