Questions about Implementing Specific Accommodations

Audio Recording: A student’s accommodation letter states that they are approved to use an audio recording device during my class, but I do not permit students to record my lectures. What should I do?

According to UC policy and disability law, students with disabilities must be permitted to audio-record when doing so is approved as a disability accommodation.

UC Policy PACAOS 140, "Guidelines Applying to Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability" page 8 specifically states:

Any prohibition against the use of tape recorders or braillers in classrooms, or dog guides and service dogs in campus...

Make-up Exams: Can I refuse a disability-related request for a make-up exam and instead drop the exam and add the points to a future exam (sometimes known as clobber policies)?

Faculty may offer this as an option to students. However, if the student has a disability-related need for a make-up exam (the student's assigned Disability Specialist can verify if needed), then the student has a right to take a make-up exam.

You can choose to administer the same exam to the student as the exam the class has already taken. Some instructors ask students to sign an academic integrity agreement verifying that the student has not accessed the already-administered exam or discussed it with others...

Technology Accommodations: A student’s Letter of Accommodation states that they need to use a laptop during class, and I do not allow personal technology, including laptops, in my classroom. Can I ask the student not to use their laptop in my class?

Some students use assistive technology on a laptop or tablet to assist them with note taking, while others require screen-reading technology on their laptops or tablets to engage with course materials, including their textbooks, during class. If a disabled student has an accommodation for the use of a laptop or tablet in class for disability-related reasons, the instructor should allow the student to use their technology

When students are using a laptop or tablet as an approved disability accommodation, they should not be required...

Make-up Exams: Is it okay for me to give the student a grade of Incomplete and ask them to take the final exam with next semester’s class?

The day of my final exam, a student in my class had a disability-related absence. The student now wants me to provide them with a make-up exam, which their accommodation letter allows for. Is it okay for me to give the student a grade of Incomplete and ask them to take the final exam with next semester’s class?

If the student is in good standing in your class at the time of the missed final, you can offer the student the option of an incomplete grade to allow them to take a make-up exam when they are well enough to do so. However, you cannot require a student to wait a full semester to take the final exam with another class if the student requests to take the exam earlier. In most cases, if a student has missed an exam due to a flare in the impact of their disability, the student will be able to take the exam within days of the flare subsiding. If this is the case, it would not provide...

Extended Exam Time: How does extended time work for a timed online exam that students have one week to log in and complete?

For our class midterm, I am requiring the class to take a timed online exam. The students are able to choose any time this week to log in and take the 3-hour exam, and they are required to complete the exam this week–the exam portal will close after seven days. Am I required to give students with 150% time accommodations ten days to complete the exam?

If you are using a platform that allows all students to engage with the exam for a set amount of time (three hours), then the settings in the platform should be adjusted for students with 150% time accommodations to allow them four and a half hours to take the exam. The student with the extended time accommodation can then choose when during the week to log in and take their exam, and while taking the exam, will be provided with the additional time they require, in relation to their peers without extended time accommodations.

Extended Exam Time: How does extended time work for a take home essay exam that should require 4-5 hours of writing and is due in one week?

For our class midterm, I am giving the class an essay exam that I expect will take most students four or five hours to complete, and I am giving them the prompt in this week’s class meeting, and requiring them to submit their responses before next week’s class meeting. Since students without accommodations will have seven days to complete the exam, am I required to give students with 150% time accommodations ten days to complete the exam?

Generally speaking, the 150% time accommodation for timed exams and quizzes applies to exams with a short window to complete, typically exams with less than a 24-48 hour window for completion. It would be fair to let your students know that you wrote the exam expecting that it would take students without accommodations four to five hours to complete, and that the class should plan their writing time accordingly over the course of the week to ensure that they meet 7-day deadline to hand in their work.

If a student has accommodations for...

Extended Exam Time: Does this apply to pop quizzes in class, too?

Extended time for in-class exams and quizzes applies to pop quizzes in class.

Choosing assessments that are designed to be accessible reduces the need for accommodations and proctoring. Traditional timed pop-quizzes often present access barriers to disabled students who require exam accommodations such as extended time, reduced distraction testing environments, and use of technology such as speech to text software.

In 2001, Ruth Fink, PhD, (Learning Disabilities Specialist, Language Disorders Specialist, Retired...

Extended Exam Time: How do I determine how long a student with extended time should have for their exam?

The amount of time a student with an extended time accommodation should be provided must be calculated in comparison to the amount of time provided to students without disability accommodations.

For instance, if students without extended time accommodations are given 1 hour to complete an exam, a student in the class with a 150% extended time accommodation should be given 1 hour and 30 minutes.

If you create an exam that you think will take students an hour to complete, and you give the full class three hours to...