Disability Access Services

Under Construction

The notification letters have been sent out for the term, now what? As a faculty member, sometimes it is difficult to know whether an accommodation requires any immediate action. Each student's accommodations are tailored to that person's specific needs, so you can get many different combinations of accommodations for different DAS students. On this page we've included all of the basic accommodations that students can request through DAS, and what those accommodations mean for you.

Specific accommodations the student is eligible to receive:

1. Alternative Formats

2. Alternative Testing

3. Classroom Access

4. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Access Services

5. Notetaking Services

6. Other

1. Alternative Formats

   • Braille

   • E-Text

   Some students need to have their course materials converted to "accessible" formats. Sometimes this means creating Braille or other tactile printed materials, and other times it means creating an electronic version of a book that can be read by a computer screen reader. Some parts of this accommodation don't require any additional input from instructors - we have access to any textbook requirements you have filed with the OSU Bookstore. Some students, however, require all of the class materials to be in accessible format. This means that DAS will work with you to get copies of all of your course materials (including optional readings) in advance, so that they can be converted. If you have questions about this accommodation, you can contact the main DAS office, or the Alternative Formats staff directly at Alt.Formats@oregonstate.edu

   How Faculty Can Help

   Please register your course textbooks with the bookstore as early as possible, and please respond to any requests for additional course materials promptly.

2. Alternative Testing

   Our Alternative Testing Process is changing. We appreciate your patience while we update this information.

   • Calculator

   • Computer for Screen Reader

   • Computer for Speech-to-Text

   • Computer for Word Processing

   • Extra Time 1.50x-3.00x

   • Music

   • Quiet Location

   • Reader

   • Room Alone

   • Scribe or Typist

   • Special Format

   • Spell Checker

   • Wheelchair Access

3. Classroom Access

   Oregon State University is an older institution, which means that many of our buildings were built and furnishings chosen long before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was ever drafted. Because of this, physical access can be a challenge. DAS provides the following accommodations to help mitigate those challenges.

   • Accessible Classroom/Classroom Relocation

     This one is exactly what it sounds like. Some of our classrooms are inaccessible or impossible to use for students with certain disabilities. DAS works with the registrar's office & the faculty member to find a new location for the class.

     How Faculty Can Help

     Please be specific when putting in your classroom requests with the registrar's office, so that if your class needs to be relocated, we choose a location that meets your needs.

   • Accessible Computer

     While accessibility addresses more than physical access, this particular accommodation refers specifically to how physically accessible the computer desk is. Can the height be adjusted? Is there enough room underneath for a wheelchair or a footstool as necessary? Contact DAS or the Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) for information about how to make accessible stations in your computer & science labs.

   • Accessible Fieldtrips

     OSU is responsible for ensuring access to all facets of learning - that includes making sure fieldtrips and other class outings are accessible.

     How Faculty Can Help

     If you have a student who has disclosed that he or she has a mobility concern, make sure you check the accessibility of your class trip destinations before the trip. If you will be visiting a business or other building, are there accessible routes and entrances? For outdoor trips, are there paved or other wheelchair accessible paths? How are you getting to the destination? Can the student access the transportation?

   • Chair - No Arms or Padded with Lumbar Support

     Some students need chairs that provide them with additional back support, padding, or space. This furniture is managed by DAS. You can recognize it either by the ADA furniture signs or the small AeroScout location tags placed on each piece of furniture.

     How Faculty Can Help

     Faculty members often like our chairs - they are more comfortable than most classroom furniture, and we do not mind them being used, so long as they are in place for our students when they are needed. Please do not use or block the DAS chairs when there is a student in your class who receives a lumbar support chair as an accommodation.

   • Classroom Assistant

     DAS occasionally provides an in-class assistant for students. Classroom assistants are assigned for a variety of reasons, but they are meant only to be the hands or eyes of the student they are helping. They will not participate in class, and should not coach or prompt the student. They are only in class to perform tasks as the student directs them.

   • Foot Stools

   • In Class Services Animal

     Service Animals are specially trained to perform a specific task. The task could be one of many, from acting as a guide for someone who is blind or has low vision, to warning of an oncoming medical emergency such as a seizure. If you have questions about service animals in classroom or lab settings, please contact us.

   • Lab Assistant

     DAS occasionally provides a lab assistant for students. Lab assistants are assigned for a variety of reasons, but they are meant only to be the hands or eyes of the student they are helping. They will not coach or prompt the student. They are only in the lab to perform tasks as the student directs them.

   • Podium in Class

     DAS provided podiums are actually small desks on wheels that can be quickly and easily raised to a standing position.

   • Preferential Seating

     Some students with disabilities need to sit in a specific part of the classroom due to access, allergies, medical need, visibility, volume, etc. Most students are able to get a seat in an acceptable location on their own. However, particularly in large or crowded classrooms, students may work with DAS and faculty to reserve a seat.

   • Table

     DAS provided tables are large and height-adjustable, with no obstructions in the center. This allows students using DAS lumbar support chairs and students using wheelchairs to have a table that they can adjust to the height they need.

     How Faculty Can Help

     These height adjustable tables are often pushed to the sides or the teaching areas of the classroom over time. DAS works to make sure that the tables are placed properly at the beginning of each term. Many of the students who need these tables cannot move them. Please be aware that a student may need assistance, if someone in a previous class has moved or blocked a table.

4. Deaf and Hard of Hearing Access Services

   • Accessible Audio/Video Materials

   • FM System

   • Interpreting

   • Real Time Captioning

   • Real Time Transcribing

5. Notetaking Services

   DAS recruits a student in the class to take notes for any students eligible for notetaking. Many of our notetakers sign up for their classes before the term starts, so we can often have someone in place before classes start. You will receive an email from Notetaking.Services@oregonstate.edu if a notetaker is found, or if we need your assistance recruiting a student notetaker.

6. Other

   • Additional Notification to Faculty

     Of course, we can't be prepared for everything. Sometimes students need something a bit different in order to succeed in the classroom. If you see this line, it usually means that there will be a special note at the bottom of the letter, and it will be fairly important, so make sure you read all the way to the bottom.

   • Advance Notice for Papers

   • Overhead Copies

   • Reasonable Extension of Attendance

   • Reasonable Extension of Deadlines (Assignment)