The Office of Accessible Education (OAE) thanks our faculty and staff for their support and collaboration. We appreciate the significant contributions you are making to ensure an accessible and inclusive environment at SCU.
Though we have transitioned online temporarily, OAE students’ Eligibility Letters will continue to show their approved accommodations “as is.”
We understand and acknowledge some accommodations are not appropriate for the online format.
However, Eligibility Letters unfortunately cannot be modified to reflect accommodations for the online format only.
Please contact OAE (408-554-4109; oae@scu.edu) for clarification.
The University has instructed faculty to record lectures to create access to course content for all students.
Though the recordings of "live lectures" will remain the primary notetaking method during the online transition, for any online courses where a Notetaker has signed up, OAE will match the Notetaker accordingly to the class.
- Notetakers will be assigned as in previous quarters and we ask that you assist in recruiting notetaker if one has not already been assigned.
- For OAE students who are approved of a Notetaker (as an accommodation) and enrolled in courses that we’re not able to retain a Notetaker, and for OAE students who are approved of Audio Recording of Lectures (as an accommodation): OAE asks faculty to please record “Live lectures” and upload them to Camino so registered OAE students with notetaking accommodations may access the lectures.
- For assistance with posting videos to Camino, please contact Academic Technology (email "caminosupport@scu.edu" or call 408-551-3572).
- If you’re using Zoom as a meeting platform for lectures - Zoom allows you to record lectures and embed captions/transcriptions directly to your recordings.
- Learn more about Zoom transcriptions and captions.
- Please share PowerPoints and/or pictures of whiteboards for “Live lectures” with students.
- Recordings and slides need to be made available to students within 24 hours from the “Live lecture” meeting time.
As long as the Shelter-In-Place order remains and/or all classes are being offered online, OAE will not be proctoring exams since classes and exams are being offered in the online format.
As a result, an Alternative Testing Guideline (ATG) will not be required by OAE during the online transition.
HOWEVER, once the Shelter-In-Place order is lifted and students return to campus, the ATG will be required (if you wish to have OAE assist with proctoring).
- Accommodations such as Alternative Test Site or Breaks During Exams will not apply as accommodations in the online format. It will be the OAE student's responsibility to find a quiet space and take breaks as needed.
- Time accommodations (1.25x, 1.5x, 2.0x, etc.) will continue to apply.
- Faculty can use these steps to differentiate a quiz if they need to alter due dates or times for one or many students. This is for students who will be taking the same quiz but at a different day or time.
- Faculty can use these steps to moderate a quiz if they need to provide additional time or attempts for an individual student. This is for students who receive additional time, for students who inadvertently submit their quiz, or for students who need additional time or attempts due to technical difficulties occurring during the quiz. Make sure the quiz does not close before the additional time for a student is up. The "Available Until" date and time should be the time the last student has to complete the quiz.
- Faculty can use these steps for duplicating a quiz and these steps for differentiating a quiz if they need to provide the quiz in alternative format. This is for students who do not have a device compatible with LockDown Browser or LockDown Monitor.
- For assistance with Camino, please contact Academic Technology (email "caminosupport@scu.edu" or call 408-551-3572).
- For accommodations questions, please contact OAE (email oae@scu.edu or call 408-554-4109).
It is critical that exam files are accessible to allow students with electronic readers and/or dictation accommodations to access the exams.
- If files are not accessible, please use the online tool CONVERT
- Please be aware that the Respondus Lockdown Browser mode has limited accessibility for students needing to use speech to text software (i.e. dictation)
- Due to the nature of some students’ disability and assistive technology needs, modifications to timed online exams may be necessary. For example, faculty may need to substitute a question asking a student to draw a figure/illustration with an essay question or multiple choice question
- For students where modifications to timed online exams are essential, OAE will work with you and the student to determine reasonable accommodations
Consideration Adjustments
For students with chronic conditions, which are episodic in nature, there may be periods of time in which they are too unwell to attend class or to submit an assignment by an established deadline, as their condition may be unpredictable and inevitable, despite ongoing health and time-management practices. When a student needs flexibility in attendance and/or extension on assignments, faculty should always consider the request on an individual basis, allowing for diligent and critical analysis of how the request is essential to the class learning objectives and pedagogical components. If you believe additional absences beyond the stated policy would fundamentally alter the nature or essential elements of your class, or assignment extensions are not possible, then instructors should consult with an OAE adviser to determine reasonability.
To provide all students equal opportunity to access content, the OAE may recommend the use of assistive technology, such as electronic readers, dictation, and/or e-text, as an accommodation. To ensure all course content is compatible with assistive technology, content must be offered in an accessible format.
Here are some tips to help make sure your content is accessible:
- Remember to give files a descriptive file name
- Yes: Chapter1_Exam_Physics201
- No: FILE0129378
- Always use bulleted/numbered lists
- Do not create lists using the Tab button
- Ensure assistive technology can properly identify content by using Title, Heading (1, 2, 3...) and Normal text formats
- Ensure font color has sufficient contrast against background color
- Limit use of decorative images or add alt text describing all pertinent information contained in the image
- Please remember, scanned documents are NOT accessible
- All scanned PDFs should be run through our online tool CONVERT before uploading into Camino
If you need assistance with making your content accessible, please contact: Adiña Mora, Digital Access Specialist, dmora@scu.edu
Audio files - Transcripts should be provided for audio files to allow students to read the information provided in the recording.
- If the content you are presenting is widely available, there may be a transcript already available online.
- If the file is short enough, you can create a transcript yourself (in a Word document converted to a PDF) and post it in an accessible format along with the audio file.
- If the file is too long to convert yourself and a transcript is not available, you can contact Academic Technology for support or OAE at oae@scu.edu.
Video files - Closed captioning should be provided for video files to allow students to read the information while watching the video.
- There are companies (such as YouTube) which offer free, automated closed captioning services. Since these services are automated, please be advised that there are occasional mistakes in the transcript. Videos with clear speakers provide the best results.
- If you need assistance, please contact Academic Technology for support or OAE at "oae@scu.edu".